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Filipina Empowerment: The Power Women
By Excel V. Dyquiangco
For the past decades women have taken on exemplary roles and responsibilities. At home, in the government and at the work place and in all industries, they serve as visionaries, leaders and as nation builders. They manage to inspire, to influence and to motivate people from around the globe with their wisdom and wit, and their ethereal beauty both inside and out.
This month we celebrate and honour ten of these Filipino women who have shaped culture, nurtured the heart of the family and the masses and celebrated their uniqueness in their fields of endeavor, wherever they may be.
Rear Admiral – USA
Growing up in a family where almost every one serves the country and the community, Bette Bolivar who was raised in the Bicol region, had at first considered about studying Law at University of Hawaii then decided that she would be most happy serving the people. Now the first woman to be called Commander of Joint Region Marianas and Navy Region Northwest and a high-ranking official of the US Navy, she says that the path ahead of her is very challenging but she can ultimately go on with renewed success.
As part of her responsibilities, she takes charge of the US territory of Guam which is nearest to the Philippines.
PBCOM President – Philippines
Having worked for 38 years in the banking industry, Nina Aguas’ career has spun countless of achievements and worldwide success. As the first female Country Business Manager of Citybank’s Global Consumer Group, she has strengthened the sales capability, directed sales discipline, and established telemarketing that allowed her to cross the one million mark in credit cards. She has also worked with the ANZ Group as MD for Retail and Private Banking, Asia-Pacific with responsibilities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
In 2012, she came back to the country to head PBCOM and become the bank’s CEO. In these years she executed successfully these programs: launching the new logo, transformed the branches of the banks into business centres, and conducted the review of the products of the bank, among others.
Lawyer, Writer and Legal Scholar – USA
Amy Chua describes herself as an ugly kid, relentlessly being bullied at school because of her braces and her glasses. But as she grew up to be the kind of woman she is now, she left that persona behind to graduate as J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School back in 1987 – where she became the first Asian American officer of the Harvard Law Review, serving as an executive editor as well.
She has written a total of four books which detail her experiences and her broad and vast knowledge on the conflict of societies through political and economic influences, empires and the tolerance of minorities, cultural stereotyping and even parenting techniques.
Philanthropist – USA
The only Filipina member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) which gives out Golden Globe statues to deserving actors and actresses and their crew in the movies, Janet Nepales has been improving lives donating over US$13 Million Dollars to foundations, scholarships and charities and aid relief to those countries that have been devastated with international disasters for the past 17 years. One of those who have received helped from her and her organization was UNICEF Philippines during the time of Typhoon Sendong.
Since 2007, she has also been giving scholarships to commendable journalism students at her Alma Mater, Quezon City High School (QCHS). Known as the “Janet Susan Rodriguez Nepales Journalism Awards”, this award seeks to encourage journalism students to continue on writing to express their thoughts and ideas. She also writes for the entertainment section of Manila Bulletin, “Hollywood Bulletin” and has received many awards to her name.
CEO and Founder – USA
Young as she is, Annalisa Balares is already an emerging global leader in the field of community and social enterprise. Having founded Womensphere which aims to unleash the potential of women from all across the globe and inspire transformational leadership, she has already reached and connected over 3,500 leaders through conferences, media and forums both in the United States and in Europe. She also supports a group of NGOs led by women (Philippine Development Foundation/Ayala Foundation, Women’s Refugee Commission, Shining Hope for Communities, among others) and is part of Polaris Project, an NGO that combats human trafficking.
Because of such an achievement, she has been recognized as the Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and honoured as one of the 30 Outstanding Women Leaders by the National Council for Research on Women, and other such top awards.
Filipina Empowerment: The Power Women
Community Builder – USA
After getting her degree in Elementary Education, Norma Placido taught at Subic Bay for awhile before following the footsteps of her Navy Husband to Bay Area in San Francisco and finally settling in Vallejo, California. Once there she got involved with the Filipino community, running for president of the Filipino Community of Solano County Inc. which raises financial support to the aging community of Sonoma Boulevard. She helped raise a total of US$170,000.
From that time on, she has become a fundraiser and a supporter, bent on helping the Filipino communities in the USA. She also held various positions such as being a Director of the popular Pista sa Nayon festival for three years.
Freelance Stylist, DVF Global Brand Ambassador – USA
Brittany Hampton started getting interested in fashion when at the age of five she was taught how to sew by her Filipino grandmother. A year later she had begun to do commercial, runway and print modelling for famous fashion brands. At sixteen, she started styling and designing outfits for young women and furthered her passion garnering a degree in Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco, California.
Brittany has styled Hollywood personalities such as Ariana Grande, Cymphonique Miller, and Jennette McCurdy, and manages styling for press events, gallery shoots and red carpet premiers for the Kids Choice Awards, Radio Disney Awards and Teen Choice Awards.
Last year, Brittany’s career in fashion took a huge leap forward when she was featured and eventually won in a reality show hosted on channel E! – House of DVF – chosen among a slew of fashion-forward contestant as the global brand ambassador for the renowned fashion house of Diane Von Furstenberg.
Singer and Songwriter – Australia
Her soulful music and skilful craft in singing endeared her to many fans. Kate Ceberano, born to an American father of Filipino descent and an Australian mother, started her career in the music industry as a back-up vocal to an Australian band, The Models which produced one of their greatest hits, Out of Mind, Out of Sight. She then moved on to another funk band known as I’m Talking which paved the way for her winning Best Female Vocalist at the 1986 Countdown Awards.
In the late 1980s she went on a solo career and also ventured into films and television, having hosted the late night talk show known as Kate Ceberano and Friends and played Jenna in the feature film Dust Off The Wings which was directed by her husband.
Fashion Designer – USA
She has suffered a major accident when she was young but that didn’t deter her from being in the spotlight and achieving her dreams. Pia Gladys Perey who had undergone several surgeries and was left with a 70% percent vision says that with her condition, it’s not easy working in a visual world such as fashion – difficult, yes, but not impossible – and to prove her point, she has just wrapped up her Spring-Summer 2015 collection alongside Filipino designers Charles Cua and Melvhor Guinto.
Aside from dressing up celebrities such as Eva Longoria and Angelina Jolie, her clothing line is also presently available in the following countries: Philippines, USA, Australia, Singapore and Ireland. In the near future she plans to expand her business in other countries as well.
Senior Vice President – Philippines
Patricia Riingen wears many hats. Not only is she a devoted mother, a newspaper columnist and a successful career woman she is also the name and the faced that transformed Western Union into a global phenomenon. Under her leadership, customers can now send and receive both domestic and international transfers through the 8,300 Western Union agents across the country and all over the world. Last year she has also contributed to the country’s economy by helping support agents to facilitate and spearhead money transfers.
Riingen is also the one responsible in developing the Western Union branches in the following countries: Taiwan, Nepal, Korea, Japan, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Macau, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
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