Category Archives: Governance

APEC, Business, Gender, Governance, New Zealand, Resilience, Structural Reform, Training, Travel, Women, Work

APEC Public-Private Dialogue on Structural Reform and Gender

September 13, 2018.  Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.  For the first time in my life, I visited New Zealand.  I attended the APEC Public-Private Dialogue on Structural Reform and Gender as the private sector representative of the Philippines.

Held September 10-11 in Wellington, the forum was a big eye-opener for me.  Over two days, I learned how structural reform can help remove many of the barriers to women’s economic participation in the region, and unlock their full potential.  Andrew Grant, senior partner of McKinsey & Company, estimates the full potential of women to contribute to the global GDP at $28 trillion per year, which equals the combined economies of China and the US.  For a best-in-region scenario of addressing three gender gaps: additional workforce participation, shifting the mix towards full-time work, and improving sector mix and productivity, this could mean an additional $12 trillion per year, equivalent to the combined economies of Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.  Zeroing in further, the Asia-Pacific economies can improve by $4.5 trillion annually, equal to the combined economies of Austria and Germany.

The numbers are staggering, and the potential is great, but many things have to be done to unlock the rewards. Many of the barriers are legislative, regulatory or policy in nature.   Addressing low labor force participation in quality jobs, under representation of women in business leadership positions, uneven access to digital technology, and entrenched attitudes about women’s role in society and work are some common themes that call for action. In addition, we need to throw in gender equality in work, provision of essential services to women, legal protection and political voice, and physical security and autonomy.

Dr. Tatyana Teplova, senior counsellor and head of Governance for Gender and Inclusiveness Unit of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), stressed the importance of promoting women’s active participation in the global economy to achieve truly sustainable and inclusive growth. Citing research in OECD economies, she identified several remaining gaps in gender equality, such as an 11% gender employment gap, only 32% share of women in senior management positions in central government, 32% average of women supreme court judges across OECD, 28.7% average of women parliamentarians in OECD, and 20% average of young women studying STEM. Alarmingly, 57% of OECD economies listed violence against women as their most urgent priority.  The cost of exclusion is high, and Dr. Teplova summarized the three Es that can unlock sustainable and inclusive economic growth as Employment, Education, and Entrepreneurship.  She shared the OECD Toolkit for Mainstreaming & Implementing Gender Equality that economies can adopt to address the barriers.

Speakers from various Asia-Pacific economies related how they are currently mainstreaming gender issues.  Ms. Chiu-Chun Lin of Chinese Taipei’s Department of Gender Equality shared real life examples of their ten-year journey in implementing the Gender Impact Assessment (GIA), which is both tool and process in practicing gender mainstreaming to achieve gender equality.  Recognizing major challenges such as established social norms and gender stereotypes (i.e., men are breadwinners and women are home makers), glass ceilings, and low labor rate participation of women due to childbirth and having to care for children, Ms. Lin shared Chinese Taipei’s initiatives for mainstreaming. These included building women’s capacity through education and training; promoting family friendly workplace policies like maternity/paternity/parental and family care leaves, once a month menstrual leaves, and twice-a-day breastfeeding time; extending access to capital and capacity building for women-owned start-ups and helping small and medium scale businesses through their Women Entrepreneurship Flying Geese Program; promoting board gender diversity in listed companies; and encouraging women’s participation in the government ministries through their One-Third Gender Ratio Principle.

Mr. Kohei Fukawa of Japan’s Gender Equality Bureau, Cabinet Office, explained Womanomics under the Abe administration. In January 2001, Japan established the Council for Gender Equality  directly reporting to the Prime Minister with the aim of creating a society in which all women shine. In December 2015, the Cabinet approved the Fourth Basic Plan for Gender Equality with long-term government policy directions and specific measures, which include reforming labor practices such as the tendency to take long working hours and relocations for granted; recruiting and promoting women, developing women leaders and increasing their participation in all fields of society; creating an environment that supports women in difficult situations; enhancing measures to eliminate violence against women; and more.

Mr. Fukawa reported an increase of over two million women in the workforce in the past five years under the Abe administration. Over the same period, nursing home capacity has increased by over 600 thousand to ease the waiting time for child nursing care facilities, allowing mothers with young children to re-enter the workforce. Realizing that Japanese women work much longer for unpaid work, while men are paid for their work, Japan is making a big push towards improving work-life balance.  Work-Style Reform Legislation was enacted in July 2018 calling for equal pay for equal work and setting an upper limit for working hours. As a reward, “Eruboshi” Certification is granted to companies that engage in good practices, with additional points in the evaluation of public procurement for those promoting work-life balance.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha shared Vietnam’s national strategy for gender equality, hinged on the following objectives: strengthening women’s representation in leadership and management positions; narrowing the gender gap in the economy especially in the rural areas; improving human resources through education and training; ensuring gender equality in accessing and receiving health care services, in culture and information, and in family life; eliminating gender-based violence and enhancing the capacity of state management on gender equality.  Results of Vietnam’s initiatives are seen in political leadership where a woman serves as the current chairperson of the national assembly and three women serve in the politburo.  Literacy levels for women is up 92%.  Social insurance laws are in place, providing parental leaves for female and male laborers, establishing a safe working environment for women, and setting up kindergartens in industrial zones.  With the help of central and local radio and TV stations, there is better public awareness of gender equality, encouraging men to share the housework and women to share the family’s economic burden.

