Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC), the infrastructure arm of the Aboitiz Group, is the newest member company to join the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE). The virtual membership signing ceremony held on March 7, 2022 was led by PBCWE Co-Chairperson Boots Garcia, AIC President and CEO Cosette Canilao, AIC First Vice President for Human Resources and Administration Cindy Rivera, and PBCWE Executive Director Julia Abad.
Established in 2017, PBCWE is the inaugural project of the Philippine Women’s Economic Network (PhilWEN) in partnership with Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian Government. AIC joins the 19 member companies in leading efforts towards building a business case for gender equality, creating knowledge on best practices in the workplace, communicating the benefits of empowering women in the workforce, and institutionalising policies based on best practices.
“Aboitiz InfraCapital is proud to be a part of the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment. This is in line with our commitment to further empower women and promote equality in the workplace. Conscious and unconscious bias should be eliminated and women should be allowed to flourish and achieve their utmost potential in any field, in any workplace,” said Canilao.
“Glass ceilings should be broken effortlessly, glass cliffs should be overcome easily, until both are extinct. We can only achieve this by being deliberate and articulate in the policies that we put in place. With the support of evidence-based data, it is my hope that more progressive, proactive and bold policies will emerge to allow female genius to flourish,” she added.
As the newest member of PBCWE, AIC commits to increase the participation of women, institutionalise gender-neutral policies, close the gender pay gap, if any, and influence their peers in the infrastructure development industry and their network. Part of AIC’s membership package is to undergo the Gender Equality Assessment, Results and Strategies (GEARS), a tool developed in partnership with Investing in Women. GEARS provides companies with the information and resources necessary to start the change process towards gender equality. It evaluates the company’s current gender equality strategies, plans future gender equality objectives, and tracks their progress over time.
“We, at PBCWE, celebrate and value Aboitiz InfraCapital’s commitment to ensuring gender-equal workplaces. Being part of this Coalition is bringing the workplace gender equality and diversity & inclusion advocacies to the next level – that is evidence-based, people-centric and champion-directed”, said Ma. Aurora “Boots” Geotina-Garcia, PhilWEN Founding Chairperson and President, and PBCWE Co-Chairperson.
Leading the workplace gender equality and sustainability agenda, AIC adopts the #OneAboitiz Sustainability Framework that ensures human capital development and people-focused programs are reflected in all of its business units. The Aboitiz Group, as a whole, supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG #5: Gender Equality, and upholds the UN Global Compact (UNGC) Principles on Human Rights and Labor. In January 2021, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. joined as the first holding company to become a member of PBCWE.
AIC celebrates gender equality in the workplace as demonstrated by women’s strong representation in its leadership team. In addition to being President and CEO of AIC, Canilao also sits as Director in the AIC Board with Ana Aboitiz-Delgado. Aboitiz-Delgado, a fifth-generation business leader from the Aboitiz family, concurrently serves as executive vice president and chief customer experience officer at Union Bank of the Philippines. Likewise, AIC’s Management Committee has strong representation, with 6 out of 11 members being women. AIC’s team members are almost evenly split — about 46% are women, while 54% are men.
About Aboitiz InfraCapital
Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc., the infrastructure arm of the Aboitiz Group, aims to build purpose-driven infrastructure that spurs economic growth and improves lives. It develops Economic Estates as well as Water, Digital Infrastructure, and Transport & Mobility projects that enable businesses and uplift communities.
Its current business units include the LIMA Estate and LIMA Water Corporation in Batangas, Mactan Economic Zone 2 Estate and West Cebu Estate in Cebu, Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc. in Davao, and Unity Digital Infrastructure. The company also has a minority stake in Balibago Waterworks System, Inc., a privately-owned waterworks utility system based in Pampanga.
The Aboitiz Group is a member of the Global Compact Network Philippines Board of Trustees and helps champion the Philippines’ sustainability initiatives on an international level through policies, advocacies, and initiatives that align with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The company has also launched its #OneAboitizSustainability Framework which aims to transform its life-essential businesses into having improved sustainable practices and positively impact the environment and society. To know more about the #OneAboitizSustainability programs, please visit https://sustainability.aboitiz.com/.
About PBCWE
The Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE) was launched in March 2017 through Investing in Women (IW), an initiative of the Australian Government. In the Philippines, IW has partnered with the Philippine Women’s Economic Network (PhilWEN) to create a business coalition to pursue Gender Equality (GE) in the workplace and Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) nationwide.
PBCWE is made up of influential businesses that are large employers who will take the appropriate steps to improve gender equality in their own workplaces and to influence businesses, both in their supply chains and other large businesses, and to also become better employers of women.
As of March 2022, PBCWE’s members are Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Aboitiz InfraCapital, Accenture in the Philippines, Ayala Land, Inc., Cebu Landmasters, Inc., Coca-Cola Far East Ltd., Concentrix, DDB Group Philippines, FactSet Philippines, JLL Philippines, Insular Life, Magsaysay, MERALCO, Natasha, Philippine National Bank, PLDT, SGV and Co., Smart Communications, SSI Group, and Teleperformance Philippines.
Aboitiz InfraCapital commits to advance workplace gender equality and women empowerment
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