Empowered from Home: Celebrating Sustainable Enterprises by Moms

PLDT Home honored mompreneurs through Gawad Madiskarte 2024, awarding the most innovative and sustainable businesses founded and led by mothers.

Filipino mothers were the role models the world needed. Not only were they caring, nurturing, and resilient, but they also brought communities together and embodied the country’s spirit of innovation. When something was lacking, they found ways to make it whole; when constrained by their financial situations, they dug deep into their experiences to find solutions.


They did all this with a smile as they shared advice and encouraged each other. These were the moms of Madiskarte Moms PH (MMPH), an online community of mom entrepreneurs helping women start their path to financial freedom. Founded during the pandemic when thousands of women lost their jobs, moms added another role to their name: mompreneur.


PLDT Home recognized from the outset that this movement was the future of entrepreneurship in the Philippines. Building empires from home—starting with micro-, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)—became the new way to financial independence, as the platform let mompreneurs showcase their ability to learn new skills and manage their roles as caregivers, teachers, and business owners.


By the time of the event, the community had grown to 190,000 members, with over 450 members turned brand affiliates, 150 recipients of business toolkits, more than 24,900 trained mompreneurs, and 16 online masterclasses and webinars.


And so Gawad Madiskarte was born to celebrate the triumphs of Filipino mompreneurs, those who inspired not just their families but their communities through their creativity and hard work. The awards were supported by PLDT Home as part of its commitment to nation-building and its purpose of inspiring innovation and meaningful connections.


Gawad Madiskarte 2024 took place on October 19 at Seda Hotel in BGC, awarding mompreneurs in three categories: Diskarteng Angat, Diskarteng Eco-Friendly, and Diskarteng May-Puso in start-up and scale-up divisions. The panel of judges for that year's competition featured a formidable lineup of industry leaders and experts, each bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. Their diverse backgrounds and accomplishments made them a truly distinguished panel, including Butch Jimenez, Chief Operating Officer of PLDT Inc.; Jonjon San Agustin, Executive Vice President for Marketing at SM Supermalls; Tweetie de Leon, owner of TdLG Designs; Angela Chongco, owner of Mayumi Organics; Pia Hontiveros, broadcast journalist; and Annette Gozon-Valdes, President of GMA Films.


Gawad Madiskarte 2024 put the spotlight on mompreneurs who championed sustainability as business owners, whether by minimizing their carbon footprint in manufacturing processes and operations, supporting local communities, or creating products that were part of the circular economy.


Nominees and Prizes

Six (6) mompreneurs took home major prizes across three subcategories (Diskarteng Angat, Diskarteng Eco-Friendly, Diskarteng May-Puso), each receiving ₱100,000. Two (2) winners across two subcategories (Diskarteng Digital, Diskarteng Homebiz) each received ₱50,000, while all other finalists received ₱25,000.


Also lending support to the mompreneurs was delivery and logistics company Lalamove, which provided ₱10,000 worth of Lalamove vouchers to the six (6) major winners and ₱7,500 worth of Lalamove vouchers to two (2) special award winners. Mompreneurs used these vouchers for product deliveries and business operations requiring courier services. To make their home life easier and more fun in the kitchen, home and kitchen appliances brand Tough Mama gifted all winners a Detachable Electric Griller and Plate, and a Tough Mama Hand Mixer to all 18 finalists.


On top of these prizes was a beautiful trophy created by world-class sculptor Ram Mallari. Throughout his career, Mallari brought sustainable art to a new level, making artworks from discarded metal and other materials, giving them new life as he fashioned them into provocative pieces.


This year’s nominees for Diskarteng Angat included (start-up) Olivia’s Partyland, Pixellab Self Portrait Studio, and Le Vourge Scents; (scale-up) MomiBigbig's Kitchen, Ulap Bedsheet, Love My Pajamies, and HTP Clothing. For Diskarteng Eco-Friendly, the nominees were (start-up) Bloomingdale Collections, Bayong Pampanga, and Xavier & Xandrie; (scale-up) MP Nieva’s Flower Company, OPC, and Isay Bags. For Diskarteng May Puso, the nominees included (start-up) Bounty Honey - Pure, Raw, Wild from Mindanao, Isla PH Essentials, and Bahay Ugnayan Educational Services; (scale-up) Jobiba Baby Diaper and Wipes, and FH Moms.


Using “waste,” not adding to it

Sustainability became fashion’s biggest trend, judging from the recent Fashion Week series in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. In London especially, eBay and Vinted put on runway shows of preloved clothing and accessories, showing once again that with fashion’s cyclical nature, nothing truly goes out of style.


Several of this year’s nominees recognized that fashion could be sustainable by upcycling materials and using “waste” to create something new and beautiful. One nominee made bayong bags embellished with PVC straps. Think Pretty Woman, but instead of going back to show them she had money, our heroine-slash-entrepreneur started experimenting with lowering the costs of PVC bags. And the rest became history.


Another nominee focused on middle-class women who preferred reusable, earth-friendly items that would last them a long time. The company upcycled factory-reject materials into bags, originating from scraps of venetian blinds that their dad brought home from the factory. What began as a home business in 2009 scaled up through bazaars and online shopping.


These women exemplified entrepreneurs who prioritized their social responsibility by adapting sustainable practices, local sourcing, and community engagement—just what the world needed.


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