The head of the Equality Unit of Iceland’s Ministry of Welfare Ms. Rosa Guorun Erlingsdottir shared why Iceland continues to rank first in the gender equality index.  It was not always like this though, as she shared how the women of Iceland fought for women’s equality.  Although women in Iceland won the right to vote in 1915, behind New Zealand and Finland, women’s uptake in leadership positions in government was slow. Compared to 16% to 23% in other Nordic countries, Icelandic women comprised only 5% of parliament seats in 1975.  Naturally, this was frustrating for Icelandic women.

Ms. Erlingsdottir shared how Affirmative Action can make change happen.  On October 24, 1975, now known as Women’s Day Off, Icelandic women decided it was time they were taken seriously by the men.  On that fateful day, instead of going to work, doing housework, or taking care of their children, women decided to go on strike, taking to the streets and demanding for equal rights.  Work came to a standstill.  Services stopped.  Suddenly, men realized the importance of women as they had to take care of the children, with many not knowing how to go about it.  Since then, women have enjoyed great strides to gender equality.

At present, Ms. Erlingsdottir reported that 79% of women are actively employed, with 34% working part time.  There are gender quotas on public committees and company boards, and laws in place requiring certification of equal pay.  There is an all-women political party, paving the way for women to hold 38% of parliament seats in 2017, and 44% of local governments seats in 2018.  Women make up 2/3 of university students. Ninety percent of children aged one to five years are in day care centers, with municipalities footing 85% of the cost.  Parental leave legislation allows equal rights for men and women, with three months each for males and females, and three months shared rights for parents.  Because of this legislation, over 90% of fathers have taken their paternity leave, drastically changing ideas about masculinity.  And I dare say, they actually enjoy it from the photos she showed of fathers with their young children.

The economic benefits are clear.  The increase in the number of women employed has raised per capita Nordic GDP by 10-20% over the past 50 years.  Closing gender gaps in the next 20 years are predicted to boost Nordic GDP growth by another 15-30%.

Interestingly enough, the RTS Senior VP of McKinsey & Company Australia Jovita Gartlan believes that in some cases it is the women who hold themselves back. Sharing her personal experience while attending a meeting where the participants were asked if they wanted to take on the top post of the company, most said they did not want to. They were happy with their current situation, and felt that they had too much on their plate already and did not want the additional stress.

Citing McKinsey research on women in the workplace, Ms. Gartlan said that while women are just as interested in advancing as men, they progress more slowly through the corporate pipeline.  And while women ask for promotions as often as men, men move up faster without having to ask.  She noted that less women aspire to and believe they will become a top executive, and that fewer women than men enjoy the support of their managers in their quest for advancement.  The studies are clear: gender greatly impacts women’s opportunities, especially since women have to do most of the housework (which is unpaid) after a full day’s paid work at the office.  Given the double work shift of home and office, and having to care for children and the elderly, no wonder women hold back.

For organizations that wish to change the game and move more women into positions of leadership, Ms. Gartlan recommends building a strong business case for change, redesigning roles to enable more flexible arrangements, actively sponsoring potential women leaders, providing reinforcement mechanisms that support women through life transitions and challenge traditional views or merit in recruitment and evaluation, investing in training to build leadership capabilities and giving them experience in key leadership roles.  She urged women to actively ask their managers not just to mentor them, but to sponsor them for promotion.  And for those who feel happy where they are, to embrace the feelings of “being enough” and not feel pressured.

The forum also gathered indigenous women holding leadership positions in the public and private sectors.  Linda Paru of Papua New Guinea talked about the challenges women entrepreneurs, especially those from MSMEs, faced such as lack of access to credit and the high cost of internet and ICT.  While there are many challenges, she cited telecoms and financial reforms that contribute to MSME’s participation in online services, digital finance, e-health and e-education.  Senior Adviser for the Status of Women in Canada, Anne Fontaine spoke of indigenous women’s issues, rights and interests in Canada.  Ms. Rangimarie Hunia, director of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Maia Ltd., spoke of the leadership role of Maori women, being a prime example herself of a strong Maori woman leader intent on securing the future of her mokopuna or the next generation.

Ms. Josephine Cashman, Founder, Executive Director and Managing Director of Big River Consulting Pty. Ltd., spoke of her experiences with legislation and regulation implementation and enforcement.  It is one thing to come up with laws against domestic violence and gender discrimination, and another to implement it. She recounted the experience of an elected female MP who resigned because of bullying from her male colleagues; they were more interested in her hair and attire than her policy work.  The statistics in New Zealand are harrowing: one in three women have suffered physical or sexual abuse; one in five were harassed at work and one woman per week is killed by a former partner.  The statistics are even more alarming for Maori women.  Strengthening enforcement is thus crucial.

