ANABELLE LIM-CHUA, PLDT, Inc. chief financial and risk management officer, was named the 2021 ING-FINEX CFO of the Year.

ANABELLE LIM-CHUA, PLDT, Inc. chief financial and risk management officer, was named the 2021 ING-FINEX CFO of the Year.

This makes her the second woman in a row and the third in the award’s 15-year history to win the prize given by the ING Bank N.V. Manila Branch and Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines to chief financial officers (CFO).

“I always believe that numbers need to tell the story,” Ms. Lim-Chua said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We have to make our people understand what these numbers are saying. We have to look at the people, the work they put in, what they’re doing to achieve these numbers. And that has made me realize that being a CFO is much more than knowing my numbers — that being an outstanding CFO meant being a positive force in all aspects of the business, in all parts of the organization,” she added.

Ms. Lim-Chua has been working with PLDT for 23 years, where she played a role in the company’s return to the offshore bond market last year after an 18-year hiatus, from which it raised $600 million.

She also serves as the chair of the Manila Electric Co. Board Finance Committee and represents the issuers sector as a director in the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“Anabelle is a very strong finance person and a very critical thinker,” PLDT President and Chief Executive Officer Alfredo S. Panlilio said.

“That helps me in my job, as well as the management committee. When we discuss business matters, initiatives and products, she can challenge those very critical discussions on where we want to bring the company.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Jenina P. Ibañez

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