Mayor Vilma Balle Caluag has recently received the Most Influential Filipina Woman in the World Award from the Foundation for Filipina Women’s Network (FWN).
Caluag now joins the roster of Filipinas around the world who received the FWN100 Award—an honor launched in 2006 in the United States that evolved into the Global FWN100™, expanding outside the U.S. since 2013.
The award has since been held in cities of Toronto, London, Paris, Lisbon, Prague, and Sydney.
This year, Caluag was recognized under the Policymaker and Visionary Category in Government and Public Service.
She stands alongside other influential Filipinas across the globe who are changing the face of leadership in their respective communities, according to FWN.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘞𝘕100™ 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴,” the foundation stated.
In its official communication to Caluag, the FWN said that fellow nominees came from six other countries, and that the Search Committee was composed of past Global FWN100™ awardees.
The organization added that the selection of awardees was based on the scope and scale of their influence in their industries, professions, and communities, as well as their board affiliations and leadership roles.
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴’ 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦," FWN described its award to Caluag.
During the awarding rites, Caluag was introduced as
“𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘳 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰'𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘳. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯 ‘𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘒𝘢, 𝘒𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘦 𝘒𝘢’ (‘𝘒𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘒𝘢’), 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 10-𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮.”
Prior to the awarding ceremony, Caluag participated in a four-day activities during the Filipina Leadership Global Summit, which included a meeting with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and her participation in plenary sessions.
She presented her global project pitch, the “Fernandina Rise Empowerment Program,” which highlighted how Fernandinas like her strive to rise and make a difference in their communities, particularly in public service.
The mayor accepted her award saying "amidst all this chaos, we choose courage, compassion and change." (via CSF Information Office)