Legarda Pays Tribute to Washington SyCip

Senator Loren Legarda paid tribute to SGV Founder, Washington SyCip, who passed on last October 7, 2017.

“Philanthropist and nation builder Washington SyCip was a great inspiration. He was a genius who had a heart for service and for the people. He was wise, but what made him brilliant was his advocacy of promoting education. He was a globally known industrialist, but his heart remained for the children, and though he is sought-after by the country’s top businessmen and executives and sat on the boards of many global corporations and foundations, he would always humbly describe himself as a bookkeeper,” said Legarda.

“Though his passing leaves a void, the generations of businessmen and children he taught and inspired would be his living legacy. Rest in peace, Uncle Wash. Thank you for your life-long dedication to academic excellence, ethical and transformational leadership, and compassionate heart for the Filipinos,” she added.

Legarda will file a Senate Resolution honoring SyCip, founder of SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV), which has emerged to be the biggest and most sought after auditing firm in the country; and of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). He also helped organize the largest corporate-led non-profit social development foundation Philippine Business for Social Progress in 1970.

In 1982, SyCip was elected as the first Asian President of the International Federation of Accountants (IFA). He was also President of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

SyCip was bestowed the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1992; the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan in June 2017; The Order of Lakandula, The Rank of Grand Cross in 2011; the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany in 2006; and Officer First Class of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by Sweden in 1987, among many other local and international recognitions.