Women in Leadership by Mary Ann Hazel M. Tolentino

Last February 19, 2019, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) of the Philippines’ Professional Women of AmCham Committee commenced its Women in Leadership (WIL) series, a string of sessions that features remarkable women from diverse fields and industries. This was my second time to attend a WIL session and, this time, AmCham invited Belinda Racela, president and asset manager of Chevron Malampaya LLC, to share about Chevron and the Philippine energy industry as a whole.

She began her presentation by highlighting that Chevron is one of the largest U.S. investors in the Philippines, with US$ 2 billion in investment. Belinda discussed the company’s pioneer operating units in upstream, downstream and shared services, with 1,800 direct employees and 16,000 indirect employees. She also emphasized that 35 percent of Luzon’s power demand and 20 to 30 percent of the country’s power need is being supplied by the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-To-Power project.

Understanding the truth that she works in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Belinda is able to lead a group of professionals in managing the 45 percent, non-operated Chevron interest in the Malampaya Joint Venture Service Contract.

More so, Belinda shared a few points on how Chevron harnesses our country’s natural resources to empower the Filipinos.

• 11,000 communities were taught about biodiversity
• In partnership with Shell, malaria cases in Palawan were reduced by 93%
• Exposed people to new information, skills, and different ways of sustaining the Malampaya project
• Towards the end of her presentation, Belinda shared Mr. David Greer’s (Malampaya Project Director) statement about the commitment of the Philippine Government and project stakeholders to secure an indigenous, clean, and dependable source of power for the nation.

However, in closing, Belinda mentioned that since the conception of Malampaya Deep Water Gas-To-Power project was back in 1989, it is high time that our government prioritizes our country’s energy security. Hence, the Philippine government should start mobilizing another exploration project.

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About the author:

Hazel has 20 years of professional experience in Human Resources Management, with a strong background in talent search and recruitment. Her extensive work experience gave her an opportunity to handle job search requirements of clients from different industries such as consumer, direct selling, healthcare, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and most recently, with information technology. Hazel is married with three wonderful children.