Ayala vows to appoint more women execs

AYALA Corp. President and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala said he would continue to promote gender diversity from the staff to the board level of the company, promising to continue increasing the number of women from entrylevel to senior leadership positions.

Zobel said during his keynote address at the “# Choose to challenge: Inclusive Leadership in Times of Crisis” webinar hosted by Male Champions of Change, the company already set a board diversity policy, to evolve its membership towards greater diversity and improved representation.

“Advancing workplace gender equality, and the other dimensions of diversity in all our companies is a priority area moving forward,” Zobel said.

“We plan to align our diversity programs with best-in-class global standards, while working with peers to make diversity and inclusion as the norm in Philippine business.”

Across the Ayala group, based on 2014 to 2019 records, female employees dominate male employees by an average of 31 percent. At the top management level, 44 percent of senior leaders are women.

Globe Telecom Inc., the company’s telecommunications arm, recently announced the appointment of Issa Guevarra-cabreira as the company’s first female deputy chief commercial officer. Mynt, Ayala’s digital financial services company that grew very significantly at the onslaught of the pandemic, is also headed by a female executive, Martha Sazon.

Ayala Land Inc., meanwhile, is among the founding members of the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment. Its construction arm, Makati Development Corp., has a strong pool of female executives and skilled workers, a deviation from the traditionally male-dominated construction industry.

“Diversity is a means to a better end. But there’s still a lot of stereotyping like men are supposed to be the breadwinners and women are supposed to stay at home. I think there should be a whole re-education campaign on the benefits of gender equality, diversity and inclusion” Ayala’s Chief Human Resources Officer John Philip Orbeta, who was a panelist at the event, said.

Orbeta said the Ayala Group, which is committed to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, will continue to champion equality and inclusion in gender, age, or cultural background.