Lead Like the Babaylans: The Women Already Leading Palawan
Palawan has always had leaders worth following. We just haven't always named them out loud.
This Women's Month, we did. Our Lead Like the Babaylans: Palawan Women carousel series spotlights 28 women across eight categories — each one a living proof that the Babaylan spirit never left the Last Frontier. It only changed form.
The Babaylan was not a relic. In pre-colonial Palawan, she stood equal to the Datu. She healed, mediated, guided, and decided. Her authority came from wisdom and service — not from rank or force. When we launched this campaign, we were not reaching back into history to find a metaphor. We were pointing at the women already in our midst and finally saying their names.
The Stewards: Protecting What We Cannot Replace
Palawan's identity is its environment. And the women defending it are fighting hard.
Angelique "Mama Ranger" Songco commands maritime patrols over the Tubbataha Reefs — a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Atty. Grizelda "Gerthie" Mayo-Anda founded ELAC and has spent her career taking on powerful interests to keep our forests and coastlines intact. Indira Dayang L. Widmann leads field-based conservation through the Katala Foundation, putting science at the center of saving our endangered species.
These three women do not manage the environment from behind a desk. They are in the field, in the courtroom, and in the water. The Babaylan understood that the health of the community was inseparable from the health of the land and sea. These women live that truth every day.
The Mentors: Passing the Fire Forward
Leadership multiplies when it is taught. Our Mentors category honors the women who build the next generation.
Prof. Edna Imelda Fernandez-Legazpi directs CHED MIMAROPA, navigating the complex architecture of higher education across our islands. Senith Araez earned a U.S. AWE award and came back to Palawan to build world-class business mentorship for single mothers and women in the fishing industry. Raine Bayron turned a personal battle with cancer into the Rolling Books initiative, bringing literacy to Palaweño children who need it most.
To teach is to lead. These three women prove it.
The Architects: Building Governance That Includes Everyone
Gov. Amy Roa Alvarez made history as the first female Governor in Palawan's history. She leads with a five-point agenda anchored in healthcare and decentralized power. Atty. Mary Jean Feliciano protected Mt. Mantalingahan from destructive mining, wielding the law like a shield for the communities of Brooke's Point. Mayor Lily Garilao Torrico runs Quezon — one of Palawan's most critical industrial municipalities — proving that communal focus is exactly what complex governance demands.
These are not just elected officials. They are proof that when women lead government, communities gain.
The Weavers: Holding the Economy Together
Mardy Montaño took a traditional "men-only" fishing village and built it into a thriving seaweed hub where women now lead. Czarina Lim co-founded Rurungan sa Tubod Foundation, using indigenous piña weaving to anchor rural women in sustainable livelihoods. Gia Querubin built the Binhi Mindful Market, weaving together conservation, local farming, and zero-waste commerce into one ecosystem.
Economy and culture are not separate systems. The Weavers show us they never were.
The Anchors: Connecting Palawan to the World
Cecille Chang Moeller manages 3,500 hectares of sustainable development at Lionheart Farms while bridging agribusiness and regional peace. Evelyn N. Pua, CPA, MBA leads the City Chamber of Commerce and runs a logistics company in a sector long dominated by men. Haidee Enriquez heads global BPO operations, putting Palawan's name on the map in international service excellence.
These women do not just occupy leadership roles. They build the systems that let an entire province compete at a global level.
The Guardians: Leading from the Frontlines
Commodore Christine Bergaño-Diciano, PCG became the first female Coast Guard Air Station Commander under Oplan Matatag — securing Philippine waters in the West Philippine Sea. PCOL Cristine M. Tabdi became Puerto Princesa City's first-ever female Police Director, leading cyber-policing and emergency response across 66 barangays. Joanna Jonson-Infante managed the Puerto Princesa International Airport, the gateway every traveler passes through to reach this island.
The Babaylan was a protector. These women carry that duty in uniform.
The Keepers of Heritage and the Pioneers of STEM
Ellen Marcelo Hagedorn built Puerto Princesa's reputation for cleanliness through the Oplan Linis Program — a civic legacy that still defines the city. Jane Timbancaya-Urbanek keeps local artisans and Palawan history at the heart of our economy through Dang Maria Gardens and the Tarabidan market. JCI Sen. Margarette "Gigi" S. Lumauag — the Charter President of JCI Puerto Princesa Peacock and one of the founders of the JCI family in Puerto Princesa — has mentored generations of women for over 45 years to lead in spaces once reserved only for men.
And in STEM, Engr. Cynthia E. Rosero became the first woman Resident Mine Manager at Rio Tuba Nickel in a sector where only 12% of the workforce is female. Engr. Cheysen Capuno stands on the front lines of energy production at Malampaya. Team FarmHer Innovators — the young women of Palawan National School — are using technology to solve agricultural challenges and show the world that the future of farming is female.
What We Built Together
Twenty-eight women. Eight categories. One campaign. And the clearest message we have ever sent: Palawan women are not waiting to be called leaders. They already are.
We launched this series because recognition is a leadership act. When we name the women around us who lead with wisdom and service, we give younger women proof that this path is real and within reach. We give them names to look up to. We give them a standard to live by.
GO BIG is our theme this year. This campaign is what that looks like in practice — naming the people who show us what big looks like, right here at home.
Read through the full carousel series on our Facebook page. Tag a woman in your life who leads like a Babaylan. Then ask yourself what it means to carry that same spirit forward.
The Babaylan never asked for permission to lead. Neither should you.
GO BIG.
