Independent Assurance
Statement

INTRODUCTION
DNV GL AS Philippines Branch (“DNV”) has been commissioned by the management of Ayala Corporation (“Ayala Corp.” or the “Company”, SEC Identification Number: 34218) to undertake an independent assurance of the sustainability/non-financial disclosures in Ayala Corporation’s 2020 Integrated Report (the “Report”) in its printed format for the year ended 31st December 2020. The intended users of this Assurance Statement are the management of the Company.

We performed this assurance engagement using DNV’s assurance methodology VeriSustain™^●, which is based on our professional experience, international assurance best practice including International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 Revised^●, along with the Global Reporting Initiative’s (“GRI’s”) Principles for Defining Report Content and Report Quality and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s (“SASB’s”) industry-specific Standards. The verification engagement was carried out from December 2020 to April 2021.

We understand that the reported financial data and related information are based on statutory disclosures and Audited Financial Statements^●, which are subject to a separate independent statutory audit process. We did not review financial disclosures and data as they are not within the scope of our assurance engagement.

We planned and performed our work to obtain the evidence we considered necessary to provide a basis for our assurance opinion related to assurance of non-financial sustainability disclosures in this Report. We are providing a ‘limited level’ of assurance based on DNV’s VeriSustain and no external stakeholders were interviewed as part of this assurance engagement.

The engagement excludes the sustainability management, performance, and reporting practices of Ayala Corporation’s suppliers, contractors, and any third-party mentioned in the Report. The Company’s position statements, the statements for the management approach, and case studies and examples are excluded from the scope of our work.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MANAGEMENT OF AYALA CORPORATION AND OF THE ASSURANCE PROVIDER
The Board of Ayala Corporation has sole responsibility for the preparation of the Report and is responsible for all information provided in the Report as well as the processes for collecting, analysing and reporting the information presented in the Report. Ayala Corporation has stated that this Report has been prepared based on the Guiding Principles and Content Elements of the International <IR> Framework (the ”<IR> Framework”) and has adopted general disclosures and selected topic-specific disclosures related to identified material topics from the GRI Standards 2016, selected GRI Standards (2018 and 2020) as well as the SASB Standards 2018, TCFD for climate-related financial disclosures, SDGs and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) principles.

DNV’s assurance engagements are based on the assumption that the data and information provided by the Company to us as part of our review have been provided in good faith, true, and free from material misstatements. Because of the selected nature (sampling) and other inherent limitation of both procedures and systems of internal control, there remains the unavoidable risk that errors or irregularities, possibly significant, may not have been detected. DNV was not involved in the preparation of any statement or datum included in the Report except for this Assurance Statement. DNV expressly disclaims any liability or co- responsibility for any decision a person or an entity may make based on this Assurance Statement.

Our verification engagement included limited level of verification of sustainability performance disclosures for the identified material topics of Ayala Corporation as identified under the reporting boundary brought out in the Report in the section “About this Integrated Report” ie. covering entities over which Ayala Corporation has operational control or has seconded employees in operations. Our verification applies a ±5% uncertainty threshold towards errors and omissions for the performance data brought out in the Report.

BASIS OF OUR OPINION AND LIMITATIONS
We planned and performed our work to obtain the evidence considered necessary to provide a basis for our assurance opinion as part of the assurance engagement. We adopted a risk-based approach, i.e. we concentrated our verification efforts on the issues of high material relevance to Ayala Corporation and its key stakeholders. A multi-disciplinary team of sustainability and assurance specialists reviewed non-financial disclosures related to the Head Office at Makati City, and selected sites of Ayala Corporation (AC Health, AC Ventures, AC Industrials, AC Infrastructure, iPeople) in the Philippines, based on DNV’s sampling plan. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions, we carried out remote assessments as one-to-one discussions and onsite location assessments were not feasible. We undertook the following activities:

• Review of the non–financial sustainability disclosures in this Report;
• Review of approaches to materiality determination and review of outcomes of stakeholder engagement; DNV did not have any direct engagement with external stakeholders;
• Review of information provided to us by the Company on its reporting and management processes related to sustainability performance for the reporting year based on the framework adopted by Ayala Corporation
• Interviews with selected members of leadership team, and senior managers responsible for management of sustainability issues and review of selected evidence to support generic disclosures. We were free to choose interviewees and interviewed those with overall responsibility for the programmes to deliver the targets for medium- and long-term vision, mission and milestones;
• Performed desk review of selected sustainability parameters for sampled entities, and discussed findings and resolved with the Corporate Sustainability Team;
• Carried out remote assessments with teams at AC Health, AC Ventures, AC Industrials, AC Infrastructure, iPeople, to review the processes and systems for preparing site level sustainability data and implementation of sustainability strategy. We were free to choose the sites for remote assessment or verification;
• Review of supporting evidence for key claims and data disclosed in the Report. Our verification processes were prioritized based on risk-based approach, i.e. relevance of identified material topics and sustainability context of the business;
• Review of the processes for gathering and consolidating the performance data and, for a sample, checking the data consolidation at site and corporate levels.

The procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement vary in nature and are shorter in extent than for a reasonable assurance engagement. Consequently, the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that would have been obtained if a reasonable assurance engagement had been performed. During the assurance process, we did not come across limitations to the scope of the agreed assurance engagement.

