Beyond the bottomline

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December 31, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Money, in any language, is the barometer of business success. Profit margins, balance sheets and bottom lines are how performance is measured, strategies judged and leaders held to account. The women at the center of these stories know those numbers well. Corporate executives some retired, some still active, they were trained to manage risk, read trends and deliver results. For years, success was plotted on monthly graphs and reduced to figures at the bottom of a page.

Then the metrics shifted.

The numbers they now track no longer appear on financial statements. They show up in classrooms, hospital wards and community centers measured in children who learn to read, parents who gain confidence to teach, young patients who survive complex surgeries and individuals whose mobility and dignity are restored.

This is not charity. It is value creation on long horizons, producing compound returns traditional accounting cannot capture. Each child helped is not a single outcome, but a lifetime multiplied forward shaping families, productivity and communities.

In a year marked by corruption scandals and shaken public trust, these women have redirected experience and leadership capital toward education and health care the two pillars that quietly sustain long-term national growth. These investments begin not in boardrooms, but at the community level, where systems can be tested quickly and results are tangible.

Ayala Heights Tutors: A village that chose to show up

In Quezon City, a simple idea became a repeatable system. Sa Pagbasa May Pag-Asa brings Ayala Heights residents into classrooms at Old Balara Elementary School to support Grade 2 non-readers. “Our first run was January 2024,” recalled program head Gina Locsin, a retired multinational executive. “Retirement let me finally claim a childhood dream of teaching.”

Now on its fourth cycle, the program works with about 45 children using a one-on-one model. “Much easier than our first season, when a tutor handled five or six kids,” said volunteer Moppet Gonzales. The commitment once or twice a week for 10 weeks produces clear results. Progress is tracked through pre- and post-tests, but validation also arrives quietly: a parent’s thank-you, a child’s hug, a principal’s pride.

What distinguishes the Ayala Heights model is not scale, but structure. Clear timelines, defined roles and measurable outcomes make it repeatable familiar territory for anyone who has built a sustainable enterprise, just like corporate honchos Marivic Añonuevo, Marissa Punsalan and Ivy Francisco Leung, all volunteers.

In Batangas: Parents as partners in reading

If Ayala Heights shows what volunteer-driven systems can achieve, Batangas demonstrates how impact deepens when families become the delivery mechanism. In Lipa City, Maite Leyeza Tarrayo, guided by her father Martin Leyeza, has led the 60-Day Reading Challenge since 2021, supporting Malitlit and Anangi elementary schools.

Here, the teachers are the parents. “Children are given a learning booklet, and we teach parents how to use it,” Maite explained. “The booklet becomes the tool and the parents become the facilitators.” This year, about 60 children are enrolled; since its launch, the program has reached more than 300. Built on ComWorks’ earlier investments in computer rooms, books and connectivity, the reading challenge strengthens learning at its most basic unit the home.

KaladCaring: When friendship becomes lifesaving work

Education builds capacity. Health care can determine survival. What began as a circle of friends evolved into KaladCaring when its members learned through pediatric cardiologist Pia Malanyaon of children at the Philippine General Hospital awaiting heart surgeries their families could not afford. “When we saw the waiting lists, we knew we couldn’t look away,” said entrepreneur Faye Celones.

Today, the group quietly helps fund pediatric heart surgeries at PGH. Members Joji Bautista, Charito Barter, Emmie Gonzales, Erlie Velasco, Peggy Alfaro and Blet Castillo support the effort with consistency rather than fanfare.

“You don’t have to be rich to save a life,” hotelier-lawyer Barter said. “You just need to care enough to act.” Those who wish to help may reach KaladCaring through Malanyaon at [email protected].

Connie Mamaril: Restoring mobility, restoring dignity

Where some interventions address crisis, others restore function. Inbound golf travel industry pioneer Connie Mamaril continues her advocacy for mobility assistance through Regent Travel Corp. and the Silliman University Alumni Association–Metro Manila Chapter, donating wheelchairs to airports, hospitals and charitable institutions. One of her constants is Dumaguete’s HOPE Village of Little Children of the Philippines, which shelters abused and abandoned children.

A different kind of bottom line

At a time when confidence in institutions is fragile, these women demonstrate a different model of leadership one grounded in discipline, systems and long-term thinking. They assess needs, build frameworks, measure outcomes and commit for the long run. The returns are not booked quarterly, but they compound: stronger learners, healthier citizens and communities better equipped to contribute to the economy.

This is not a departure from business logic, but its extension proof that the most durable investments are those that continue creating value long after the initial capital is spent.

Veronica Wuson is formerly a lifestyle editor and news writer for the now-defunct Times Journal and Makati Business Daily.