Growing up, Catherine Yap-Yang considered herself as “one of the boys.” Being the only sister to five elder brothers, she became conscious of certain gender biases which could have compromised her as a woman.
“They ended up empowering me as I took on these biases as challenges to overcome, whether deliberately or unintentionally,” she said.
“For instance, I came to love driving because brother Bob taught me how to do just that. I came to love swimming because Dad taught me how to do the freestyle and the backstroke. I came to appreciate being one of the boys because my brothers did just that: treat me as one of the boys,” she added.
Cathy, as she is fondly called by friends and colleagues, would apply the same attitude in the field of mass media where she carved a name for herself as a business journalist.
Cathy Yang, who was named Best News and/or Current Affairs Presenter/Anchor at the 2019 Asian Academy Creative Awards in Singapore and Best News Presenter/Anchor at the 24th Asian Television Awards in January 2020, joined the PLDT-Smart Group on July 31st of last year.
Manila Standard, in celebration of International Women's Month, talks to Yap-Yang – a wife, a mother of two girls, and PLDT-Smart First Vice President & Group Head of Corporate Communications – on the role of women in the midst of a raging pandemic and what industries can do to promote non-discrimination policies and end gender inequality.
MS: Have you experienced discrimination as a woman? How did you overcome it?
Yap-Yang: Not personally, but that I had come across documentation that required a little more gender sensitivity. It was an honest oversight. It came up in a presentation where “wife/children” was referenced when it ought to have been “spouse/children.” I thought for a moment about whether I should bring it up or not, but I figured in the end if I didn’t, other married men or women would come across the same. Fortunately, the gentlemen were very kind to thank me for pointing out. Small things, big strides.
MS: What empowers you as a woman?
Yap-Yang: When my man is supportive of what I do, even if he isn’t fully on board but sees that it will be good for my personal and professional growth, that is empowering. When I remember that I grew up with five elder brothers, and there is just one me, the only sister, the only daughter – and the youngest at that – that is empowering. Growing up with boys, Dad and Mom helped me see beyond gender.
When I feel happy putting on the look as if I were to go on air – because it’s for me and not for anyone else – that is empowering. When others think about doing the same for themselves – looking good and feeling good about it – that is equally empowering.
MS: Do you have an advocacy for women?
Yap-Yang: Raising my two daughters to be empowered individuals would be my advocacy. When I see our two daughters grow up to be confident women with a voice, in defense of what is good, honest, and truthful, that is empowering. It is an advocacy I share with my husband, Dr. Gilbert C. Yang, who himself is an enlightened man ahead of his time. It helps to have a partner who believes the same, having been raised the way he has.
MS: Who were your women role models growing up?
Yap-Yang: I have followed the life and career of American journalist Katie Couric since I was a teen and find her story of resilience inspiring. She managed to reinvent herself from linear TV to the online space, from her morning show heydays at NBC to her podcasts. She is the first woman to solo anchor the CBS Evening News and the first woman to guest host the American version of the game show Jeopardy! She said of her time in CBS Evening News, “I truly understood the power that images have of a woman sitting by herself without a man at her side delivering the news and covering breaking stories with confidence and competence.” I still have the autographed photo Katie sent me via post when I was just 14. It helped set me on my path to a career in journalism.
Outside the media ecosystem, I have been riveted by the leadership journey of Carly Fiorina, the American businesswoman and politician known chiefly for her time as CEO of Hewlett Packard, which made her the first woman to lead a Fortune Top-20 company. During her career, she has led through a deep recession, terror attacks, SARS, Ebola, and now COVID-19. “There’s an old saying that tough times build character,” she was quoted as saying. “I think that is wrong … tough times reveal character.” I like that she had talked about good leaders as having peripheral vision to heed warning signs and that a “true leader serves, not presides, they are empathetic, and they collaborate to make informed – even unpopular – decisions.”
MS: What do you think are your notable contributions to society?
Yap-Yang: Rather than as a woman per se, I feel I have contributed more as a citizen. From my point of view, I have always embraced the opportunity to contribute and achieve great things—as a person. So, when I aimed to achieve something great whenever I competed in international award-giving bodies, I primed myself to think it is always about my work and that I had executed it best. What I am most proud of are my twin wins for the Philippines as Best News or Current Affairs Presenter/Anchor at the Asian Academy Creative Awards in December 2019, and a month later, at the 24th Asian Television Awards (ATA), for the same category. I had already achieved a three-in-a-row win at the ATA many years before when I was still with Bloomberg TV Asia-Pacific in Tokyo and Hong Kong, but even then, those wins had not been about gender, but what I did and how best I executed them.