To combat this, New Zealand has embarked on a national campaign against domestic violence and gender discrimination.  New Zealand has passed legislation granting victims of domestic violence 10 days paid leave to allow them to get away from their abusive partners, relocate and protect themselves and their children.  The only other country that has passed a similar law on a national level is the Philippines under the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, granting up to 10 days special leave for victims and stiff penalties for employers who try to impede such leave.

Gender Pay Equity was another hot topic.  And here, Ms. Rosa Guorun Erlingsdottir of Iceland shared the inroads they are doing to reduce the estimated 20% difference in pay between men and women.  Iceland has made it a legal requirement for employers with 25 people and more to get an Equal Pay Certification which must be renewed yearly.  This means Equal Pay for the same Work or Work of Equal Value.  To ensure there is no discrimination, an audit is done of jobs of equal value, separating the job from the person doing it.  Employers are asked to rank jobs, which are then paired with jobs of equal value.  Companies that get the certification are also allowed to use the Equal Pay Symbol in their corporate promotions.  Companies that do not follow the law are fined.

Participants were fully engaged in two workshops. First was a practical group exercise on Gender Impact Assessment where each table was asked to weigh in on a country-wide issue that affects women and to recommend how to handle the situation.   Our group was presented with a Public Sector Scenario of a drastic slump in the economy causing businesses to close and government wanting to reduce its overhead.  The department mandate is to limit government jobs to only one person per family.  With approximately 40% women in government positions, of which 39% have frontline service positions while 27% have back office positions, 21% in middle management positions, 13%in senior leadership positions and 29% working part time, it was obvious that women would be the first to lose their jobs.

Our animated discussion revolved around how to consult the public and women in particular on the proposal and what changes in the draft resolution we recommended.  We looked at how families will want to keep the full time, higher-paid member on government payroll to ensure continued family income, and how the government can assist families that are affected such as stepping up skills training, giving higher separation pay, providing priority access to funds and markets, giving plus points in government procurement for those let go, and ensuring gender neutral criteria in the selection of those to let go.  The group discussion highlighted the disparity in economies of Chile and New Zealand where the unemployed enjoy six months insurance versus that of Mexico and the Philippines, where no work means no pay and no food on the table.

To cap the two-day dialogue, Mr. Phil O’Reilly, New Zealand APEC Business Advisory Council Member, facilitated a whole group discussion on next steps that APEC can take to push the agenda of structural reform and gender.  The group came up with a long list of recommendations, such as collecting data and best practices for gender plus lens across APEC economies and sharing this in a digital portal for easy access, conducting and making available research on gender pay standards and how to close the gender pay gap, studying the OECD Toolkit to determine its adaptability in the region, and establishing a pathfinder initiative that looks at how gender is incorporated into all free trade agreements, to name a few.

I look forward to finding out what APEC will adopt as its next steps given this first foray into a dialogue on structural reform and gender.  Definitely, there is a lot that needs to be done to remove barriers to women’s economic participation in the region, and unlock their full potential.  What is clear to me from this two-day dialogue is the urgent need to measure and know disaggregated gender data using the Gender Plus lens.  Unless we establish a base line, we won’t know what needs to be done and how we are progressing.  As New Zealand’s Acting Policy Director for Economic Independence of the Ministry of Women, Ms. Riripeti Reedy said, “You only treasure what you measure.”  We have to start now.

Business, Children, Corporate Social Responsibility, Differences, Food, Governance, Health, Life, Resilience, Women

Brewing@AIM with VP Leni Robredo

Yesterday morning, I attended the launch of Brewing@AIM: Conversations with Thought Leaders with VP Leni Robredo as its very first guest speaker. Truth to tell, I was a bit miffed when I arrived at 8:45 am only to learn that the keynote speaker was scheduled to arrive at 10:30 am. It was nice though that there were some early birds like me, and so I joined the table of my friend, Yoling Sevilla, CEO of The Leather Collection, Inc.  Yoling and I are both board members of the Women’s Business Council (WomenBizPH). Yoling invited me to her company’s 25th anniversary celebration at AIM on September 16, and reminded me that my late husband Mike who was then VP for External Affairs at AIM had given The Leather Collection its first big break with the AIM diary.

Yoling is one admirable woman, an entrepreneur par excellence, and is currently doing wonderful work with the GREAT Women project. She kidded me about her being the youngest graduate at our table, having finished the 18-month part-time program, Master in Entrepreneurship (ME). A relatively new offering of the Asian Institute of Management, ME is designed to help busy entrepreneurs grow their business, develop practical skills and realistic approaches to value creation and growth, and balance both personal and business goals.