OPINION AND OBSERVATIONS
On the basis of the assurance engagement undertaken, nothing has come to our attention to suggest that Ayala Corporation’s 2020 Integrated Report does not properly describe the non-financial performance of identified material topics based on the Guiding Principles and Content Elements of the International <IR> Framework (“<IR> Framework”). Without affecting our assurance opinion, we also provide the following observations against the principles of VeriSustain:

Stakeholder Inclusiveness
The participation of stakeholders in developing and achieving an accountable and strategic response to Sustainability.

The Report has brought out key stakeholders (e.g. investors and shareholders, employees, government agencies and regulators, business partners and affiliates, bank counterparties and creditors, suppliers, customers, communities, media) to engage with, to build trust based on significant influence on Ayala Corporation’s sustainability performance. The Process considers the influence that each stakeholder has in the range of businesses and overall decision-making processes. The Report also describes the engagement modes such as consulting, involving, or collaborating with each stakeholder considering based on the extent of influence and articulates the value Ayala Corporation seeks to deliver through various engagement platforms including Ayala’s responses to the key concerns through various disclosures on strategies and value creation in the Report.
Nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the Report does not meet the requirements related to the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness.

Materiality
The process of determining the issues that are most relevant to an organization and its stakeholders.

The Report describes the process adopted by Ayala Corporation in reviewing the material topic i.e. review of material topics considering rapidly shifting business, Environment Social and Governance (ESG) landscape, including review of its new Sustainability Reporting Framework in the context of emerging trends and urgent issues that affect its stakeholders. Further the Report states materiality is aligned to GRI Standards, SASB industry-specific topics and disclosures, the 10 Principles of the UN Global Compact, WBCSD programs and Ayala Sustainability Blueprint for business transformation and integrated Material topics to relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
Nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the Report does not meet the requirements related to the Principle of Materiality.

Responsiveness
The extent to which an organization responds to stakeholder issues.

The Report brings out the Company’s responses to identified material topics, key challenges faced and significant issues including risks which have arisen during the reporting period through disclosures on Governance, Business Review, Business model, strategic responses to key stakeholders’ concerns, to deliver shared values. Further the Report also brings out its non-financial performance related to its material topics through selected GRI Topic Specific Standards and SASB industry-specific Standards as Performance Indices and its linkages to Six Capitals of <IR> framework.
Nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the Report does not meet the requirements related to the Principle of Responsiveness.

Reliability
The accuracy and comparability of information presented in the report, as well as the quality of underlying data management systems.

The majority of the performance disclosures verified through offsite verification, i.e. at the Head Office and sampled sites, and through desk reviews, were found to be fairly accurate, reliable, identifiable and traceable to the source. Considering the limited sampling, we did not detect any major errors related to data collection or aggregation. We also reviewed the calculations and related assumptions used for its suitability, taking into account the principle of Reliability. Some of the data inaccuracies identified during the verification process were found to be attributable to interpretation and aggregation errors. These identified errors were communicated, and the responses and corrections made to the reported data and information were reviewed.
Nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the Report does not meet the requirements related to the Principle of Reliability.

Completeness
How much of all the information that has been identified as material to the organization and its stakeholders is reported.

The Report discloses the Company’s non-financial disclosures based on the <IR> Framework and performance during the reporting period 2020 related to its material issues using appropriate GRI

Topic Specific Standards and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) disclosures, for the identified boundary of operations in the sections Geographic Presence and Performance Indices of the Report and covers the Company’s approaches to value creation during the reporting period.
Nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the Report does not meet the requirements related to the Principle of Completeness.

Neutrality
The extent to which a report provides a balanced account of an organization’s performance, delivered in a neutral tone.

The Report presents disclosures related to the Company’s performance, challenges and concerns of stakeholders during the reporting period in a neutral, consistent and balanced manner, applying adequate consideration to not unduly influence stakeholders’ opinion made based on the reported data and information.
Nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the Report does not meet the requirements related to the Principle of Neutrality.

Statement of Competence and Independence
DNV applies its own management standards and compliance policies for quality control, in accordance with ISO/IEC 17021:2015 – Conformity Assessment Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems, and accordingly maintains a comprehensive system of quality control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards, and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. We have complied with the DNV Code of Conduct^● during the assurance engagement and maintain independence wherever required by relevant ethical requirements.

This engagement work was carried out by an independent team of sustainability assurance professionals. DNV was not involved in the preparation of any statement or datum included in the Report except for this Assurance Statement. DNV maintains complete impartiality toward internal stakeholders interviewed during the assurance process.

DNV has provided assurance to Bank of the Philippine Islands, Ayala Land Inc., AC Energy Philippines, Inc, Manila Water Company Inc. and Globe Telecom, Inc. In our opinion, there is no conflict of interest in the assurance engagement provided to the business units of Ayala Group. DNV did not provide any services to Ayala Corporation in 2020 that could compromise the independence or impartiality of our work.

For and on behalf of DNV GL AS Philippines Branch

08th April 2021, Manila, Philippines

DNV GL AS Philippines Branch is part of DNV – Business Assurance, a global provider of certification, verification, assessment and training services, helping customers to build sustainable business performance. www.dnv.com