MANILA, Philippines — In an industry long dominated by men in hard hats and corner offices, female professionals are taking on increasingly prominent operational, engineering, and executive roles. Three women leaders at Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN) are driving the frontline execution of the company’s transition toward sustainable energy sources.
Their responsibilities span from the control rooms of traditional thermal facilities in Cebu to expansive solar farms in Bulacan, alongside the core regulatory legal strategies guiding the corporate shift.
1. Cristine Albarando: Lone Female Control Room Engineer
Operating out of MGEN Thermal in Cebu, Cristine Albarando holds the distinction of being the only female control room engineer across the company’s regional facilities.
- The Blueprint: Albarando admitted she had zero exposure to power plants before studying mechanical engineering.
- The On-Site Mandate: Control room engineers manage the real-time operational load, mechanical stability, and output of massive turbines.
- The Mission: “Initially I had doubts because I deeply respected the weight of the responsibility,” Albarando noted, adding that her primary motivation is knowing her daily technical inputs directly keep the lights on for everything from small residential homes to critical regional hospitals.
2. Jennylene Baluyot: Top Seat at a Solar Park
As a seasoned field engineer, Jennylene Baluyot serves as the site manager overseeing MGEN’s massive 55-megawatt Bulacan Solar Plant (MGEN Renewables).
- Breaking Barriers: Before earning the site leadership position, Baluyot spent years establishing her presence in field roles where she was often the sole woman on-site.
- The Data Routine: Her shift begins with strict quantitative tracking—reviewing generation metrics versus targets, examining inverter statuses, and tracking electrical fault alarms.
- Leadership Under Pressure: Baluyot recalls a high-stress emergency when a substantial chunk of the solar facility went completely offline during peak generation hours due to an inverter malfunction. Rather than panicking, she relied heavily on localized data and team trust to restore the grid.
“Being a woman leading an entire plant means breaking expectations—both my own and those set by the industry—and proving that leadership is defined by capability, not gender. It’s about showing up every day with confidence, making tough decisions and leading with both strength and empathy.” — Engineer Jennylene Baluyot
3. Atty. Maan Ballesteros: Legal Strategy for Transition
On the executive front, Atty. Maan Ballesteros functions as MGEN’s chief legal counsel, corporate governance, and compliance officer.
- The Portfolio: Her legal oversight covers all complex contracts, compliance standards, and regulatory negotiations spanning MGEN’s entire energy mix—including thermal, natural gas, and rapidly expanding renewable assets.
- Strategic Approach: Ballesteros originally faced familial expectations to pursue medicine but pivoted to corporate law to leverage her analytical strengths. She emphasizes that her perspective as a woman allows her to approach regulatory bottlenecks and corporate restructuring with overlooked problem-solving angles.
All three leaders view their professional contributions as part of a much larger, structural transformation across the broader Philippine energy ecosystem. As MGEN continues to recalibrate its energy portfolio to meet international decarbonization goals and local power demands, these professionals emphasize that capability—rather than gender—defines operational success.
For younger women looking to enter STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, Baluyot and Albarando offer a unified message: the industry has open space for their leadership, and they do not need to wait for permission to claim it.
