Womanly Touch to Success

Annette Gozon-Abrogar

Her demeanor exudes femininity.  It may be man's world out there but Annette Gozon-Abrogar, the President of GMA Films, Inc. and GMA Worldwide, Inc, proved that caring your femininity in the workplace can be an asset.  Her womanhood transcends to the network's TV programming and movie offerings and that is where her success lies.

Formally known as Atty. Anna Teresa M. Gozon-Abrogar, Annette has both degrees in law and management engineering from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University, respectively, both with honors as cum laude.  She got her Masters degree in law from Harvard University.  She became a junior partner in Belo Gozon Elma Parel Asuncion & Lucila and an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines, College of Law where she taught taxation.  "I was a full-time lawyer before but with GMA, I became a part of the team that makes the final decision when it comes to content and program schedules.  That is where I started," Annette explains.

Currently, the GMA Kapuso Network enjoys top ratings on most of their shows during prime time and daytime viewing in Mega Manila and the rest of Luzon.  Interestingly enough, a number of the network's top rating shows headline women as protagonists.  "Most of our viewers are women.  They are our main target audience.  Having a perspective of a woman provides a lot of benefit.  We do not have to second-guess what our largest audience wants," shares Abrogar.  "For GMA, we want to portray the woman in her entirety, so we will be able to show the realities surrounding women in an inspiring way.  We would like to show their strength as modern women and empower them to be the best women they can be."

"We often show women as heroines, as fighters, as strong people in celebration of womahood.  The best example would be the four sangres of Encantandia that showed different strengths of women yet, also the bonds of sisterhood, of the mother and child relationship, among others.  That show encompassed the many facets of womanhood."  Most shows on QTV11, co-produced with GMA Network, are also geared toward women audiences, "but we also target the whole family", adds Annette.

As one of the network's executives, Annette Gozon-Abrogar is very comfortable being herself and a woman and her position further boosts her confidence.  "There are a lot of females in the (media) industry.  As to gender issues, I particularly did not have any difficulties.  I would say we have a woman-friendly environment."  True enough, she credits her feel of the market to her innate, womanly attributes.  "Being a woman is advantageous.  Women are naturally more emotional speak more than what the mind says.  We are more in touch with our emotions and that is needed in programming."

Definitely, Annette is passionate about her work but she equally shares that passion for her family.  As a mother of two children, ages five and nine, she makes sure she attends to them whenever she is at home.  "Being a mother is fun and at the same time exhausting.  My children are demanding of my attention and of course, I give in.  We play and cook together and go malling.  For me, a successful woman is happy and content with herself and her family.  Women today play a lot of roles in the workplace and at home.  But whatever role she plays, as long as there is happiness at home, there is already success.  The key is to find the right balance between work and family."

Speaking on top of her game, Annette Gozon Abrogar shares her vision for the Filipina, "I want the Filipina to be empowered.  Given any situation, they should always find strength within themselves.  But they should also not lose that special feminine touch that enables them to be caring persons...be it as mothers, co-workers, relatives or friends.  As for GMA, our audience can always expect that we would exert all our efforts to give them the best programming possible."


First posted on August 25, 2010.