Yoling and I were seated with AIM’s first MBM graduates from 1970 and 1971: Rene Sunico, Butch Bautista, Jun Orobia, and Chito Francisco.  The talk around the table revolved around giving back to the community, particularly those who were devastated by super typhoon Yolanda.  Rene shared that Republic Cement had built 25-sqm hyperbolic paraboloid houses in partnership with Habitat for Humanity in Daanbantayan, Cebu. These houses were made to deflect the fiercest winds and withstand strong earthquakes, he said. Curious, I tried to remember my highschool geometry lessons and imagine how a hyperbolic paraboloid house would look. Rene tried to explain that the outside was pointed and the inside was round. Aha! So, it’s an igloo on the inside and a pyramid on the outside, I said aloud.  To satisfy my curiosity, I asked him to send me photos of the houses, which he kindly did.

Promptly at 10:30am, Vice President Leni Robredo arrived. VP Leni also holds the office of chair of Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC). She spoke quite passionately about her mission to eradicate poverty. Promising to make HUDCC a listening office, VP Leni shared her experience of traveling to the poorest and farthest barangays to meet and listen to Filipinos at the fringes of society. She admitted that working at the grassroots level was not the happy field trips and photo opportunities people thought them to be, but actually tense situations, mostly humid and tiring, where she met people who are angry, hungry and desperate for lack of opportunity. It was interesting that VP Leni called them partners in development rather than mere beneficiaries, giving them a more active role in improving their situation.

Citing the economic results posted two weeks ago where the Philippines hit 7% GDP growth, besting China’s 6%, VP Leni observed that this top line growth has put the country on the global map, and that now all eyes are trained on the Philippines. And yet, despite this economic boom, the inequality is startling with 52% of the national income belonging to the Richest, the top 20% Filipinos, while only a miniscule 4.45% of national income goes to the Poorest, the bottom 20% of Filipinos.

VP Leni pointed out that while inclusive growth is critical for the poor, it was also necessary so that businesses could grow sustainably. Admitting that government cannot do it alone, and that her office has a miniscule budget, she asked the AIM alumni to lend their support and help eradicate poverty through five main areas: 1) housing, 2) public health and hunger, 3) rural development and food security, 4) education, and women economic empowerment.

I was surprised to learn that there is a 5.7M total housing backlog, which translates to building 2,602 houses per day in the next six years. I nudged Rene Sunico and said this was right up his alley. But building houses alone will not solve the problem, VP Leni stressed. A whole eco-system must be built with livelihood opportunites, proper sewerage and drainage, security of tenure, schools, hospitals, parks, children’s playgrounds. HUDCC is also making it easier for people to have homes, by reducing paperwork for socialized housing from 27 to 9, and reducing processing time from two years to 15-30 days.

On the health front, VP Leni said there are 3.5M Filipino children suffering from stunting. Unless children are given better nutrition, a decade from now, the workforce will be weak and unfit for work. The objective is to improve nutritional intake of children in first 1,000 days of life from womb to two years. She cited the work that the Zuellig Foundation is undertaking to help address hunger and proper nutrition, and that of Seaoil in creating an Information Management System tool that allows data gathering of where the need is.

Rural development and food security can be addressed with Impact Investment. VP Leni cited the example of Jollibee Foundation that is helping small farming communities become entrepreneurs by teaching them to grow onions and sell them. This being a transition year in education with the K to12, the focus should be on career planning, skills development, and job matching. VP Leni shared that the aspiration of most high school seniors is to learn baking. Obviously, there is a great Disconnect as graduates need to have the right skills to enter the workforce. She urged LGUs to created a database of existing jobs that could be accessed to fight underemployment.

Women economic empowerment, VP Leni’s last initiative, is exactly what the Women’s Business Council (WomenBizPH) is advocating for, from livelihood training to mentoring, micro-finance and access to market. WomenBizPH has been in the forefront of organizing or collaborating with likeminded stakeholders in policy advocacy for women economic empowerment. For example, WomenBizPH served as the private sector representative during the last APEC Women in the Economy Forum held in Manila, as well as the lead partner of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) in the Inclusive Lending Window for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs (ILAW) program that seeks to provide access to finance for women entrepreneurs. Other regular programs include quarterly WomenBizPH talks and bi-annual conferences, network and business matching, mentorship for entrepreneurial development and research on entrepreneurship.

VP Leni summed up her speech with three important takeaways learned during HUDCC’s listening and environmental scanning stage. First, the voices of communities must be heard; we must listen and find out what they need. Second, LGUs have a huge role to play to make poverty reduction a reality. Finally, there must be metrics that measure outcomes and not activities. She urged the private sector to work hand in hand with government to ensure inclusiveness for all.  I trust that her words fell on fertile ears at AIM and that six years from now, poverty will be a thing of the past. One thing I am sure of, she can count on WomenBizH as a partner in development.

