1. Rossana Llenado
Rossana Llenado is an entrepreneur, an education advocate and a mother. She is the president of AHEAD Tutorial and Review Center – the country’s leading and most awarded review center.
Rossana graduated from UP Los Banos in 1991 and founded AHEAD in 1995 in her very own home. In a few years, she was able to turn a simple tutorial center to a group of companies that caters to various educational needs of students.
Rossana has been recognized as one of the Philippines’ most esteemed leaders in education, particularly for her innovations in academic test preparation.
2. Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo
Vice President Leni Robredo is a staunch advocate of human rights. She devoted her entire professional life in the service of the most vulnerable sectors of Philippine society.
She served as a Public Attorney and is a member of the alternative lawyers group SALIGAN. After winning a seat in the Sixteenth Congress, she remained constant in her priority attention to farmers and fisherfolk; women, particularly in oppressive circumstances; and indigenous people.
On October 5, 2015, she accepted the challenge to run for the Vice Presidency and from one percent, her survey ratings climbed consistently thanks to her advocacy-driven campaign.
From: www.lenirobredo.com
3. Gina Lopez
Regina Paz “Gina” Lopez is an environmentalist and philanthropist who currently serves as the Secretary of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
After living among the people of slum areas in Africa, Gina returned to the Philippines where she initiated corporate social responsibility programs for the environment and Filipino communities. When she became the Managing Director of the ABS-CBN Foundation, she initiated projects such as Bantay Bata 163, Bantay Kalikasan, the Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig project and Bayanijuan.
4. Gaita Fores
Margarita “Gaita” Fores is the President of food businesses such as Cibo Inc., Cafe Bola, Pepato, Lusso, Alta, Grace Park, Sostanza Health Line, and Fiori Di M. She highlights the best of the Philippines with the best of the world. In her restaurants, she uses organic ingredients not only to promote healthy eating but to help the farmers who produce them as well.
Last year, Gaita was named Asia’s Best Female Chef for 2016 by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards. She is the first Filipino chef to win the award despite having no formal education regarding food preparation or culinary arts. Her love for food and passion for creating the right ambience that goes with the food service have made her successful with her ventures.
5. Whang Od
At 100 years old, Whang Od is the last mambabatok (traditional Kalinga tattooist) and the oldest tattoo artist in the Philippines. She has become one of Kalinga’s tourist destinations as hundreds of local and foreign visitors travel all the way to Buscalan to meet or get tattooed by her.
Whang Od has been featured in a number of cultural documentaries and her image was included in an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Ontario, Canada entitled Tattoos: Ritual. Identity. Obsession. Art.
Aside from being a tattoo artist, Whang-od is a respected village elder.