Hans Sy, thinking beyond the balance sheet

One of the top contenders for DAILY TRIBUNE’s 2025 Filipino of the Year was Hans Sy, chairperson of the Executive Committee of SM Prime, for the indelible mark he has made on one of the country’s most diversified and successful conglomerates.

Among the “Syblings,” Hans led the transformation and massive expansion of SM into the Philippines’ dominant mall developer through SM Prime Holdings.

He oversaw the construction of SM North EDSA, which opened in 1985 as the country’s first major supermall, and served as president of SM Prime from 1994 to 2016, during which the company grew exponentially into Southeast Asia’s largest integrated property developer with dozens of malls.

The mall boom solidified the SM Group’s core real estate empire. Hans also pioneered sustainability and disaster resilience across SM properties, including the use of solar panels and flood-resistant designs, while adhering to United Nations advocacy.

This set the group apart in environmental responsibility, distinct but aligned with his siblings’ focuses, such as Teresita Sy-Coson’s banking leadership at BDO and Henry Sy Jr.’s residential developments.

Hans oversees SM Prime subsidiaries, including SM Development Corp., Costa del Hamilo Inc., Tagaytay Resort Development Corp., SM Arena Complex Corp., SM Hotels and Conventions Corp., and SM Land (China) Limited.

His focus on Herculean tasks is matched only by his love for the environment. Hans made the tough but, he believed, correct decision to continue constructing SM Baguio, one of the 96 SM malls to date, amid controversy at the time.

Across from SM Baguio is the University of the Cordilleras, the oldest postwar university in the region, which sits on a hillside and serves thousands of students.

In 2012, Hans noticed signs of soil erosion on the slope above the campus, where the SM mall is located, and thought each rainfall risked sending soil toward the classrooms below.

Sleepless over potential hazard

Back then, he could not sleep knowing the danger it posed to the school. The only way to keep the campus safe was to build a retaining wall and reinforce the ground, which required removing and relocating several trees on the SM Baguio property.

As someone who has long cared about the environment, Hans said it was a difficult decision.

He recalled that despite their efforts to explain the situation, many accused SM of betraying the environment for financial gain — a backlash that led a foreign artist to withdraw a concert from the SM Arena in protest.

Despite this, he ordered the work to be completed. The hillside held, and the school remained safe. That choice — doing what he believed was right even when unpopular — sharpened Hans’ understanding of leadership.

UN advocate

In one instance, Hans had a meaningful exchange with the head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UN-DRR). Through repeated conversations with UN-DRR representatives, he was invited to serve as the first Filipino private-sector representative to the UN-DRR.

Through ARISE Global, Hans shared what SM had quietly practiced since the late 1980s: forward thinking and resilience.

Hans now works across sectors to help communities prepare for and recover from calamities, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and storms.

He noted that for 21 years, the Philippines has been named the world’s most disaster-prone nation, with geography making that reality tougher than for most countries.

Love of country

Hans said that for some, those natural calamities might be reason enough to leave the Philippines. But the Sy family members, owners of one of the country’s largest conglomerates, chose to stay.

“I am 70 years old now. And I still hold only one passport, a Philippine passport. That is both a fact and a statement of faith. Despite the risks, the noise, and the many uncertainties, I have never doubted our country’s promise or the strength of the Filipino spirit,” he said.

Hans admitted that the nation and its people are not perfect. However, he emphasized that many Filipinos remain and keep going “because we believe that hope is stronger than hardship.”

“That life in the Philippines, no matter how difficult, is worth the struggle. And that, in time, things do get better. It is hard to imagine now, but SM was built on hardship and hope. My grandfather got my father to dream big, not just to lift himself from poverty, but to earn more than enough to help others,” he said.

From a single shoe store in downtown Manila, SM has grown into an ecosystem that includes real estate, banking, retail, schools, and more.

“Our scale has allowed us to turn growth into service, generating jobs, building infrastructure, and supporting scholars and livelihoods nationwide. The SM journey has not been linear. Political unrest, economic challenges, and natural disasters have tested us. A pandemic even closed our malls,” he recalled.

Hans said that after each test, the conglomerate came out stronger, not because it was spared, but because it learned, adapted, and dreamed bigger.

The SM Group, he said, navigated those times guided by two constants: its values and its commitment to sustainability.

Hans said their family lives by three core values — integrity, hard work, and humility — the same values they instill in their thousands of employees.

A straightforward definition of integrity, he added, continues to guide the Sy family, as his father used to say: “Whatever decision we make, we should be able to eat and sleep well.”