Disheartened by the bungling by the police of the August 23 bus-hostage crisis, Canadian businessman Richard Mills launched on Wednesday an awards-giving program to better portray the country and sell the Philippines as an attractive investment country.

“Ultimately, that’s what we hope to achieve,” said Mills, chairman of headhunting firm Chalre Associates Inc. and also governor of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

He led the launch of the search for the best chief executive officers of the Philippines in the new Asia CEO Awards that he believes can be used as a platform to showcase the excellence and sophistication of leaders in the Philippine business community. “We plan to use it to promote the Philippines to the world’s international business community by highlighting examples of leadership success.”

The first awarding ceremonies are scheduled for November and the awards committee will accept nominations from September.

Those chosen by jurors will be honored in either of the following awards—Executive Leadership Team of the Year for the most outstanding executive management team, Entrepreneurial Leadership for the most accomplished management team of an entrepreneurial medium-sized organization, Nonprofit Leadership Team of the Year for the most outstanding public-sector department or individual;

Global Filipino Executive for the most accomplished Filipino who has exceled outside of Philippines, Expatriate Executive for best non-Filipino leader of the year, Technology Leadership Team of the Year for the most outstanding IT or engineering department, Finance Leadership Team of the Year for the most accomplished finance department, and HR Leadership Team of the Year for the most outstanding human-resources department.

Mills said nongovernment or nonprofit organizations can also vie for the awards in the nonprofit leadership team category.

The selection committee is composed of economist Bernie Villegas, former American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Don Felbaum, Korean Association of the Philippines president Edward Chang, De La Salle University board chairman Francis Estrada, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines executive director Henry Schumacher and Nobuo Fujii, vice president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines.

Mills, who will also sit in the committee, said the Asia CEO Awards is expected to be a yearly event.

 In Photo: Richard Mills, chairman of Chalre Associates and governor of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. (By Roy Domingo)