This year’s Philippine National Retreat hosted by the Manila Hub is titled “HINGA”, Uniting Filipino Shapers for Rooted Impact. 37 Shapers including Irsyad Nazri, Advisory Council Member from the Kuala Lumpur Hub, joined the fulfilling 3 day 2 night retreat at Pasay City, Manila. From the Cebu Hub, Earl Ng (Curator) and Nicole David (Impact Officer) were present.
Day 1: The retreat started with a Fireside Talk by Jose Lorenzo “Pepe” Diokno, Director, Producer, Screenwriter and alumni Manila Shaper, with the Shapers sharing about Empathy at the workplace. This engaged all Shapers from various industries to share their experiences with stepping into another’s shoes also discussed the importance of setting boundaries.
After the fireside talk, we headed to the National Museum of Anthropology and Natural History, where we explored the country’s biodiversity through displays of various flora and fauna, geological features, and interactive exhibits highlighting the unique ecosystems in the Philippines.
The first day culminated with a Binondo Food Crawl, from having Binondo Ube Lattes at Apologue Coffee, Noodle Soup at Masuki, to Dimsum and Custard Buchi at The Good Buddha, immersing in the cultural heritage of Manila’s Chinatown.
Day 2: We got to visit the Asian Institute of Management for a Life Design Session by Angela Chen-Delantar, Co-founder and CEO of Eskwelabs and also a Manila Shaper. She discussed how this workshop was designed in her time as a Shaper in Canada, where they had to devise a way to mingle with new shapers along a multi-hour train ride. In this workshop we had 6 different topics to explore within small groups, namely Imposter Syndrome, Gratitude, Relationships & Ambitions, Authenticity, Resilience and Adulting. We got to have a snapshot of our lives, spend time to reflect how we spend our limited time, what is important to us and how we want to be in the world.
Following the Life Design Session, we headed to Happy Badminton Court, for the Inclusive Sports Coaching, Friendly Badminton Games and Team Building in partnership with PIF (Play It Forward). We were grouped according to how well we played badminton, and who knew Earl (who said he was intermediate at Badminton) could play well against Palarong Pambansa players? After which we had dinner and sang Karaoke with Shapers (now mandatory)!
Day 3: Our last session for the retreat was led by Maoi Arroyo, Founder and Principal of the Ignite Impact Fund. She gave us insights (without any BS) about the current leadership styles in the Philippines and how we, Global Shapers, can revolutionise leadership by example, changing our stereotypical Filipino mindsets, striving for growth and giving proof of love.
The retreat culminated by a short reflection and goal setting by Irsyad Nazri, and closed by Ben Espiritu. It definitely was an enriching experience and had a lot of fun meeting new shapers and catching up with old friends.
Next year, the Cebu Hub will be hosting the Philippine National Retreat. The previous Cebu Retreat was online, so we’re looking forward to have Shapers across the country explore the cultural sites (and food) in Cebu soon! Stay tuned to our socials, (Facebook, Instagram) for it!
