PASIG’s legendary mark in Philippine history is a well-known fact. Philippine history is replete with stories about the “Pasig River” and the classic “Mutya ng Pasig.” Over the 450 years since its founding, the city of Pasig has established itself as a bastion of economic development as well as a cultural, social, educational, technological, infrastructure and business hub. Pasig ranked as the fourth richest city in the Philippines in 2022, with a total income of P 52.15 billion.

Under the leadership of the dynamic, innovative and visionary Mayor Victor Ma. Regis N. Sotto, Pasig City, has become a model of good governance. The city has made great strides in providing basic services to the people marked by efficiency, productivity and freedom from corruption. This has made Pasig attractive to businesses to set up their enterprises in the city, fully cognizant of its potential for further growth. Large enterprises, as well as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), comprise the backbone of Pasig’s economy. As of July 2023, Pasig has recorded at least 2,035 establishment registrations, of which 1,343, or 65.99 percent, are owned and operated by women. Many of these businesses have long been established by the pioneering entrepreneurs who painstakingly started their ventures engaged in providing goods and services with the distinct brand of what has been known and acknowledged as “Tatak Pasigueño.”

On Dec. 1 -3, 2023, Pasig City launched the highly successful “Tatak Pasigueño” Expo at the Ayala Feliz Mall. The expo is a major undertaking of the Pasig City Gender and Development (GAD) Office, headed by lawyer Jose Rey Querubin Espina and the Local Economic Development and Investment Office under lawyer Diego S. Santiago. At the helm of the project is the Pasig City Local Council of Women (PC LCW), headed by president Editha Cruz Santiago, which partnered with the Pasig City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCCII) led by Michelle de Ocampo-Ballesteros.

The project aims to provide special assistance to MSMEs, mostly headed by women, in line with the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) of 2009. By virtue of an ordinance passed in August 2019, Pasig City established the PC LCW to promote women empowerment, gender equality and gender diversity. Pasig City Councilor Corazon Mejia Raymundo initiated and laid the groundwork of the PC LCW, which I headed as president from 2019 to 2022. It started with a membership of 73 women’s organizations comprising approximately 5,000 individual members coming from the 30 barangays of Pasig City. To date, PC LCW has 137 women’s associations composed of 19,160 individual members. Even at the height of the pandemic lockdown, PC LCW actively and successfully carried out various activities, foremost of which are the Negosyo Pasigueña and Tiangge ni Mutya ng Pasig around the Pasig City Quadrangle coinciding with the celebration of International Women’s Month. PC LCW members proudly displayed and sold their products, giving them a semblance of recognition by the general public. Given this experience, the Tatak Pasigueño Expo is a big leap that opens new opportunities for the PC LCW members in an established venue such as the Ayala Feliz Mall. The timing of the event also coincides with the celebration of the 18-day Campaign to End Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC), which is observed internationally from November 25 to December 10.

The Tatak Pasigueño Expo is the first of its kind in Pasig that serves as a way to celebrate and promote the unique offerings of Pasig City and its people that aim to foster a sense of pride, ownership and community spirit through the best products and services to the locals and encourage tourism in Pasig. It supports local businesses and nurtures Pasigueño-owned businesses that use local resources sustainably, employ local workers at decent wages, and primarily serve the local consumers satisfactorily. It serves as a platform allowing communities to have a hand in their progress and to become less dependent on international imports.

Tatak Pasigueño also launched the Pasig Legacy Brand Heritage Award, which recognized business enterprises set up more than 20 years ago. These enterprises developed and nurtured their distinct brands of goods and services. In the process, they are bequeathing a legacy brand that forms a critical part of Pasig’s heritage. Notable among these awardees are Dimasalang Bakery, Ado’s Pansit, Aging’s Food Delight, and Charing’s Halo-Halo, among others, which have been featured in TV shows, mainstream media and social media, and proudly known as “Tatak Pasigueño.”

The author is an economist-banker. She graduated AB Economics, magna cum laude, from UP School of Economics, in 1972; UP MBA in 1979; and MPA at Harvard University in 1988.