 

Adventure, Art, Church, Confidence, Food, Governance, Resilience, Tourism, Training, Travel

Discovering Bacolod

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October 19, 2015, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.  When Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue of Bacolod invited me to speak at the 2nd Trade and Tourism Expo and Conferences, entitled MassKaraCity 2015, I immediately agreed. I’ve long wanted to visit Bacolod, capital of the province of Negros Occidental. The only other time I’ve been there, I was just 17 years old and on a Goodwill Mission to Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo together with the Most Outstanding Coeds of Metro Manila.

We stayed with foster parents in each city, paid courtesy visits to local government officials, and met with student leaders. To a city girl like me, Bacolod seemed laid back, especially when we were driving down roads lined with sugar plantations behind what seemed to be an endless string of trucks craning under the weight of sugarcane. What has changed, I wonder?

20151016_143714What hit me this time is that Bacolod seems to be booming. Perhaps it was because of the Masskara Festival that was happening at the same time as the conference. Arriving at the airport, we were greeted by dancers dressed in colorful garb, prancing to the beat of drums. The main streets in the center of town were brightly lit, festooned with decorative buntings. We passed several malls, a sure indication of prosperity.   The event itself was being held at the year-old SMX Convention Center Bacolod.

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Cutting the ribbon to formally open the 2nd Bacolod Trade and Tourism Expo and Conferences, SMX Convention Center, Bacolod City

At the opening of MassKaraCity 2015, I listened intently to local government and business leaders speak of the city’s tourism and trade potential. I heard the passion in the voice of City Councilor Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue as she spoke of the accomplishments in tourism and industry, especially in the IT-BPM sector, thanked all those who helped, and announced that she would no longer run for office in the upcoming elections. Jocelle chairs the Committee on Tourism, International and Local Cooperation and the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod.

I was happy to note that the IT-BPM industry is flourishing in Bacolod. Two years ago, Bacolod was recognized by the Department of Science and Technology as a center for excellence for information technology and business process outsourcing, joining the ranks of Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Clark. That’s when I first met Jocelle, and was impressed by her fervor and efforts to develop the IT-BPM industry in Bacolod. Several locators have set up shop in Bacolod, like Teletech Philippines, Teleperformance Philippines, Data Solutions Outsourcing, Panasiatic Solutions-Bacolod, Interface Techno Philippines, A&E Global Fusion, Hit Rate Solutions, Alliance Call Centre, Solutionz Call Center, Magsaysay Global BPO, Transcom Philippines, BPO TeleQuest, Shorecloud Corp and Focus Direct Services. No wonder the place was booming!

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Meeting the gracious and multi-faceted Atty. Juan N. Orola, Jr.

Tourism is definitely a strong pillar for Bacolod’s economy, what with its wildly successful Masskara Festival. I was fortunate to have met Atty. Juan V. Orola, Jr. (John)  who was intimately involved in starting and developing the Masskara Festival. Formerly a diplomat, John served as Tourism Attache of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, Japan and the Philippine Consulate in Losa Angelas, USA, North and Latin America. He is a lawyer as well as a Doctor of Ecclesiastical Law. I also found out that he was a member of the Lower House representing Bacolod from 1998-2001. But what struck me most was his enthusiasm and commitment to develop Bacolod’s tourism potential.

John recounted the festival’s beginnings in 1980 during a period of severe crisis and tragedy. The global price of sugar had just dropped with the introduction of sugar substitutes in the United States, hitting Bacolod, which relied on sugarcane exports as its main source of revenues, at its core. To make things worse, Bacolod was reeling from the death of 700 Negrenses in a mid-water collision of inter-island MV Don Juan and tanker Tacloban City, throwing the 20151016_143231city into gloom. To bring the people out of the doldrums, the local government, business and civic groups and local artisans banned together to launch a festival of smiles. They called it Masskara, taken from the words mass (people) and cara (face) and had revellers wear masks with smiling faces. In essence, Bacolod declared it would not allow itself to be vanquished. And the city has not looked back since.

Because it was festival season, all the hotels and flights were full. I was booked at Luxur Hotel, or what used to be the Bacolod Convention Plaza Hotel, now home for Teleperformance Bacolod. It was safe, Jocelle promised, being in front of the Bacolod Police Headquarters. And though it was not in the center of town, it was just 50 meters from the Negros Organic Market and 20 meters from Aboy’s, the best Bacolod restaurant.  I made a mental note to try out Aboy’s.

20151016_141931After the ribbon cutting on Friday, we toured the trade exhibition at SMX. I was impressed by the creativity of the local artists and the variety of products on display, from food to paintings and intricately woven baskets. Desserts appeared to be a strong point, with the abundance of sweets, a natural course given Bacolod is sugarland. All I remember from my first trip to Bacolod was piaya, but this time I was introduced to Napoleones, mango tarts, caramel tarts, barquillos, bizcocho, broas, and more. I kept getting suggestions to visit Calea and Felicia’s but didn’t have the time this trip.

