June 12, 2013 — Coming from the richest family in the Philippines who has brought pride to the country by building the largest shopping malls in Asia and whose name has landed on the list of Forbes’ top billionaires! Hans Sy knows that there’s much more than wealth and prestige that makes success more meaningful.

Sv is the kind of visionary that Filipinos should be proud of. As a business leader, the president of SM Prime Holdings is well aware of the importance of disaster resilience and commits to making it among their top priorities to provide safety for the communities, employees, customers, and the facility structure,

Each time the country experiences the most destructive disasters, many people are helpless and left shaken, and are underwhelmed with the response of the authorities. Sy deems it as part of their core business strategy to protect disaster-prone communities in the country and ensure sustainable development,

Sy represented the Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG) in the Global Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)-the first Filipino who was given that privilege to address a big group of global leaders, Speaking at a global forum organized by the UN in Geneva, he highlighted the importance of investing in disaster risk reduction for businesses. He savs, SM Prime has continued to expand throughout the company’s history; however, our assets are subjected to the extreme weather and geological hazards in the Philippines.”

Sy continues, “Since the year 2000, the Philippines experienced approximately 102 significant typhoons and 72 floods. These natural disasters have caused $3,3-biIlion worth of damage, and almost 13,000 deaths, Within the private sector, naturaI disasters cause business interruptions especially for those who are unprepared,”

Typhoon Ondoy affected over 4.8 million people, caused over P11 billion in damages, and submerged nearly 50 percent of the Marikina area; however, due to investments in resilience, SM Marikina averted the loss of almost P1 billion from business sales alone. The costs of these investments were more than recouped in these avoided losses. SM Marikina also served as a refuge area to around 1,400 people stranded during the storm.

Sv recalled how SM Prime’s investments in risk reduction protected SM Marikina from almost a P1-billion loss during the typhoon Ondoy in 2009, Given that the extreme natural disasters in the Philippines have been a common occurrence over the last 20 years, SM Prime has started to invest risk reduction efforts.

SM Prime ensures the longevity of our establishments, and safeguards the communities in which we operate. Partly through prioritizing disaster resilience, SM Prime has both increased profitability, and implemented an aggressive expansion strategy. This model is highlighted in the cases of two of our malls, SM City Marlkina and SM City Muntinlupa,” Sy says stressing that the case of SM Marikina, brings to light the importance of disaster risk reduction in adaptation and infrastructure.

Part of the risk reduction projects of SM Prime is the construction of the lower parking level of SM City Marikina at the natural ground level without wall enclosures to enable water to pass through. The upper parking level and main mall are also well engineered they rest at an elevation of 20.5 meters and safely operate even during times of extreme flood, SM Center Muntinlupa was designed to minimize the effects of earthquakes up to a magnitude of seven to eight on the structure,

Sy says that these two cases serve as a good example of why it’s important to invest in preventative measures and understanding risks through a collaborative and scientific approach to development,

For Sy, “My experience has proven that investing in the resilience simply makes good business sense, We are all aware that disaster resilience is not just the private sector is business. It is everybody’s business.”