Washington Z. SyCip, PLH BOLk RNO1kl (; ; 30 June 1921 – 7 October 2017) was a

Chinese-Filipino Chinese Filipinos (sometimes referred as Filipino Chinese or Chinoy/Tsinoy in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent with ancestry mainly from Fujian, but are typically born and raised in the Philippines. Chinese Filipinos are one ...

- American accountant. He was the founder of the accounting firm EY SGV & Company and the

Asian Institute of Management The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) is a highly acclaimed management school and research institution located in Makati in The Philippines. Established in partnership with Harvard Business School,, AIM Historical Highlights. in 1968, it is ...

Early life and education

SyCip was born in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

on 30 June 1921 to Albino and Helen SyCip. His father, Albino SyCip, co-founded Chinabank in 1920. His name was derived from the fact that his father was in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, at the time of his birth. He spent his early years living in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

before attending Padre Burgos Elementary School and Victorino Mapa High School. He skipped three grade levels in

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. SyCip earned a commerce degree at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

(UST) with ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' honors at age 17. He taught in UST while pursuing a master's degree. He passed the board examinations for Certified Public Accountants at age 18. In 1940, he went to the United States to attend the Columbia University in New York to complete a post-graduate degree. He completed all academic requirements for the degree except for his dissertation due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

World War II

After learning of his father's imprisonment in the Philippines by Japanese invading forces, he reevaluated his plans of pursuing a doctorate degree. In 1942, he enlisted himself in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

and became a naturalized US citizen in 1943. He joined Camp Cooke but was told to be "overqualified" for the infantry for having the highest IQ level in his regiment. He studied Japanese in a language school in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He was then deployed to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

as a codebreaker.

Career

After

, SyCip was discharged from the

and returned to

at age 24. He initially taught accounting at the

and two other colleges. He decided against joining one of the British accounting firms returning to the country following the war reasoning that only a white person could become a business partner in such firms. In March 1946, he opened W. SyCip & Company with a desk in his brother Alexander’s law office in Binondo. He eventually partnered with Alfredo M. Velayo and Vicente O. José to form SyCip, Velayo, José & Company. The firm would evolve into what is now known as SGV & Company (SGV). SyCip earned a Master of Science in Commerce from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

. By 1958, SGV was already the biggest accounting firm in the Philippines and already overtook Fleming & Williamson the then largest British firm operating in the country. He retired as chairman of SGV in 1996 but remained involved with the firm until his death. In 1968, he co-founded the

in the Philippines and served as chairman of its board of trustees and board of governors. He was the first chairman of the Euro-Asia Center of

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

, a leading graduate business school, in

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

, France. SyCip was a founding governor of the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

's Lauder Institute.

Death

SyCip died on October 7, 2017, aboard

Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the flag carrier of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and is the oldest operating commercial airline in Asia. Philippine ...

Flight 126, which took off from

bound for

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

with continuing service to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He was with his son, George SyCip, and an assistant, Roberto Cabilles. He died before reaching Vancouver.

Legacy

Flowers for Washington SyCip Washington SyCip Park

As of December 2016, SGV & Company (SGV) continues to be the largest accounting firm in the Philippines, auditing about half of 304 publicly listed companies in the

Philippine Stock Exchange The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (; ) is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. The exchange was created in 1992 from the merger of the Manila Stock Exchange and the Makati Stock Exchange. Including previous forms, the exchange has ...

. SGV has stiff competition from rival firms, Punongbayan & Araullo, KPMG RG Manabat & Company, and Reyes Tacandong & Company, which were established by former business partners of SGV. The Washington SyCip Park in Makati,

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

was named in his honour on the occasion of his 85th birthday. The Ayala Foundation and the

Jollibee Jollibee is a Filipino chain of fast food restaurants owned by Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) which serves as its flagship brand. Established in 1978 by Tony Tan Caktiong, it is the Philippines' top fast food restaurant and is among the ...

Group Foundation launched fundraising for the "INSEAD Washington SyCip Scholarship" for Filipino MBA students in honour of SyCip.

Positions

Positions held by SyCip prior to his death: * BDO Unibank, Inc, ( PSE: BDO), Adviser to the Board * Belle Corporation ( PSE: BEL), Independent Director * Cityland Development Corporation ( PSE: * First Philippine Holdings Corporation ( PSE: FPH), Independent Director * Highlands Prime, Inc., Independent Director * Lopez Holdings Corporation ( PSE: LPZ), Independent Director * MacroAsia Corporation ( PSE: MAC), Co-Chairman *

Metro Pacific Investments Corporation Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) is a Philippine unit investment holding company of First Pacific Company Limited through Metro Pacific Holdings, Inc. MPIC through its subsidiaries, provides water, sanitation, and sewerage servic ...

( PSE: MPI), Independent Director * Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company ( PSE: MBT), Adviser to the Board * Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company ( PSE: TEL), Adviser to the Board *

Philippine National Bank The Philippine National Bank (PNB, ; ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Hokkien ) is a major Filipino bank based in Pasay in the Philippines. It was established by the Philippine government on July 22, 1916, during the Insular Government, America ...

( PSE: PNB), Director

Awards

*Doctor of Philosophy, ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' degree from the

De La Salle University De La Salle University (), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private, Catholic coeducational research university run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools with main campus in Taft Avenue, Malate, Man ...

(1977) *Doctor of Accounting Education, ''

'' degree from the University of Santo Tomas (1984) *Officer First Class of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

(1987) *

Philippine Legion of Honor The Philippine Legion of Honor (; ) was established by President Manuel Roxas, through Philippine Army Circular No. 60 dated July 3, 1947. The Philippine Legion of Honour, Honor was patterned after the Legion of Merit of the United States of Amer ...

, Degree of Commander (1991) *Doctor of Laws, ''

'' degree from the

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

(2001) *Doctor of Science (Management), ''

'',

Holy Angel University Holy Angel University is a Private school, private Catholic research university in Angeles City, Philippines. Founded in June 1933 by Don Juan Nepomuceno and Fr. Pedro Paulo Santos, who was later named as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Các ...

, 2010 *

Order of Lakandula The Order of Lakandula () is one of the highest civilian orders of the Philippines, established on September 19, 2003. It is awarded for political and civic merit and in memory of Lakandula’s dedication to the responsibilities of leadership ...

, Rank of Grand Cross (Bayani) (2011) *Ramon V. del Rosario Award for Nation Building (2012) *Doctor of Laws, ''

'' degree from the Ateneo de Manila University (2012) * Order of the Rising Sun, Second Class, Gold and Silver Star, Japan (2017)

Personal life

Sycip was married to Anna Yu with whom he had three children; Victoria, George, and Robert.

External links

*
Biography of Washington SyCip

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sycip, Washington 1921 births 2017 deaths American people of Chinese descent Filipino emigrants to the United States Columbia Business School alumni Filipino people of Chinese descent Members of the Committee of 100 People from Makati University of Santo Tomas alumni Academic staff of the University of Santo Tomas American accountants Chinese accountants Filipino accountants Asian Institute of Management people PLDT people American company founders Filipino company founders United States Army personnel of World War II Filipino chairpersons of corporations Grand Crosses of the Order of Lakandula