Eric Francia

Eric Francia

President & CEO

Jose Maria Zabaleta

Jose Maria Zabaleta

Group Chief Operating Officer & Chief Development Officer

Patrice Clausse

Patrice Clausse

Group Chief Investment Officer

Jonathan Back

Jonathan Back

Group Chief Finance Officer &
Chief Strategy Officer

John Philip Orbeta

John Philip Orbeta

Group Chief Human Resources and Administrative Officer & Chief Risk Officer

Cecile Cruzabra

Cecile Cruzabra

Treasurer

Solomon Hermosura

Solomon Hermosura

Corporate Secretary

Dodjie Lagazo

Dodjie Lagazo

Group General Counsel,
Compliance Officer &
Assistant Corporate Secretary

Miguel de Jesus

Miguel de Jesus

Managing Director, Philippines

David Pollington

David Pollington

Managing Director, Australia

Eric Francia

Eric Francia

President & CEO

Eric Francia is the President and CEO of ACEN Corporation and serves on its board of directors. He is also a Senior Managing Director and member of the Management Committee of Ayala Corporation. Under his leadership, Ayala established its energy platform from a standing start in 2011, to become one of the largest renewable energy platforms in the region, with ~4,800 MW of attributable renewables capacity across Asia Pacific.

Eric has also led pioneering initiatives in early coal retirement, including the successful completion of the world’s first market-based Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM).

Eric earned a Master’s Degree in Management Studies at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, graduating with First Class Honors. He received his undergraduate degree in Humanities and Political Economy from the University of Asia & the Pacific, graduating magna cum laude.

Jose Maria Zabaleta

Jose Maria Zabaleta

Group Chief Operating Officer & Chief Development Officer

Sech is the group chief operating officer of ACEN and member of the ACEN Executive Management Committee. He is also chief development officer of both ACEN and ACEIC, and serves as Chairman and/or President of ACEN’s development pipeline and land companies.

Prior to joining ACEN, he was co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bronzeoak Philippines, a pioneer and leader in clean technology energy development in the Philippines. Bronzeoak’s energy businesses were integrated into ACEN in early 2017.

Sech has a Masters in Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, USA and a BS Management Honors degree from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Patrice Clausse

Patrice Clausse

Group Chief Investment Officer

Patrice Clausse is the group chief investment officer of ACEN. He joined Ayala Corporation in May 2010 as an advisor to the Strategy and Business Development team and became a founding member of the ACEN management in 2011, where he led the Business Development and Operations teams. Currently, he heads ACEN’s international business, with focus on Southeast Asia and Australia.
Patrice is a member of the Board of Directors/Management and Advisory Committee of various ACEN International Projects. Prior to joining Ayala, he was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in London as well as with Marakon Associates (part of Charles River Associates).
Patrice holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where he graduated with high distinction as Baker Scholar. He also received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Manufacturing Engineering from Cambridge University in the UK.

Jonathan Back

Jonathan Back

Group Chief Finance Officer &
Chief Strategy Officer

Jonathan is the group chief finance officer and chief strategy officer of ACEN. He is a lawyer and banker with over 25 years of experience in the legal, investment banking, and private investment sectors with significant experience in equity capital markets, corporate finance, and in advising on large infrastructure, power, and telecom projects.

Jonathan was previously a director and the executive chairman of BPI International Finance Ltd., the Hong Kong banking subsidiary of BPI and concurrently, co-head of Wealth Management and head of international businesses of BPI. He was also a director of Schools Relief Initiative Ltd., a Hong Kong based charity supporting education in Southern Sri Lanka. Previously, Jonathan served as an executive director in Goldman Sachs, Hong Kong (Corporate Finance and Equity Capital Markets) and managing director and head of Asian Equity Capital Markets in JP Morgan, Hong Kong.

Jonathan holds a bachelor of Civil Laws degree from the University of Oxford, where he graduated with first class honors. He also received first class honors in the solicitors final exam.

John Philip Orbeta

John Philip Orbeta

Group Chief Human Resources and Administrative Officer & Chief Risk Officer

JP is the group chief human resources and administrative officer, and chief risk officer of ACEN (formerly AC Energy), where he serves as director. He is a director at ACE Shared Services, Inc., an ACEN subsidiary.

