Pinay is only Asian GM in Procter & Gamble global HQ

The highest-ranking Asian woman general manager of Procter & Gamble in its global headquarters in Cincinnati is a Filipina. Ma. Fatima “Fama” de Vera-Francisco, take a bow. Procter & Gamble is the world’s largest consumer goods company.

Fama currently handles the global innovation of Pampers, one of the leading and household name products of P&G, which touches the lives of 35 million babies every day in over 100 countries around the world.

Hers is a story of determination and persistence.

“When I graduated from the University of the Philippines, my dream was to join the best consumer goods company — Procter & Gamble,” Fama recalls. “Though I failed the interview for marketing, I wouldn’t take no for an answer so I called one of the sales executives. I asked for a job — any job — at P&G and I was hired as the company’s first female sales manager.” It was to be the first of many “firsts” in her career.

Twenty two years later, from selling shampoo and soap to various sari-sari stores in Caloocan, she now leads the company’s biggest brand, Pampers, in the US and Canada as general manager.

Says Fama, “As the only Asian female GM based at our Cincinnati headquarters, I’m proud to be a Filipino leading the US business and our global program. Most importantly, I’m even prouder to be doing this while being a wife and raising four great children.”

As a young girl, Fama was fueled by the desire to be a good daughter to her sick father and her mother, who worked as a teacher to raise her and her four siblings. “My story is about hope shaped by people who gave this to me when I needed it. When you combine hope with passion, comes success,” Fama shares.

Fama with husband Noel In Chicago.

Fama’s family has since been her inspiration. But she stresses that she does not allow her family obligations to diminish the excellence she shows at work.

Instead she makes this her strength — balancing the demands of home and the very competitive workplace. Because she is a wife and mother, she understands her market more. Perhaps because she has undergone firsthand what every Pampers mom goes through every night, Fama has steered her brand to its enviable status.

Her formula? “Strive for excellence. You can be a leader. You can lead in the US and globally while being a Filipino and a mom,” says Fama, a 2011 BPInoy awardee.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) says that through the BPInoy Awards, it is honoring Fama for her exceptional achievement in the global arena. She is an inspiration to Filipina mothers, showing them that they can strive to have it all; and that having a family is not a setback to those who want to reach the top of the corporate ladder.

“It’s an amazing feeling, unexpected and truly a great honor! I’m humbled to be in the company of world-class Filipinos who have been recognized through the prestigious BPInoy award. I’m very thankful and hope that I can inspire others to excel in their respective fields, and stand tall and proud as Filipinos beside the very best in the world,” shares Fama.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands on its 160th anniversary acknowledges world-class overseas Filipinos worldwide who have brought the country recognition with their success abroad. Fama is one of this year’s BPInoy awardees, together with world boxing legend and Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao and international record producer and music artist, Allan “Apl de Ap” Pineda Jr. They are joining other world-class Filipinos and past BPInoy awardees: Indiana-based neurosurgeon and founder and chairman of Hydrocephalus Foundation of the Philippines Dr. Manny Cacdac; international singing sensation Charice Pempengco; White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford; chief representative for the Asia and the Pacific of the Bank for International Settlements Dr. Eli Remolona; renowned painter Anita Magsaysay-Ho; BBC anchor Rico Hizon; celebrated fashion designer Josie Natori; renowned heart surgeon Dr. George Garcia of Asian Hospital & Medical Center; international fashion designer Monique Lhuillier; US-based technology entrepreneur Diosdado “Dado” Banatao; and world-renowned musical theater artist Lea Salonga.

Moroccan Bazaar at Ayala Alabang

With her four kids.

The Zonta Club of Muntinlupa & Environs Foundation, Inc. is holding a “Moroccan & More Bazaar” from Oct. 22 to 23 at the Cuenca Court, Ayala Alabang Village.

According to Zonta’s Gloria Garcia, the Moroccan bazaar will benefit the club’s Sagip Center, which is a 24-hour Crisis Response Center for physically and sexually abused women and children in Muntinlupa.

She adds that the main thrust of Zonta is to improve the status of women worldwide. The bazaar will also benefit the TDZ (Tulong Dunong ng Zonta) high school scholarship program, another tool for the upliftment of women through education.

‘A portrait of Spain’

On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary year of José Rizal, the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila will present a photo exhibit entitled Photo a Photo. A portrait of Spain at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

The opening will take place on Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. with the attendance of Spanish Ambassador Jorge Domecq, as well as directors of AC/E and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

Photo a Photo. A portrait of Spain is a visual journey that depicts the evolution of Spanish cities and their inhabitants from the ‘50s until the present day, focusing on the two cities where Rizal lived and studied: Madrid and Barcelona. Cities where as a young man he began to conceive what was to be his first novel and one of the most important works of Philippine literature. Additional materials and texts that reflect his impressions on the cities will also be included by the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

The exhibit offers 60 snapshots taken by 15 of the best Spanish photographers who, from the middle of the last century up to the present, have carried out their work starting from their personal approaches and visions that differ not only in the content but also in the aesthetic way of addressing the representation.

Photographers include Israel Ariño, José Manuel Ballester, Jordi Bernadó, Juan Manuel Castro Prieto, Francesc Catalá-Roca, Alberto García-Alix, Gonzalo Juanes, Fernando Manso, Ángel Marcos, Ramón Masats, Juan Millás, José Manuel Navia, Txema Salvans, Marta Soul and Miguel Trillo.

The exhibition was organized by Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. The exhibit will be available for public viewing from Oct. 25 until Jan. 14, 2012, Monday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (closed Sundays, holidays and every first Monday of the month).

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