Top (L-R): Mr. Raymond Ravelo, MERALCO Chief Sustainability Officer and Ms. Ma. Aurora Geotina-Garcia, PhilWEN Chairperson and PBCWE Co-Chairperson
Bottom: Mr. Danilo Ignacio, MERALCO Sustainability Office Head and Ms. Julia Abad, PBCWE Executive Director
25 June 2021 – Manila Electric Company (PSE:MER) joins the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE) as its newest member in a virtual signing ceremony attended by Raymond B. Ravelo, Meralco’s Chief Sustainability Officer; Danilo R. Ignacio, Meralco’s Sustainability Office Head; Ma. Aurora “Boots” Geotina-Garcia, PhilWEN Chair and PBCWE Co-Chair; Julia Abad, PBCWE Executive Director; and Kathy Mulville, IW Business Partnerships Director. Meralco is the first electric power distribution utility to join the coalition of large and influential companies committed to gender diversity and inclusion in the workplace and women’s economic empowerment.
PBCWE was established in 2017 as an inaugural project of the Philippine Women’s Economic Network (PhilWEN), in partnership with Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian Government. Meralco joins the 15 member companies in leading efforts towards achieving large-scale organizational transformation through evidence-based strategies, creating knowledge on best practices in the workplace, communicating the benefits of empowering women in the workforce, and institutionalizing policies based on best practices.
“We, in Meralco, are very happy to become a member of PBCWE and look forward to working collaboratively with the organization and its partners to further transform Meralco into a gender-balanced company. This is a fundamental component of our Sustainability agenda and we are committed to fostering business practices that empower women at work as we strive towards building a more gender-inclusive and diverse workplace,” said Raymond B. Ravelo, Meralco’s Chief Sustainability Officer.
Ma. Aurora “Boots” Geotina-Garcia, PhilWEN Chairperson and PBCWE Co-Chairperson, remarked, “We are delighted that more publicly-listed companies, like Meralco, who pioneer the acceleration of sustainable business, are becoming members of PBCWE. To be sustainable mainstreaming the advocacies of workplace gender equality, women’s economic empowerment, and diversity & inclusion in businesses and organisations. Indeed, sustainability is the new language of business.”
Meralco’s commitment to support a gender-balanced organization is evidenced through its workforce (Meralco and its subsidiaries) being comprised of 32% women by end-2020, almost triple the global energy sector average of 11%.
On last year’s International Women’s Day, 9 March, 2020, MERALCO became a pioneer signatory of the United Nations’ Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), making it one of the first three signatories in the Philippines and, out of a total of 23 local signatories last year, the first and only company in the energy sector.
And most recently, with the firm belief that diversity is a key enabler of business performance and sustainable growth, Meralco launched its Gender Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Program aptly called #Mbrace. #Mbrace’s goal is to develop and implement programs and initiatives that will help shape a more gender-balanced workplace, aligned with and supportive of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Diversity and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.
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