Bacolod seems to be a paradise for foodies, and everyone I met urged me to try chicken inasal. But since I shy away from chicken, I opted for seafood instead. The first night in Bacolod, I toyed with the idea of having dinner at Aboy’s but was told not to walk there as it was already late and dark; instead I just stayed in the hotel and worked on my presentation.

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Meeting Aboy’s founder, with Mrs. Josefina Puentevella.
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Riches of the sea: oysters, angel clams, squid, blue marlin.

On my second night in Bacolod, the mayor’s wife Mrs. Josefina Puentevella (Tita Paching) brought me to Aboy’s and ordered a delicious repast of seafood. I was introduced to diwal (angel wing clams), squid fat, their version of laing, and I was hooked! We feasted on scallops, oysters and blue marlin. What made it more special was meeting its amiable owner. Tita Paching recounted how it grew from being a small eatery in 1992 catering to pharmaceutical reps to this big expansive restaurant we were eating in.  She pointed out the owner’s wife who was behind the till, still hard at work.

Early the next day, Tita Paching picked me up and we heard mass at the Cathedral of San Sebastian, originally built in 1876.  Seeing the familiar figure of San Sebastian tied to a tree with arrows sticking ut of him, I remembered my childhood.  Every Sunday, we would go to mass at the Basilica of San Sebastian behind which we lived.  I would stare at his statue at the main altar, and wonder how strong his faith was to be martyred for it.  After mass, we visited the Organic Market, picked up a refreshing dayap and cucumber juice and then had breakfast at Luxur.

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Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips’ lifeboat behind us at the VMA Training Center.

After this, Atty. John Orola came to pick me up and show me his school, The VMA Global College and Training Centers where they prepare students for lifetime careers ranging from maritime to tourism. It was interesting touring the school’s facilities, especially the MV VMA, a full mission simulator where students can experience how to navigate a vessel using the Poseidon simulator, maneuvering under various conditions and situations and avoiding collision.   A group of students was then undergoing survival training, learning how to swim under difficult conditions and to jump from heights. There was an enclosed 28-foot lifeboat, which apparently had been used by Tom Hanks in the movie Captain Phillips that I wanted to enter, but we could not as survival training was ongoing. Next trip, I thought.

After VMA, we moved over to Sum-Ag, Bacolod City where we met Tomas “Tomiko” Claridad Casiano, a retired floral designer from Beverly Hills. When he decided to come back to the Philippines, Tomiko packed up his collection of over 2,000 vintage glass pieces in 66 crates, and built a two-story museum next door to his home to house his beloved collection. 20151017_115808Opened to the public on December 12, 2012, Laguerta, home of the Vintage Glass Museum has been recognized as the largest collection of depression glasses outside of the United States, and the first in Asia.

Tomiko’s love story with vintage glasses began when he searched for interesting vases for the floral creations he would use in the homes of the rich and famous. Attracted to vintage glass, particularly depression glasses manufactured in the Unites States from 1904 to 1940, Tomiko had his collection of dinnerware, decanters, commemorative plates and decorative objects arranged by color, from yellow to amber, pink, ruby, fire, green, aquamarine, cobalt blue and delphite which is an opaque blue glass.

20151017_115213He eagerly showed us the stars of his collection, explaining the difference between carnival glasses, which are pattern-molded iridescent glasses sprayed with metallic salts while the glass was hot, and opalescent glasses, which have two layers of glass: one colored and the other clear. He explained that washing the latter several times would wash away its color completely. He showed us his Vaseline collection, which is no longer being made because it requires uranium to produce its yellow to yellow green color; a Jadite collection that is milk green, a pearlized mustard collection that is milk yellow, and a milky white collection.

Tomiko pointing out the finer details of the glass bowl.
Tomiko pointing out the finer details of the glass bowl.

Tomiko held up some bowls to the sun so that we could appreciate the patterns. I was intrigued by a night lamp he held up that was etched all around with a ship, a spouting whale, a swimming whale and anchors. I imagined it lit by a candle, and a young mother during the depression telling her child a bedtime story of maritime adventure as the flickering light of the candle threw shadows on the wall. Another interesting item was a bedtime jar, whose cover was actually an upturned glass. Tomiko had two of those in his collection.

Listening to his stories and watching him as he toured us around, I was impressed with Tomiko.  Here was a man, totally unassuming, who loved what he did and was eager to share it with the world. When I asked when visiting hours for his museum was, he explained that we had to call ahead to make a reservation so he could be there. He did not have staff to manage the museum, and did everything himself, afraid that they would not take care of his collection as well as he did.

20151017_121300Tomiko then invited us to visit the church of San Juan Nepomuceno that he has been supporting. The church housed his Escayola Collection of Mutilated Religious Arts. Since many Catholic families in the Philippines have “santos” or images of saints made of escayola (plaster of Paris), owners are unsure what to do with them when they break. Missing limbs or heads, the “santos” are no longer displayed. As it is considered bad luck to throw them, they are instead buried.

