MANILA, PHILIPPINES — For many, the term “women in business” often conjures up images of high-powered executives in corporate boardrooms. But beyond the glass towers, grassroots entrepreneurs—many of them mothers—are quietly driving local economies forward. Madiskarte Moms PH, the online community of women and mompreneurs in the Philippines, took centerstage at the first-ever Asia-Pacific UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards.
During the forum at the UN Women WEP Awards, UN Women Philippines Country Program Coordinator Athena Denise Galao led a panel featuring Melissa Vergel de Dios (PLDT Chief Sustainability Officer and MMPH advocate), Ahyee Campos (GoDigital Pilipinas and Infosys BPM Philippines Country Head), Atty. Krystal Lyn Uy (NEDA Undersecretary), and Agnes Gervacio (Connected Women CEO). Together, they delved into the evolving landscape of women-led businesses and the growing role of digital inclusion in economic empowerment.

The pandemic underscored their resilience. Four years since its inception, Madiskarte Moms PH has evolved into a thriving digital space with nearly 200,000 members, equipping women with entrepreneurial skills, digital tools, and a strong support system to launch and scale their home-based businesses.
PLDT Home has been instrumental in this movement. From the very beginning, the brand provided vital support, ensuring that these mompreneurs not only survived the crisis but flourished.
PLDT Chief Sustainability Officer Melissa Vergel de Dios highlighted the ingenuity of mompreneurs in the Madiskarte Moms PH community, emphasizing PLDT Home’s role in nurturing small business growth.

Vergel de Dios relates the story of an awardee at the 2024 Gawad Madiskarte, PLDT Home’s annual recognition and awards for the best businesses by mompreneurs. “This mom needed to buy milk for her child, which cost her the only money she had—P3,000. Not only was her budget just enough, but it was also unfortunately stolen or lost. Instead of being overcome by helplessness, this clever mom sold her old clothes and made P7,000. This mom turned an unfortunate incident into the beginning of her business called HTP or Half the Price. Now that she had capital for a business, she called up all her friends to put their unwanted clothes together and sell them. From that P7,000, her income is now seven figures.”
Breaking conventional gender roles and mindsets has also allowed the government to map out an inclusivity plan for women. NEDA Undersecretary Atty. Krystal Lyn Uy said the Philippine Development Plan includes strategies to mainstream gender equality in government.
Moderator and Country Program Coordinator of UN Women Philippines Athena Denise Galao raised a valid point on women who work from home still bearing increased domestic responsibilities. “How do we prevent housework from becoming another barrier for women’s advancement?”
Ahyee Campos of GoDigital Pilipinas and Country Head of Infosys said, “We need to take away the mindset that home care is only for women. Unpaid home care is not allowing women in that kind of working model to really succeed. And so participation of the husband in those conversations needs to be more active and the women need to be more forthcoming—it cannot be assumed that it’s understood.”
With artificial intelligence reshaping industries, concerns over job security are mounting. Will my employer replace me with a computer program? was a concern floating over the forum.
Not likely, according to Connected Women CEO Agnes Gervacio. “When you embark on digital transformation and your goal is to do headcount reduction, you’re doing it all wrong. Because the goal of digital transformation is to make sure that you deliver efficiencies as well as ensure that your business is competitive.”
That future may not always be in the office, according to Vergel de Dios. “Sometimes success is not being an executive in the office but being an entrepreneur. Today’s success is defined differently. We can be role models to the little girls that look up to us, and we can show them that they can dream. It also starts with education so that at a young stage the stereotypes are broken at the formation stage.”