Sy leadership: Building futures through building classrooms

WHEN the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) selected Hans T. Sy as its Management Person of the Year 2025, the decision reflected more than recognition of business acumen or corporate growth; it acknowledged a fundamental truth that Sy had demonstrated throughout his career: genuine management excellence meant building futures not just structures.

Nowhere was this philosophy more evident than in SM Foundation Inc.’s sustained commitment to education — a partnership with the Department of Education that has delivered more than 110 school buildings since 2002. But the MAP selection committee members saw beyond the numbers. They recognized that each two-story structure with four fully equipped classrooms represented something far more profound than infrastructure development. Each building embodied Sy’s conviction that companies have the power — and the responsibility — to change lives.

The fourth son of the late Henry Sy Sr. credits his father, the SM tycoon, with teaching him valuable lessons about goodwill and inclusivity. These principles instilled in him a passion for helping others and uplifting their lives through sustainability disaster preparedness and infrastructure resiliency programs at SM. Yet, he took those lessons further, recognizing that while malls create economic opportunity, schools create generational transformation.

The vision manifested in thoughtful designs that spoke to Sy’s inclusive leadership principles. PWD ramps ensured accessibility for learners with disabilities. Functional restrooms with toilets, wash basins and overhead water tanks addressed basic needs often absent in under-resourced communities. Handwashing stations were positioned where students could easily use them — a seemingly small detail that reflected Sy’s understanding that dignity begins with such fundamentals.

Two flexible rooms in each building allowed schools to adapt spaces to their communities’ unique needs — faculty areas, child protection rooms, health clinics or small libraries. This adaptability demonstrated what the MAP committee valued most: Sy’s recognition that effective leadership meant creating frameworks others could shape to serve their specific contexts rather than imposing rigid solutions.

Research validated his approach. Students in these improved learning environments demonstrated stronger academic performance and higher motivation. Teachers reported greater confidence in using updated tools such as panoramic whiteboards in well-ventilated, well-lit spaces. The physical environment Sy created didn’t just house education; it enabled it to flourish.

For the SM executive, these outcomes represented more than metrics; they embodied his larger dream: creating a resilient and sustainable society where no one was left behind; where everyone could experience a safer, better future. The MAP committee recognized that this wasn’t rhetoric. The 110+ school buildings stood as tangible proof that Sy had spent decades systematically working toward that vision.

In 2025 alone, the foundation turned over new buildings to schools in Calapan City, Tagbilaran City, Laoag City, Concepcion in Tarlac, Tagum City and Iligan City with more planned. Each turnover ceremony represented not just infrastructure delivery but the opening of possibility for hundreds of Filipino children whose futures might otherwise be constrained by inadequate learning environments.

The MAP selection committee particularly noted how this educational advocacy exemplified the award’s core criterion: “contribution to reshaping national values and orientation.” Sy had demonstrated that business success created both opportunity and obligation, that corporate resources could be leveraged for social transformation and that management excellence extended beyond quarterly earnings to generational impact.

Each classroom, each accessible restroom and each water station represented Sy’s conviction that true leadership meant ensuring every Filipino child had a proper place to learn not as charity but as investment in the nation’s foundation; not as corporate social responsibility checkbox but as fundamental commitment to building the human capital that would carry the Philippines forward.

As MAP President Alfredo Panlilio emphasized through the organization’s 2025 theme, “Management excellence for a progressive Philippines,” progress required leaders who understood that their decisions today shaped the nation’s tomorrow. Sy had spent over two decades proving, one classroom at a time, that he was such a leader.

The school buildings program revealed what made Sy exceptional among the 49 individuals who had received this honor across six decades: his understanding that companies don’t just build structures; they build futures. Management excellence wasn’t measured solely in revenue growth or market capitalization but in the lives transformed by the infrastructure leaders chose to create.