Empowered

On March 18, Elizabeth Buensuceso, until recently the country’s assistant foreign secretary for European affairs, leaves for Indonesia to take up her new post as ambassador to the Philippine mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Buensuceso leaves three days after another female diplomat, Erlinda Basilio, assumes one of the most challenging postings in the country’s foreign service, as ambassador to Beijing.

The Philippine ambassador to Jakarta is also a woman, Maria Rosario Aguinaldo. So is the assistant secretary for ASEAN affairs, Teresita Barsana, and the director general of the Foreign Service Institute, Ma. Angelina Sta. Catalina.

Yesterday, the country’s first female foreign secretary, Delia Albert, hosted a luncheon as a sendoff for Buensuceso, and also as advance celebration of International Women’s Day.

The world has come a long way since the days when women in the Philippine foreign service had slim chances of becoming ambassador. Unlike their male counterparts, the women were also not allowed to marry foreigners – until Albert came along and took her case all the way to the United Nations.

Also at yesterday’s luncheon were the women ambassadors of ASEAN: Brunei’s Malal Halimah Yussof, Tuot Panha of Cambodia and Malayvieng Sakonhinhum of Laos. Another guest was Myanmar’s female minister counselor, Sein New Aye.

The luncheon was held at the executive lounge of accounting firm SGV, where Albert serves as senior adviser and where about half of the employees, I was told, are women.

Buensuceso, Barsana and Sta. Catalina describe Albert as their career mentor.

Or “tormentor.” Buensuceso recalls working under Albert, falling asleep at past midnight after taking a shower, and being roused from bed with her hair not yet fully dry, at 4 a.m., to start a new day’s work.

“We are molded by fire,” Sta. Catalina said with a chuckle.

Apart from being driven to excel in a traditionally made-dominated profession, women impart their gender’s touch in diplomacy. This includes supporting programs in Philippine missions overseas to promote women’s welfare. In the United States, Hillary Clinton gave priority to women empowerment when she headed the State Department.

The woman’s touch is felt even in the presentation of the Philippine flag: Albert, when she was posted overseas as ambassador, always made sure the flag in her mission was properly pressed.

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In Laos, today is a national holiday in honor of women, according to Ambassador Malayvieng Sakonhinhum. On this day, Laotian men do the housework and other tasks usually done by women.

Since Pinoy men are grousing that Filipinas are over-empowered, and investors are complaining that we already have too many holidays, I don’t think Women’s Day will ever be a national holiday here.

In the case of Cambodia, perhaps a woman can help soften recent irritants in relations between Manila and Phnom Penh. Ambassador Tuot Panha, who presented her credentials to President Aquino two months ago, said that while the two countries have differences, “we have many fields of cooperation.”

“I feel very comfortable here,” the soft-spoken ambassador told us.

Barsana and Buensuceso have a similar message: while the country will continue to pursue its goals in territorial disputes, ASEAN relations are not just about the West Philippine Sea.

Buensuceso intends to explore those areas of cooperation when she assumes her post in Jakarta.

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Also describing Albert as her mentor was another guest, Jeannie Javelosa, who is preparing for the March 19 launch of “The Great Women” brand.

Javelosa, with two other women, runs the ECHOstore (main shop is in Serendra), which sells organic, certified fair trade Philippine products. She says 86 percent of the shop’s merchandise are sourced from women micro-entrepreneurs from around the country, and up to 90 percent of their customers are women.

ECHOstore sells the “Women in Coffee” brand of coffee beans, sourced from different parts of the country, and the “Peace Coffee” from Sulu. Perhaps coffee production can raise incomes and end violence in the province.

“The Great Women” brand will include a wider range of products and services.

Javelosa, who also has a background in diplomacy, told us that “there’s an international network out there… women helping women.”

Albert’s current advocacies include banding with a group of women to promote responsible mining for livelihood and development. The women call themselves “diwata” and include South Africa’s Ambassador Agnes Nyamande-Pitso.

Among the guests at yesterday’s luncheon was “diwata” Patricia Bunye, a member of the CVC Law Firm. She told me the number of women engaged in mining, including geologists, is increasing.

Networking in many fields is helping uplift the lives of millions of underprivileged women around the planet. On Women’s Day 2013, there are still too many horror stories about gender violence, abuse and discrimination. But international networking is helping women fight back and become empowered through education, health care and sustainable livelihood.

“When women move,” Albert told us, “the Earth shakes.”