One night, Tomiko dreamt that he was being asked by God to take care of broken religious icons made of escayola. The very next day, a neighbor came by and gave him a broken statue of a saint that he had unearthed while digging in his garden. This started his collection, as news spread and friends and even people he did not know would come up to him and gift him with their broken statues. I asked him if he knew who all these “santos” represented, and he admitted that he did not know all of them, but that a researcher was helping him identify the statues for proper labeling. I am sure that just like his vintage glass collection, Tomiko’s escayola collection will someday be recognized as unique and outstanding.

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With John Orola and Atty. Danny Cruz of the VMA Global College

My last stop before going to the airport for my return trip to Manila was the stadium. I was adamant to catch even one Masskara dance, and was lucky to see the group that performed in Hong Kong. It was an amazing performance, and a fitting end to my quick trip to Bacolod City. I vowed to come back next year for the Masskara festival and stay the entire weekend.  Now to look for tickets and book a hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Communication, competence, Governance, Tourism, Women, Work

Do we need women in corporate boards?

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Do we need women in the Board?

This was the interesting question posed during the WomenBiz Talks organized by the Women’s Business Council Philippines at the Dusit Thani Hotel today, and which sparked a healthy debate.  Aside from being inducted as a member of WomenBiz, I was glad I attended the talk, though I missed attending the Amcham General Membership Meeting next door.

After a hearty lunch of ginisang munggo, laing and adobong manok, and the inevitable photo taking, the intimate group of powerful women tackled the day’s theme.   Chit Juan, president of Echostore Sustainable Lifestyle, opened the discussion with a premise that we need a law to ensure seats in corporate boards, as the addition of women corporate directors results in better decisions and more diversity in outlook.

Atty. Lorna Kapunan, senior partner at Kapunan Garcia & Castillo Law Office, roundly disagreed citing the case of Norway that had passed legislation mandating a 40% woman-man ratio on public limited companies to disappointing results. Because there were not enough competent (aka trained) women corporate directors available, companies forced to take on women to comply with the mandated ratio, quickly saw their stock prices plunge.  To protect themselves from this legislation, about 70% of public limited companies delisted since 2003; while new companies incorporated outside of Norway to avoid this requirement.

Because men and women are wired differently, it was observed that women in boards tend to push for property acquisition rather than leveraged organic growth.  And then there’s the issue of women having other interests, such as having children and taking care of their families. This is not to say that we cannot have women corporate directors, especially in the Philippines.

In the case of companies of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs), it would be disastrous not to have women on the board as they would represent the interests of the consumers, being the ones with the buying power.  There are also industries where women dominate.  One such example is the Tourism Industry, to which I belong.

In the country’s Tourism Promotions Board, for instance, three of the five private sector directors are women: Margarita F. Munsayac, VP of Maribago Blue Water Beach Resort (Representing Accommodation Sector); Margarita F. Villarica, president and general manager of Destination Specialists, Inc. (Representing Travel & Tour Services), and me (Representing Meeting, Incentives Travel, Conventions, Exhibitions & Events Services & Facilities M.I.C.E.Sector).  And on the public sector side, we have Usec. Laura del Rosario of Department of Foreign Affairs, Usec. Fe Reyes of the Department of Trade and Industry, and Usec. Catherine Gonzales of Department of Transportation and Communication.  Clearly, TPB is a woman-dominated board.

According to the International Business Report (IBR) released by local audit company Punongbayan & Araullo and global firm Grand Thornton, on average women comprise about 34% of company boards in the Philippines, which is way above the global average of 19%.  One advantage Filipinas have is the availability of househelp to assist in taking care of the house and children, freeing women to pursue careers in the corporate world.   And I’d like to add the social support system of families.  I don’t think I could have gone very far in business without my beloved mom being there to supervise my yayas in looking after my children and my home.

What advantages do women bring to the board room?  According to a study by Professor of Strategic Management Bart of the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University which polled 624 board directors in Canada, women were more likely to use “co-operation, collaboration and consensus building” when dealing with complex decisions.   Also, women were more likely to take into account interests of multiple stakeholders as they viewed fairness as an important factor in their decision-making.

A Credit Suisse report on gender diversity and corporate performance indicates that companies with women on the board exhibited higher return on equity (ROE) and better average growth.  Catalyst Inc. (2007) showed that Fortune 500 companies with more women on their boards were found to outperform their rivals with return on sales and return on equity.  What could possibly be the reason for the better financial performance?

Credit Suisse proposes that gender diversity signals a better company, with greater effort across the board, a better mix of leadership skills, access to a wider pool of talent, a better reflection of the consumer decision-maker, improved corporate governance, and risk aversion.

Lorna was emphatic that there should be no legislation to mandate appointment of women on corporate boards.  Rather, competence was the only reason women should be on corporate boards.  I totally agree on this point.  And that’s why I am seriously considering Chit’s recommendation to take the Institute of Corporate Directors Course, and help in raising awareness of women to aspire for board seats for greater diversity.

