The President could not have picked a better person to lead the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) when he named Cristina Aldeguer-Roque as DTI Acting Secretary. During her time as Undersecretary for the MSME Development Group, she has proven to be a strong ally of the MSMEs, assisting in whatever way she can to push for policies that benefit this critical sector of our economy.

But long before she came into public service, she was a fixture in MSME circles. She is the woman behind a successful Filipino fashion brand which she grew, starting only with a small capital. She knows what it’s like to be a one-man show – a nanopreneur, if you will, doing everything herself intially and trying to find her space in the highly competitive fashion retail segment.

Getting there wasn’t easy and she herself would acknowledge the value of having mentors, having access to capital and getting a break in the right stores so you can reach the target market you want. She knows that for small entrepreneurs to succeed, you have to give them a fighting chance.

These are powerful credentials for leading the DTI. Not only can she bring a private sector perspective to the DTI, she can give continuity to programs that have already been set in place, thanks to the help of her predecessor, Alfredo Pascual.

Fred, too, was a force within the business community, even before he joined the DTI. He knows his way around finance, he was a teacher and the private sector is confident with him in government. He took on the office as the country was dusting itself off after almost three years of pandemic lockdown. I remember he was there when Go Negosyo held some of its first in-person entrepreneurship mentoring at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay, lending his support and mentoring MSMEs.

While he was head of the DTI, he did so much more for the wide base of our economy. The MSME Development Plan 2023-2028, which he shared at the MSME Summit we held last July, speaks of the DTI’s commitment to empowering Philippine MSMEs by boosting their productivity and helping them reach new markets. It emphasizes training MSMEs in social media platforms, e-commerce marketplaces, the OTOP Law which institutionalizes MSME development efforts and provides it a legal framework, a national AI strategy roadmap that can help MSMEs stay competitive, the enhancement of e-governance systems to help LGUs speed up ease of doing business and a new B2B platform which will make it easier for MSMEs to produce intermediate products that can be integrated into the supply chain of larger companies.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Cris Roque herself guided the rebranding of OTOP (One Town, One Product) to align with the President’s Bagong Pilipinas vision. It gives small entrepreneurs more access to markets and promotions, thanks to her strong relationship with the private sector.

She once joked that when she was first recruited into the DTI, she was asked how come she knew so much about how the department operated. It just shows how well she understands how private sector and government work hand-in-hand. Private sector cannot do it alone, and neither can government; the combined forces are bigger than the sum of their parts. We have seen this many times during the pandemic, when government provided the policies and regulations needed to keep the economy going even under lockdown, and even before that, to get Filipinos vaccinated amidst a shortage in vaccines and the seemingly impossible task of reaching the farthest provinces.

Her posting also comes at a time when women are being recognized as a powerful force in business and the economy. Roque will be the only other woman to lead the DTI since 1992. This is definitely a step in the right direction.

This evening, I will be hosting a small cocktail party and gathering together private sector and government support for women-led MSMEs, especially in the ASEAN agenda. The Philippines will be hosting the ASEAN in two years, and I think it is high time that we put women, in their role as pillars of the economy, near the top of the agenda. We’ve invited women who have excelled in their fields and also the people who can make things happen with their influence over opinion and policy.

The Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN in 2026 presents a valuable opportunity to increase the visibility and participation of Filipina entrepreneurs within the regional bloc. This is a chance to forge a deeper connection between the ASEAN community and the Philippine entrepreneurial landscape, ensuring that the women’s agenda is no longer an afterthought.

It can also serve as a rallying point to benefit Filipina entrepreneurs across the Philippines, providing a tangible deadline to intensify outreach efforts and engage with a wide range of women-led businesses that may not yet be part of formal entrepreneurial organizations.

Indeed, if things stay on course, it will be a winning streak for Filipino MSMEs.

Originally Published in Philippine Star