A salute to women power

Women leaders are increasingly making their mark across different segments of the real estate industry, asserting their strong presence with their distinct style, vision and tenacity.

Through their pioneering efforts, these female trailblazers are not only breaking gender barriers but are also setting new standards of excellence, inspiring future generations of women to pursue their ambitions fearlessly. Their leadership exemplifies the power of diversity and inclusion—a fitting showcase of the impact of women in shaping the future of Philippine real estate.

On March 11, the Philippine Daily Inquirer celebrated these women leaders through the “Women of Power” Awards, which feted a total of 38 honorees from across sectors. Five of the awardees are from the real estate industry.

Anna Ma. Margarita “Meean” B. Dy

Ayala Land Inc.

In 2023, Anna Ma. Margarita B. Dy made history by becoming Ayala Land, Inc.’s first female chief executive officer since the company’s inception almost three decades ago. She is also the company’s director and president.

Her appointment was due to her outstanding experience, leadership, and loyalty to the Zobel family-controlled Ayala Land.

Her tenure with the company spanned 18 years. She previously held the positions of executive vice president (EVP) and chief operating officer (COO) during which she played a key role in the firm’s luxury housing projects, then launching critical projects such as Nuvali in Laguna; Vertis in Quezon City; as well as Arca South and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Aside from being an EVP and COO, she was also the chair of AREIT Inc., the head of the company’s residential business group and malls group, and a director and officer in other Ayala Land firms. She also led the company’s Strategic Land Banking Group for numerous years.

In November 2023, a month after she took office as CEO, Forbes named her as part of Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen List 2023. The 20 female business leaders on the list were chosen “for their achievements and track records as business leaders.”

In January 2024, she was again recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 women aged over 50 who have excelled in their respective fields.

“Her rise comes as the company—the real estate arm of the Ayala Group, a conglomerate controlled by billionaire Jaime Zobel de Ayala and his family—accelerates the launch of residential projects to meet surging housing demand,” Forbes said.

In an Inquirer article in December 2023, Dy mentioned how Jim Ayala somehow saw something in her that led her to be part of Ayala Land. She has been a member of the company’s management committee since August 2008. Prior to joining Ayala Land, she was the vice president of Benpres Holdings Corp.

In 1990, Dy graduated magna cum laude from Ateneo de Manila University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics Honors Program. She then received her master’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1991. In 1996, she graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Boston with a degree of Master of Business Administration.

Valerie Jane Soliven

Rockwell Land Corp.

Rockwell Land Corp., with its flagship mixed-use community in Makati City, has begun expanding into other cities and regions around the Philippines in the last decade—establishing its much awaited presence in key locations such as Laguna, Batangas, Cebu, Bacolod and Pampanga.

Such success would not have been achieved without the key players who played a vital role in Rockwell Land’s growth and that includes the company’s president and chief operating officer, Valerie Jane L. Soliven.

Soliven is a licensed broker and one of Rockwell Land’s pioneers. Described as elegant, poised, and highly professional by those who have worked with her, she contributed to Rockwell Land’s status as one of the Philippines’ leading real estate development corporations since its inception in 1995.

Soliven started working with Rockwell Land in 1996 as an assistant sales manager. During her first years, she experienced how the Asian financial crisis had sent economies reeling. Back then, Rockwell Land was a new industry player, yet to establish its reputation.

From being an assistant sales manager, she rose the ranks and became a senior vice president for residential development and vice president for sales and marketing. She was later promoted to become Rockwell Land’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer for the Residential Development Team in 2018.

Regarded as a coach and mentor to many senior executives she led, Soliven has the confidence that comes with years of honing her talents and skills for her chosen career. She earned a degree in hotel and restaurant administration from the University of the Philippines. She also finished the Leadership Excellence through Awareness and Practice Program at INSEAD Singapore and the Management Development Program at the Asian Institute of Management.

In the early years of her career, she held posts at the Manila Garden Suites, Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, and Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore as a hotelier. These experiences helped her later when she joined Rockwell Land, where she was mentored by its now chairman and chief executive officer, Nestor J. Padilla.

As a result of constant learning and honing her skill, she has contributed to Rockwell Land’s current position as one of the Philippines’ most premier real estate development companies.

Cleofe Albiso

Megaworld Hotels and Resorts

In 2023, Megaworld Corp. achieved its record-high earnings with a net income of P19.4 billion, breaching its 2019 profit of P19.3 billion. This historic-high finish to the business year is driven by residential sales and earnings from malls and hotels, proving that the company is truly at the forefront as the country’s largest homegrown hospitality chain.

Only a remarkable kind of leadership can direct the drive ahead at full steam, especially one that is fueled by grit, resilience, and love. This is according to Megaworld Hotels’ stellar managing director, Cleofe Albiso, who has gained distinction for many things.

