Manila, Philippines — ECCI and Updapt — ESG Tech Co. held ESG Disclosure in the Philippines: Turning Complexity into Confidence. The invite-only forum brought together professionals from listed companies, financial institutions, and large private enterprises to mobilize on their ESG disclosure obligations. The event took place on August 13, 2026 at Dusit Thani Manila, Makati.
About the Event
The invitation-only forum discussed Sustainability Reporting, Data Management, and Assurance Readiness. It convened approximately 50 participants from listed companies, financial institutions, and large private enterprises. The afternoon featured a keynote speech by SEC, a feature session by Updapt representatives, and a panel discussion with open exchange focused on the Philippines’ evolving sustainability disclosure landscape.
Featured Speakers and Panelists
The centerpiece of the programme — the panel Disclosure in Practice: The Regulatory, Operational, and Assurance Reality — was moderated by Karthik Subburaman, Regional Director of ECC International. It featured four panelists representing the full range of perspectives Philippine companies need most:
- Atty. Rachel Esther Gumtang-Remalante, Director of Corporate Governance and Finance Department, Securities and Exchange Commission — Provided the regulatory perspective on compliance expectations under MC 16, PFRS S1 and S2 requirements, and the SEC’s direction on the trajectory toward assured reporting.
- Yvonne Flores, Head of Sustainability & CSR, Robinsons Land Corporation — Brought the perspective of a large, multi-sector conglomerate navigating cross-sector ESG data and governance complexity across food, telecoms, real estate, aviation, and petrochemicals under one reporting umbrella.
- Joneil Año, Head of Sustainability of Metrobank — Represented the financial institution lens, including the practical intersection of the BSP sustainable finance framework and the SEC mandate, and the role of credible ESG disclosure in building sustainable and transition finance capability.
- Satish Ramchandani, Co-Founder of Updapt – ESG Tech Co. — Offering a technology and cross-jurisdictional perspective drawn from working with companies across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas on ESG data management, multi-framework reporting, and assurance-ready disclosure.
Atty. Rachel Esther Gumtang-Remalante stressed the importance of preparing for this memorandum. When asked what to expect in this new sustainability reporting process, she assured that the SEC is doing all it can to provide the guidance needed, especially regarding PFRS S2 (Climate Risk Analysis) reporting.
A consistent message emerged across all four perspectives: ESG disclosure in the Philippines is no longer a future consideration: it is an immediate operational reality. As Joneil Año noted, this new regulatory practice should not be seen as another “difficult” requirement, but rather an avenue for building the credibility that unlocks sustainable and transition finance opportunities.
About ECCI and Updapt
ECC International (ECCI) is a Philippine-based sustainability advisory and training firm with 25 years of practice and over 500 client engagements and the only organisation in the Philippines recognised by the IFRS Foundation as an Accredited Education Provider (AEP) and authorised Training Program Partner (TPP). Learn more about ECCI’s services at www.eccinternational.com.
Updapt is an ESG technology company that enables enterprises and financial institutions across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas to digitally manage their sustainability data, disclosures, performance, and decarbonization initiatives through structured data collection, configurable workflows, analytics, evidence trails, and assurance-ready reporting. Learn more about Updapt’s platform at www.updapt.com.
Together, they combine deep local regulatory and advisory expertise with proven ESG technology and international implementation experience, helping Philippine companies build not just the understanding, but the infrastructure and capability that credible disclosure requires.