JP was a managing director at Ayala Corporation, where he served as chief human resources officer and group head for Corporate Resources from 2005 to September 2021. Today, he serves on the Boards of several companies across the Ayala Group, including AG Legal and Globe group’s ASTICOM and HCX, and is currently the chairman of the Ayala Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Ayala Coop). Previously, he was the president and CEO of Ayala Automotive Holdings Corporation, Automobile Central Enterprise, Inc. and Ayala Aviation. He also previously served as a director on the Boards of BPI Family Bank, ALFM Mutual Funds, AC Health and Ayala Foundation. Prior to joining Ayala Corporation, he was the vice president and global practice director of the Human Capital Consulting Group at Watson Wyatt Worldwide (now Willis Towers Watson).

JP completed his advanced management programs at Harvard Business School, IMD and INSEAD, and holds a degree in A.B. Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Cecile Cruzabra

Cecile Cruzabra

Treasurer

Cecile is the treasurer of ACEN and chief finance officer of ACEIC and ACE International. Prior to joining ACEN, she was the CFO of Manila Water Company, Inc. from 2018 to September 2021, and was the treasurer of Ayala Corporation from 2014 to 2018.

Cecile has over 37 years of career experience in research, treasury and finance, having worked at Makati Business Club, Sun Hung Kai Securities, Metro Pacific Corporation, Steniel Manufacturing Corporation, Globe Telecom, Inc., Altimax Broadcasting Co. Inc. and Bethlehem Holdings, Inc. She also previously taught finance at the De La Salle Graduate School of Business and the Asian Institute of Management and also taught Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Cecile completed her master’s degree in Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Management. She graduated with a degree in B.A. in Economics (Honors Program) from the Ateneo de Manila University.

 

Solomon Hermosura

Solomon Hermosura

Corporate Secretary

Mon is the corporate secretary of ACEN (formerly AC Energy). With his rich experience and established track record in good governance, he led the development of the company’s corporate governance policies and standards, and alignment with shareholder initiatives and board decisions.

Mon also serves as corporate secretary, managing director, general counsel, group head of corporate governance, compliance officer, member of the Management Committee, and member of the Ayala Group Management Committee of Ayala Corporation, as well as CEO of AG Counselors Corporation.  He is also the general counsel and corporate secretary of Ayala Land, Inc.; corporate secretary of Globe Telecom, Inc., Manila Water Company, Inc., Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc. and Ayala Foundation, Inc., and holds directorship in a number of companies in the Ayala group.

Mon graduated valedictorian with a Bachelor of Laws degree from San Beda College and placed third in the 1986 Bar Examinations.

Dodjie Lagazo

Dodjie Lagazo

Group General Counsel,
Compliance Officer &
Assistant Corporate Secretary

Dodjie is an executive director and the head of legal governance and compliance of ACEN (formerly AC Energy). As head of legal governance and compliance, he spearheaded the development and implementation of the ACEN group’s corporate legal strategy, as well as governance and compliance programs.

Dodjie concurrently serves as the corporate secretary of ENEX Energy Corp., and assistant corporate secretary of ACEN Corporation. He was a director and member of AG Counselors Corporation’s Management Committee from January 2014 to July 2017. Prior to joining Ayala, he worked with the law firm of SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan.

Dodjie earned his Bachelor of Laws Degree from the College of Law of the University of the Philippines – Diliman, and ranked sixth in the graduating class of 2003. He received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of the Philippines – Diliman, graduating magna cum laude.

Miguel de Jesus

Miguel de Jesus

Managing Director, Philippines

Miguel is managing director of ACEN and head of Philippine Operations. Prior roles included leading ACEN’s solar developments in Vietnam, pioneering ACEN’s retail electricity business, and managing ACEN’s first operating wind assets in the Philippines.

Before joining ACEN, Miguel practiced law, specializing in energy and project finance.

Miguel holds an M.A. in philosophy from Ateneo de Manila and is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He holds a bachelor of laws degree (cum laude) from the University of Philippines.

David Pollington

David Pollington

Managing Director, Australia

David Pollington is the Managing Director of ACEN Australia (formerly UPC\AC Renewables Australia), having previously been the Chief Operating Officer since its establishment in 2016. He has been involved in the renewable energy sector for more than 30 years leading projects from inception through to operations.

David has held key roles in the industry, most notably, the Technical Director of Renewables at SKM/Jacobs, and General Manager of Construction for Roaring 40s, a joint development and asset management company between Hydro Tasmania and China Light and Power based out of Hong Kong, where he was responsible for construction activities in China, India, and Australia.

David holds a Bachelor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from the University of Tasmania and is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers.

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