Albiso made history by becoming the first female general manager of a Marriott Hotel in the Philippines before she joined Megaworld. Before joining the hospitality industry, Albiso started as a preschool teacher as a graduate of Andres Soriano Memorial School De La Salle with a degree in elementary education, majoring in math.

It was her can-do attitude, sales savviness, and nontraditional background that proved advantageous to the many leadership positions she held. She headed the marketing division of Globe Telecom in Visayas. Her success in the position led her to another position as director of sales and marketing at the now-defunct Cebu City Marriott in 2013.

Albiso set record sales revenues in the hotel’s history, and after three years, she was pushed by her bosses to apply for the general manager position at the Courtyard by Marriott.

At present, she embraces the opportunity to empower the lives of over 2,000 employees present across Megaworld’s hotels since joining in November 2019. The early start of her career in Megaworld was filled with immense challenges brought by environmental disasters—a swath of typhoons and the Taal eruption—on top of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet Albiso did not see these challenges as a reason to stop. Instead, she stepped up her game.

She saw the challenges as an opportunity to enhance operations, company culture, hotel offerings, and relationships among colleagues and partnerships. She also spearheaded programs and webinars to rally, educate, and ensure the well-being of their employees. Many of the initiatives allowed the company to survive, even though the hospitality industry was among the hardest hit by the pandemic.

“My responsibility can only be best tackled by filling my heart with gratitude and keeping my purpose in close check when times get challenging,” she said. Resilience has also become her “way of life,” adding that “having a relationship with God” provides fulfillment in the work that she does.

With Albiso’s kind of leadership at the helm of Megaworld Hotels and Resorts, there is little room for doubt that as the company celebrates its newest milestones, more growth is underway in the years to come.

Lorraine Belo-Cincochan

Wilcon Depot

The growth of Wilcon Depot, an established home improvement and construction supply retailer, was led by a businesswoman who has spearheaded the company’s rapid expansion and the computerization of Wilcon’s manual systems.

Lorraine Belo-Cincochan, has been the director, president, and chief executive officer of Wilcon Depot since 2016. For more than 20 years, she has worked in the historically male-dominated construction industry, notably for their family business, Wilcon.

A graduate of a Creative Writing degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1999, she began working in their retailer business as a trainee of then-president and her father, William Bello. She headed the company’s IT department in 2000, which marked the beginning of the company’s digital transformation journey.

From 2003 to 2005, she gained real world retail experience as a manager-trainee, overseeing the daily operations of the first large-format Wilcon Depot branch. During these years, Wilcon grew from a small hardware store to a modern trade channel and from a wholesale and retail operation to a pure retail business offering a full range of home improvement products.

In 2005, Belo-Cincochan was appointed executive vice president for Operations, and in 2006, she was named chief finance officer, holding the position until March 2016.

In March 2017, a year after the retail business was transferred from Wilcon Corp. to Wilcon Depot, Inc., the company went public, and since then its stock price more than doubled, giving it an $887 million market capitalization.

In 2018, Belo-Cincochan was named to Forbes Asia’s inaugural “Emergent 25” list, which recognizes outstanding businesswomen who made their mark in regional enterprises. She was the only Filipino to make the inaugural list. Belo-Cincochan was also one of the winners of the CEO Today Business Women of the Year Awards in 2019. This award is dedicated to recognizing women’s business achievements and leadership.

Cathy Casares-Ko

Torre Lorenzo Development Corp.

Cathy Casares-Ko has been making wonders in the real estate sector for over 30 years now. As chief executive officer of Torre Lorenzo Development Corp. (TLDC), she has spearheaded ongoing expansions and ventures for the company, a pioneer in premium university residences.

But TLDC has since transitioned from a product for Filipino students to one that is for all Filipinos. Today, TLDC has become a full-scale developer with mixed-use, leisure, and township products in Metro Manila, Lipa, and Davao, catering to people ready to embrace suburban living.

The company has won big through forward-thinking, exemplified by Casares-Ko as one of its leaders. With sustainability as one of its core values, Casares-Ko said in an interview with the Inquirer that “sustainable growth affects not just ourselves. We acknowledge that it’s our responsibility to the community to create long-term value for the future generations.”

TLDC clearly adheres to the principles of sustainability, having installed certain features across its sites such as waste segregation facilities, in-house monitors for resource usage and conservation, a heat recovery system, and an RFID system, among others.

TLDC has also enjoyed recognition over the past few years, amassing accolades from award-giving bodies in the industry for their milestones.

She explained that the company’s success “is reflected on how we are able to uplift the lives of our clients and employees, how we are able to contribute to the transformation of the communities where we operate, and how we are able to protect the environment for the generations to come.”

Casares-Ko leads both exclusive use and mixed-use business project teams for TLDC. Prior to joining the company, she had decades’ worth of experience under her belt, having worked with Sunshine Fort North Bonifacio Realty Development Corp. and Federal Land Inc.