PH Wins Top Awards in 2019 APEC Forum on Women, the Economy

Ms. Veronica Ramirez, winner from the Healthy Women, Healthy Economies Research Prize. (DFA photo)

Ms. Dalareich Polot winner from the APEC BEST Award. (DFA photo) 

Ms. Jessica Wu (rightmost) with the other winners at the Women in STEM Global Innovation through Science and Technology Pitch Competition. (DFA photo)

SANTIAGO 07 November 2019 — For the first time in an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, advancing women’s issues and enhancing their contribution to sustainable economic growth have become major thematic pursuit by a host economy. Along this advocacy for APEC 2019, host economy Chile welcomed delegates to the Annual Women and the Economy Forum (WEF) held in the seaside city of La Serena from 30 September to 05 October 2019. 

Comprised of meetings of the APEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy, the Meeting of APEC Minister on Women and workshops and seminars organized by member economies, the WEF also saw the Ministers endorsing the proposed APEC Roadmap on Women and Sustainable Growth.

Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) Chair Dr. Rhodora Bucoy headed the Philippine delegation to WEF, and accompanied by Office of International Economic Relations Acting Assistant Secretary Jesusa Susana V. Paez, PCW Officer-in-Charge and Deputy Director Cecile B. Gutierrez, APEC National Secretariat (OUIER) Assistant Larisse Lausingco, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Assistant Secretary Marjorie Jalosjos, Department of Trade (DOT) Assistant Secretary Leila Rivera, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region VII Director Asteria Caberte; Department of Agriculture (DA) Director Remielyn Recoter, and PCW Supervising GAD Specialist, Focal Point for WEF Pamela C. Susara.

Several advocacies of the Philippines on Women highlighted the forum. Together with Chile and Chinese Taipei, the Philippines developed the “Policy Toolkit on Promoting Gender Inclusion in Smart Agriculture,” aimed at providing guidance and practical experiences to address gender concerns in smart agriculture under three main clusters on Enabling Environment, Sustainable and Inclusive Development, and Technology Innovation.

The Philippine delegation likewise welcomed and celebrated the prominent success of Filipino women for being awarded prizes for their work and winning competitions held on the occasion of the WEF. 

Dr. Veronica Ramirez was awarded the first prize in the inaugural “APEC Healthy Women, Healthy Economies Research Prize” for her research on the “Common Health Problems of Women Overseas Filipino Workers.” Dr. Ramirez is the holder of the University of Asia and the Pacific Center for Research and Communication (CRC) Professorial Chair for Migration and Overseas Filipino Work—a research initiative funded by the Bank of the Philippine Islands Foundation. As the first prize winner, Dr. Ramirez has been invited to go back to Chile in November to present her study at the 2019 APEC CEO Summit in Santiago.

Meanwhile, Jessica Moldez Wu, also from the Philippines, competed with her startup, Lesstics, and was awarded US$3,000 for her work during the Women in STEM Global Innovation through Science and Technology Pitch Competition. Lesstics is a startup Moldez Wu co-founded to help the garbage problem in her city. They recycle single-use plastics and turn them into different reusable objects such as floor tiles, insulators, Lego Bricks, and many more.

The 2019 APEC Business Efficiency and Success Target (BEST) Award on women entrepreneurship was awarded to Dalareich Polot, general manager of Dalareich Tableya. Regarded as the “Tableya Princess of Bohol,” Ms. Polot also serves as chair of the Bohol Cacao Development Council.

For its part, the Philippines also acknowledged member economies for their active participation in implementing the Boracay Action Agenda (BAA). The Philippines will be releasing a study of APEC’s overall progress over the past five years regarding the BAA, and shall be presented in the Global MSME Forum to be held in Boracay in 2020, with the tagline “Bringing the MSME initiative back to where it started.” END