Kristin Charisse C. Siao, Carlo Augustine A. Roman The global push toward Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) practices in businesses of all sizes has seen rapid growth in recent years, with the Philippines being no exception to this growing movement. More and more, industry leaders and model organisations across the local business landscape have placed increasing emphasis on non-financial metrics that address critical social and environmental issues, with an eye toward making sure that business practices and investments will continue to be sustainable not merely on the basis of the balance sheet, but also society as a whole. Truly, investors in both the Philippines and abroad have become keener toward focusing on not just mere economic growth, but inclusive, balanced, and sustainable growth that can be maintained in the longer term. With this in mind, legislators and regulators in the Philippines have slowly but surely adjusted to the growing call for ESG monitoring and enforcement. As such, it is slowly becoming impossible for businesses to ignore social and ethical considerations when running their day-to-day affairs in this jurisdiction. Sustainability Reporting Guidelines for Publicly Listed Companies Consistent with global ESG trends and the push toward greater transparency for non-financial and sustainability issues –particularly in the present economic climate which prioritises environmental and social impact of businesses more than ever – the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published Memorandum Circular No. 4, Series of 2019, or the “Sustainability Guidelines for Publicly Listed Companies (“PLCs”)” (the “SEC Sustainability Guidelines”), in order to help PLCs assess and manage non-financial performance across economic, environmental, and social aspects of their organisation. The reporting guidelines aimed...