Leadership Team
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 ~7 GW 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
Group Chief Operating Officer & Group
Chief Development Officer
SECH ZABALETA is the Group Chief Operating Officer and Group Chief Development Officer of ACEN. He is a member of ACEN’s Strategy Committee, Investment Committee and Executive Management Committee. He is Executive Chairman of ACEN Australia, and Chairman and/or President of ACEN’s Philippine development and land companies. Sech is also the Chief Development Officer of ACEIC.
Sech has over 20 years of experience in renewable energy. Prior to joining ACEN, he was Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bronzeoak Clean Energy, a pioneer and leader in clean technology energy development in the Philippines. Bronzeoak’s energy businesses were integrated into ACEN in early 2017.
Sech holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, USA, and a bachelor of science Management Honors degree from the Ateneo de Manila University. He has experience in the Philippines, Hong Kong, the UK, the US and Australia.
Jonathan Back
Group Chief Finance Officer & Group Chief Strategy Officer
JONATHAN BACK is the Group Chief Finance Officer and Group 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 Vice 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 solicitor’s final exam.
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.
Patrice is also the President and CEO of ACEN International and 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.
John Philip Orbeta
Group Chief Human Resources, Group Chief Administrative Officer & Group Chief Risk Officer
JP ORBETA is the Group Chief Human Resources, Group Chief Administrative Officer, and Group Chief Risk Officer of ACEN. 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 AB Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University.
Cecile Cruzabra
Group Treasurer
CECILE CRUZABRA is the Group Treasurer of ACEN and Chief Finance officer of ACEIC and ACEN International. Prior to joining ACEN, she held the role of CFO, treasurer, chief risk officer and group director for corporate finance & strategy of Manila Water Company, Inc. from 2018 to September 2021, and was the treasurer of Ayala Corporation from 2014 to 2018. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Cecile has over 37 years of career experience in research, treasury & finance, risk management, having worked at Ayala Corporation, Manila Water, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., Makati Business Club, Sun Hung Kai Securities, Metro Pacific Corporation, Steniel Manufacturing Corporation, 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 AB in Economics (Honors Program) from the Ateneo de Manila University.
Maria Franchette Acosta
Corporate Secretary
FRANCHETTE ACOSTA is the Corporate Secretary of the ACEN. She is also the Corporate Governance Group Head and Chief Legal Officer of Ayala Corporation.
She has been a practicing lawyer for 24 years, with 18 years in the Villaraza & Angangco Law Firm where she was a Senior Partner, Co-Managing Partner and Head of its Corporate and Commercial Department. Ms. Acosta was an Assistant Secretary at the Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel of the Republic of the Philippines where she served from 2001 to 2003. She is recognized as an expert counsel in leading legal journals and publications such as Chambers Global, Chambers Asia Pacific and Legal 500. She consistently among Asia Business Law Journal’s top 100 lawyers in the Philippines.
Franchette graduated from New York University with a master of laws in 2003. She ranked 3rd in the Philippine Bar Examination and earned her bachelor of laws from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1998 where she graduated Class Valedictorian and cum laude. She holds a bachelor of science in Business Economics from the University of the Philippines School of Economics in 1994 where she graduated magna cum laude.
Dodjie Lagazo
Group General Counsel, Group Compliance Officer & Assistant Corporate Secretary
DODJIE LAGAZO is a Managing Director and the Head of Legal, Governance and Compliance unit of ACEN. In his role, he led the development and execution of ACEN group’s corporate legal strategy, while overseeing governance and compliance programs.
Dodjie concurrently serves as the Corporate Secretary of ENEX. 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. He also holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of the Philippines – Diliman, graduating magna cum laude.
Miguel De Jesus
Managing Director, Philippines
MIGUEL DE JESUS is a Managing Director of ACEN and Head of Philippine Operations. Prior roles included leading the company’s solar developments in Vietnam, pioneering its retail electricity business, and managing the company’s first operating wind assets in the Philippines.
Miguel is also Director and President of various operating subsidiaries of ACEN. Prior to joining ACEN, Miguel practiced law, with a focus on energy and project finance.
Miguel holds a master’s degree 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 from the University of Philippines, graduating cum laude.
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.
Duane Eric Cramer
Head, Philippine Development
DUANE CRAMER is the Head of Philippine Development of ACEN. He has 43 years of experience in the business and project development of large electric generation and other infrastructure projects backed by in-depth technical, management, financing and regulatory and government affairs capabilities. Duane has worked in various capacities with ACEN and affiliates for over 8 years, including responsibility for establishing ACEN’s transmission development team prior to assuming his present responsibilities overseeing the development and construction of ACEN’s Philippines solar, onshore wind, storage and supporting transmission projects.
Prior to joining ACEN, Duane was Vice President, Development and then Senior Vice President, Development for Sithe Global Power LLC., a US-based independent power developer and portiolio company of the Blackstone Group. While at SitheGlobal, Duane was responsible for development initiatives in Canada, India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Duane holds a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Syracuse University, where he graduated Magna cum Laude in 1981. While studying at SU, Duane served as a research assistant supporting the school’s wind energy research and held an internship at and was retained as a consultant by the US Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Research Institute (now known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory).