(Manila, Philippines, June 21, 2006) – Ayala Corporation’s chief financial officer and senior managing director Delfin Lazaro has been elected as the seventh chairman of the board of BayanTrade, BayanTrade announced during its 6th Anniversary celebration at the Rizal Ballroom of the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

Lazaro, who also concurrently holds the position of CEO of AC Capital Group, will be a first-time chairman of the Bayantrade board. Lazaro assumed post as the government’s energy czar during the Ramos administration when he held the key position of Secretary of Energy in 1994. Starting 1996, he has since been with Ayala when he was appointed CEO of Globe Telecoms.

This is the second time for Ayala Corporation to assume the chairmanship, with Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala serving as the second chairman of Bayantrade in 2002.

The chairmanship title was last held by Benpres Holdings management consultant Rodolfo C. Salazar.

Erwin Locsin, executive vice president of Ayala System Technology Inc., on the other hand, is the chairman of the executive committee of BayanTrade. 

Dante Briones is now on his fourth year as BayanTrade president and was instrumental in steering the company to its present position as one of Asia’s forerunner as an on-demand supply chain management services and solutions provider. His industry expertise and experience has been recognized by no less than the Open Network for Commerce Exchange (ONCE), the world’s largest business-to-business (B2B) alliance of electronic trading networks, where he also sits in the Executive Council.

Eddie Yap, vice president for logistics and materials management of Universal Robina Corporation, representing JG Summit, joins this year’s board as vice chairman while ePLDT’s  chief finance officer George Tan will serve as Board treasurer. Atty. Enrique Quiason, a senior partner of the Quiason Makalintal Barot Torres & Ibarra Law Offices will continue as board secretary.

The other board members for this year are Ray Espinosa, president of ePLDT and Ramoncito Fernandez, Adviser-Administration and Materials Management Group of PLDT;  Clinton Hess, vice chairman of the board of Unilab; Mikel Aboitiz, vice president and Miguel Aboitiz, first vice president of Aboitiz Equity Ventures; Lance Gokongwei, president and COO of JG Summit Holdings; Salvador Tirona, CFO of Benpres Holdings; and Lucito Santos, vice president and chief information officer of Meralco.

The chairmanship post is rotated annually among the six founding consortium members; namely:  Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Ayala Corporation, Benpres Holdings, JG Summit Holdings, Manila Electric Company, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), and United Laboratories, Inc. (Unilab).

About BayanTrade

BayanTrade, through the years, has established itself as an on-demand supply chain management services and solutions provider, having served more than 2,500 clients from diverse industries.  In 2005, the company has processed close to USD700 million worth of spend across various commodities, sourced locally and globally.  To date, BayanTrade has processed P43.2B ($800M) worth of trade which generated an average of 15% savings. 

BayanTrade’s technology business, through BT systems, closed 2005 with major SAP implementation in the top progressive companies in the country. The division is now a recognized leader in ERP implementation and support and is the acclaimed Certified Implementation Partner and Value Added Reseller of SAP Philippines.  BayanTrade has recently been awarded as SAP Pilot Sourcing Partner, taking pride for being the only company appointed in the Asia Pacific Region.  Also, BayanTrade bagged SAP Top Country Services Partner Award for 2005 during SAP’s FKOM in Singapore.

More significantly, BayanTrade has evolved dynamically into a leading business processing outsourcing (BPO) company. Fortune 100 US-based companies are using BayanTrade to do buyer and supplier adoption and support on a global basis, covering more than 25 countries and 9 languages in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. These companies have leveraged BayanTrade’s domain expertise in sourcing and procurement and the country’s well-developed industry infrastructure for BPO.

Contact Information:

Gisela D. Santos

PR & Marketing Communications Man