MS: At PLDT, how do you celebrate women's achievements? How do you raise awareness against bias and take action for equality?
Yap-Yang: I celebrate women’s achievements each day by being happy for every other woman who I see do good work. I also celebrate women’s achievements each day by being happy for every other man I see helping women do good work. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Anyone outside this ecosystem would be hard-pressed to say we’re all doing our part to think that men are part of the solution as much as women.
It helps that the company has got us covered. PLDT and Smart have deliberately taken active steps in ensuring gender equality. The company gives equal opportunity to all, aspiring for a work environment characterized by openness, trust, and respect, reflected in the nondiscrimination policy in hiring.
Employees are not chosen based on gender, age, or if they belong to a particular sector, but according to the competencies and skills required by the job. There is only one salary structure regardless of gender. We follow the principles of pay for the person (based on competencies and credentials), pay for the position, and pay for performance.
MS: Amid the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, how do you see these disruptions impacting on efforts to achieve gender equality?
Yap-Yang: I think the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the momentum we had going in achieving equality between men and women in the Philippines. In 2020, our country dropped eight places in gender equality, according to the latest Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum. Still, the same report mentions the Philippines to still be the only Asian country to figure in the top 20 tier, in terms of closing the gender gap.
Either way, both men and women have found themselves sheltering in their homes together, and in a profoundly extended period of time. In a way, the situation is giving women the opportunity to ask their men to share in the increased volume of housework as their children shelter with them, too. Already, income and domestic pressures due to the pandemic are negatively impacting people’s physical and mental health, according to Investing in Women, and interestingly so with men more impacted than women. This is an opportune time to help each other, both men and women alike, in staying resilient in one of the world’s longest lockdowns.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given everyone a chance to address long-standing inequalities, rebuilding a resilient world, with women at the heart of the recovery. There are no behaviors that could be regarded as strictly for males that driven female entrepreneurs and professionals either do not have or won’t learn in a competitive environment. My career journey has taken me to the male-dominated world of tech, media, and telco at a time of unprecedented demand for digital connectivity due to the pandemic. I am most pleased to see that the first leaders who welcomed me to the ranks of senior management are mostly women.
MS: How will you continue pushing for a gender-equal world?
Yap-Yang: By working with men to make them understand we are here to help them achieve their goals, much as we expect no less of them to help us achieve ours. This will require a strengthening of baseline trusts, which can start by working on shared projects or advocacies, celebrating shared achievements thereafter. Respect for each other’s differences and complementarities is key – for both men and women.
It helps that the company has got us covered. PLDT and Smart have deliberately taken active steps in ensuring gender equality. The company gives equal opportunity to all, aspiring for a work environment characterized by openness, trust, and respect, reflected in the nondiscrimination policy in hiring.
Employees are not chosen based on gender, age, or if they belong to a particular sector, but according to the competencies and skills required by the job. There is only one salary structure regardless of gender. We follow the principles of pay for the person (based on competencies and credentials), pay for the position, and pay for performance.
MS: Amid the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, how do you see these disruptions impacting on efforts to achieve gender equality?
Yap-Yang: I think the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the momentum we had going in achieving equality between men and women in the Philippines. In 2020, our country dropped eight places in gender equality, according to the latest Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum. Still, the same report mentions the Philippines to still be the only Asian country to figure in the top 20 tier, in terms of closing the gender gap.
Either way, both men and women have found themselves sheltering in their homes together, and in a profoundly extended period of time. In a way, the situation is giving women the opportunity to ask their men to share in the increased volume of housework as their children shelter with them, too. Already, income and domestic pressures due to the pandemic are negatively impacting people’s physical and mental health, according to Investing in Women, and interestingly so with men more impacted than women. This is an opportune time to help each other, both men and women alike, in staying resilient in one of the world’s longest lockdowns.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given everyone a chance to address long-standing inequalities, rebuilding a resilient world, with women at the heart of the recovery. There are no behaviors that could be regarded as strictly for males that driven female entrepreneurs and professionals either do not have or won’t learn in a competitive environment. My career journey has taken me to the male-dominated world of tech, media, and telco at a time of unprecedented demand for digital connectivity due to the pandemic. I am most pleased to see that the first leaders who welcomed me to the ranks of senior management are mostly women.
MS: How will you continue pushing for a gender-equal world?
Yap-Yang: By working with men to make them understand we are here to help them achieve their goals, much as we expect no less of them to help us achieve ours. This will require a strengthening of baseline trusts, which can start by working on shared projects or advocacies, celebrating shared achievements thereafter. Respect for each other’s differences and complementarities is key – for both men and women.
