Written by Diane Quinito and Lorly Coloyan
The Junior Financial Executives (JFINEX) from the School of Business Administration and Accountancy officially entered the competition for D&V Philippines Sustainability Challenge on December 17, 2025 to January 18, 2026. This business case competition challenges the participants studying finance and accounting (F&A) with a goal of developing innovative and feasible solutions that incorporate sustainability into business and financial practices where the team needs to create an ESG that is cost-effective and reliable that could fit their expansion to Australia and Europe as their target market. The main objective of this competition is to enhance environmental, social, and governance (ESG) awareness among aspiring business leaders while crafting flexible and adaptable strategies applicable to the real-world business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.
D&V Philippines is a prominent finance and accounting outsourcing firm based in Makati that has launched a national initiative to invite 3rd year and 4th year Financial and Accounting students to develop innovative, sustainable business solutions. This opportunity has successfully attracted school and university organizations from across the country. During the selection process, 15 qualified groups were selected to advance wherein the Junior Financial Executives from the School of Business Administration and Accountancy of the University of Baguio earned the opportunity to pitch their service concepts through professional business case presentations during the preliminary round. This partnership shines light on the importance of SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals as it creates another opportunity to connect the financial industry to the University of Baguio.
As D&V. Philippines wishes to select groups that would create new ESG methods, Junior Financial Executives of University of Baguio from the School of Business Administration and Accountancy were selected to participate in the competition. It is a new step for the organization as it is directly related to what they do and what they should create while in the D&V Philippines preliminary stage. Although the JFINEX organization didn’t proceed until the final rounds, they were still able to prove that despite all candidates entering the competition during the selection process, they had the ability to create an opportunity for themselves not only as an organization but also as a student who presents an innovative idea. With this, through participation it achieves the SDG 4: Quality Education as the JFINEX organization carries out the University of Baguio’s mission that the university has indeed educates a competent students and has seek a balanced and high quality education by pursuing another means of learning environment that relates to their specialties.
The Junior Financial Executives has presented the idea that instead of building an ESG around finance, they proposed that the ESG is to be attached inside finance through ESG-Linked Financial Close. At this point, the JFINEX pitched the idea of an ESG that can move faster, less expensive and where clients can trust the numbers because ESG already co-exist in the finance structure they already trust. The pitch revolves around how ESG stops being a side project and starts behaving like finance. The proposal of the Junior Financial Executives to integrate ESG directly into the financial close strongly relates to SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure as it promotes innovation around the financial system and strengthens the use of a sustainable greener finance practices. JFINEX has showcased how the students of University of Baguio had the capabilities to produce ideas that can modernize industries through innovation and strengthen reliable systems that can support sustainable growth in each specialized industry.
In the long term, the participation of the Junior Financial Executives (JFINEX) in the D&V Philippines Sustainability Challenge 2025 demonstrated the University of Baguio’s continued dedication to promoting sustainable development and high quality education through industry engagement and innovation. Through this national competition organized by D&V Philippines, the university provided its students with an opportunity to apply their academic knowledge in a competitive and professional setting. Although JFINEX did not advance to the final round, their participation showcased their ability to develop innovative and practical ESG solutions that could help cultivate greener finance. The competition highlighted how the School of Business Administration and Accountancy and the University of Baguio itself equipped its students with the competence, creativity, and social responsibility that they need in order to contribute meaningfully. After all, the competition allows the JFINEX representatives to experience the value of academic and industry while reinforcing the university’s mission to produce graduates who are capable of creating positive and lasting impact globally.
