MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Wednesday that it landed in the 2023 Bloomberg’s gender-equality index (GEI).
“As we continue powering the good life for all, we firmly believe that embracing women empowerment and promoting gender equality are key to building an inclusive and sustainable future,” Meralco President and Chief Executive Officer Atty. Ray C. Espinosa, said in a media release.
Bloomberg’s GEI tracks public firms in disclosing efforts to support gender equality through policy development and transparency.
The power distribution company joins 483 companies as a member of 2023 GEI, making it the first and only utility company in the Philippines to be included in the list.
Bloomberg’s GEI tracks listed companies’ measures on gender equality through leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand.
Meralco said it submitted a social survey created by Bloomberg. Companies included in the index posted a score above a global threshold as established by Bloomberg.
Participation in the survey is said to be voluntary and had no associated cost. The index is also not ranked. Public companies that have a market capitalization of about $1 billion are eligible to be included in the index.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