Accountability, Church, Faith, Governance, Principles, Transparency

A Controversy Like No Other

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July 23, 2014.  Bishop Jesse Mercado was slated to pay a Pastoral Visit to the Ascension of Our Lord Parish at 5pm.  He was to say mass at one of the developing areas and then proceed to the parish for a fellowship and meeting with the parish leaders.  The parish leaders and Fr. Joseph Landero have been preparing for the visit for three weeks. I was asked to emcee the meeting and to help our parish secretary with the PowerPoint Presentation of parish plans during the meeting.

Truth to tell, I was hesitant about even showing up, not knowing how I would be able to handle the visit.  The first time I encountered a Pastoral Visit was in 2008, when I was president of the Parish Pastoral Council with Fr. Didoy Molina as our parish priest. Together with the other leaders, we prepared documentation of our parish activities, achievements, financial report, and plans which we presented in a Parish Covenant Book to the Bishop.  Full of fervor to serve the church, we were so happy when the Bishop congratulated us, saying The Ascension of Our Lord Parish may be a small one but it was an excellent example of a God-filled ecclesial community.

The last pastoral visit was in 2010.  By then, I had finished my term as president of the PPC and was now just a member of the Parish Planning Board.  But still, the fervor was there and we were again congratulated roundly.

This visit though was different.  This was the first time the Bishop was coming to visit after the heated controversy that took the Diocese of Paranaque by storm in 2012, spurring concerned parish leaders and parishioners to question the way the diocese was being managed on issues of governance, transparency and accountability.  The controversy landed in national news and was covered in a chapter in the book, Altar of Secrets.  The Lay Initiative for Transparency and Accountability (LAITY) was established, as the laity pushed for reform, communicating with church leaders, even as far the Vatican.

For being one of those who voiced out our concerns, I was criticized roundly and made a target during parish sermons. The other parish leaders were also treated the same way, eased out of their parish pastoral councils, and some even were not renewed as lectors and ministers of the Holy Eucharist. The priests who had stood up against the bishop were removed from their positions, and assigned to hardship posts.

The controversy cut the community deeply as parishioners all over the diocese took sides.  My daughter withdrew from being a lector, and my son from being an altar server.  Niccolo could not bear hearing his mother lambasted in church.  Mike stopped going to church, and ordered me to stop tithing until we were sure that the monies collected went to their intended beneficiaries.  Pretty soon, I was all alone going to mass, still serving as a lector but hurting nevertheless.  I reminded myself that it was God I was serving and not the church leadership.  And then Mike took ill, and I withdrew from attending LAITY meetings to focus on taking care of him.  I agonized over what had befallen our family for having stood up on my principles.  Did God take Mike away because of this?

On Pentecost Day during mass, Fr. JoLan announced that the bishop had been cleared by the Nuncio of all wrongdoing in a report.  I asked my circle of priest friends if they had seen the report.  None had. I wanted to ask for a copy of that report, as the LAITY as well as concerned priests had met with the Nuncio several times regarding the situation, asking for an answer to our questions.  Such a report would put the matter finally to rest, I thought and would be a first step towards healing the rift.

The day before the pastoral visit, I called Chris, our parish secretary to ask for a copy of the Parish Covenant Book on which the presentation was to be based.  Chris said he was still working on it, but would email it first thing in the morning.  I woke up at 5am that day, ready to work on the prezo, but it had not come in.  With back to back meetings all day, it was not until the afternoon that I realized that I still had not received the promised email.  So, at 5pm on that rainy afternoon, I went to the parish to work on it, but not before first passing by the new adoration chapel.  As I knelt in the still chapel, I prayed for guidance, discernment, patience, forgiveness and understanding.  Let Your Will be done, Oh Lord, I prayed.

At the bahay pari, I learned that Chris was still at work and had not finished putting together the Parish Covenant Book.  I asked him to email what he had finished so far.  Instead, I got the individual reports of the various commissions which were in different formats.  As I rushed to compile these into a coherent presentation, I heard the Bishop and the priests arrive.  I stood up and greeted the Bishop, who extended his condolences on Mike’s passing.  I was surprised that he had known.  Perhaps Fr. JoLan had told him.

The dinner and the meeting went smoothly.  I was itching to grill the Bishop regarding the controversy and the Nuncio report that Fr. JoLan had talked about, but did not want to embarrass the council and Fr. JoLan, and so I kept quiet. Doing so would only make matters worse, I thought. No questions were asked during the open forum.  It was only later I found out that they had been told not to ask questions.  Oh, well!

As we left the room, I went up to the Bishop and asked him why he still had not given Fr. Didoy a parish.  After all, the Bishop had told me that he would do this a year ago.  The Bishop said it was because Fr. Didoy would not see him. What if I arranged the meeting, I asked him.  Would you talk to him as Christ did his disciples?  He gave me his mobile number and said yes.

Will need to storm the heavens with prayers to make this work.