ISO awarded the certificate to SM Prime for establishing and applying a Business Continuity Management program for its SM Supermalls. Likewise, the certification covers the Mall of Asia Arena Annex Building, the headquarters of SM Prime in Pasay as well as SM Megamall, one of SM Prime’s largest malls in the country.
“This certification assures our stakeholders that the company will be able to respond to, recover from and continue its business after a disruptive event. For our customers, this means assuring their safety first and foremost, even as we provide access to basic necessities even at the onset of the calamity,” SM Prime President Hans T. Sy said.
The ISO certification meant going through a series of detailed audits which included internal assessments to ensure readiness for certification and an external audit on the company’s Business Continuity Management System.
“SM Prime is committed to make sure that business continuity is part of our operations especially after a calamity to provide continuous livelihood, not only to our employees, but to the employees also of our tenants, suppliers and all our stakeholders,” Sy added.
The ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 162 national standard bodies. It brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, concensus-based, market relevant international standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.
The ISO 22301 certification covers the requirements for a robust business continuity management system, which will allow the company to minimise the risk associated with disruptions and to make certain that control is maintained at all times.
In the last few decades, SM malls have integrated disaster risk reduction into their design and operations amid worsening effects of climate change. Aside from SM Megamall, good examples of these are SM City Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija, SM City Marikina, SM City Masinag in Antipolo, Rizal, SM BF Paranaque, SM Angono and SM San Mateo in Rizal, SM Muntinlupa in Alabang, The SM Mall of Asia in Pasay and SM Seaside City in Cebu among others.
Shown in the photo are (from left) Richard O. Regalado, Consultant, EIAN Management Consulting; John C. Ong, Chief Finance Officer, SM Prime; Myquel M. Regalado, Adviser, EIAN Management Consulting; Royston A. Cabunag, Assistant Vice President for Operations, Mall of Asia Annex Building; Femelyn Lati, General Manager, TŪV SŪD PSB Philippines; Hans T. Sy, President, SM Prime; Christian V. Mathay, AVP for Operations, SM Megamall; Eunice M. Sotto, AVP for Enterprise Risk Management, SM Prime; Anna Maria S. Garcia, President, Shopping Center Management Corp.; and Egbert T. Lim, Mall Manager, SM Megamall.