Pinay power on display in KL

MANILA, Philippines - For the first time in 25 years, the Philippines was represented by a big delegation of more than 40 women in the Global Summit of Women (GSW), which held its annual conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last June 6 to 8.

Last year it was held in Athens, Greece and in 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Started by Philippine-born Irene Natividad, the summit attracts about a thousand women who gather to network and to listen to speakers like Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico International, world leaders like the president of Kosovo, ministers from Ethiopia and Poland, South African and Chinese leaders, among many other luminaries.

The Philippines’ first  woman foreign affairs secretary and former ambassador to Australia and Germany Delia Domingo-Albert is a member of the prestigious International Planning Committee (IPC) of the Global Summit. The IPC decides which of the bidding countries get selected to host the next years’ summits. The bidding is very competitive and bidders bring huge delegations to prove their interest in promoting gender issues and women’s empowerment in business. Next year’s summit bid was won by France.

The Philippine delegation was headed by Ambassador Albert and Undersecretary for Special Concerns Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. Puyat heads the Gender and Development Group at the Department of Agriculture. She brought with her some gender specialists who will then share their learnings with their peers upon returning home.

Local governments were represented by Dipolog Mayor Evelyn Uy and Cavite Board Member Irene Bencito. Entrepreneurs, auditors, lawyers from the Women’s Business Council of the Philippines (WBCP), international partner of the Global Summit, came in full force to speak in panels, lead by WBCP chair Boots Garcia and WBCP president Chit Juan joined.

To showcase our Philippine products, WBCP asked Ann Pamintuan to display her famous designer jewelry and Great Women Brand’s Jeannie Javelosa to sell shawls, books and cards designed by her and other Filipina artists.

The delegation was cited by Irene Natividad in her speech as one of the biggest delegations, only trailing behind Mongolia and China which had 70 delegates each.

The Filipina delegates dressed in local garb for the gala dinner at the prime minister’s residence on the first night. On the last evening everyone was covered from head to toe – as was required by protocol – for the dinner at the Royal Palace. No white, yellow or royal blue attires were allowed. No showing of arms or legs either.

The summit showcased the best of the Philippines on the women empowerment scene. WomenBizPh also brought copies of their book- “Aspirations and Inspirations,” a compilation of women winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

Next year’s summit will be in Paris and it is hoped that a much bigger Philippine delegation will attend the conference, which is a learning and networking event. Government officials should attend the ministerial roundtables so we can be apprised of women’s programs and projects around the world.