Who is Cris Aldeguer-Roque, the new DTI chief?

MANILA, Philippines – She’s not the officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Acting DTI Secretary Ma. Cristina “Cris” Aldeguer-Roque clarified on Saturday, August 3, that she will be the next permanent head of the agency in case she gets confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA).

“‘Pag acting (If it’s acting), I need to get a clearance from the Commission on Appointments and then after that, doon na siya magiging secretary (that’s when the person becomes a secretary),” she told Radyo 630 on Saturday, August 3, when asked to clarify what her “acting” designation meant. 

A day, earlier, on Friday, August 2, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administered her oath as trade secretary in Malacañang.

“The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is the catalyst to our country’s economic growth through the promotion of Filipino businesses, acceleration of investments and empowerment of consumers,” Marcos said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page, along with photos of the oathtaking event.

“I am pleased to welcome Undersecretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque as the new Acting Secretary of DTI.  I trust that she will continue the valuable work we have accomplished,” he added.

Roque said she was surprised by the appointment since “we did not expect the resignation of Secretary [Alfredo] Pascual,” who quit effective August 2 after serving for two years and one month as DTI chief.  Roque assumed as acting secretary on the same day.

Roque, who is concurrent undersecretary of the DTI’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Group, said she accepted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s challenge since the “agency needs to continue because of the Filipino people who depend on the agency.” 

During the turnover ceremony on Friday, Roque emphasized “initiatives that empower the backbone of the country’s economy — the local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).”

Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo had been mentioned as possible replacements of Pascual, in various news reports.

Roque is the second woman to lead the DTI, after Lilia Bautista who served as trade chief during the last few months of the Corazon Aquino administration.

Kamiseta Group

The new trade chief is the former CEO and president of the Kamiseta group of companies, which launched the clothing brand Kamiseta over 30 years ago. It ventured into the skincare business five years ago with products like the Kamiseta Blancare Lotion, endorsed by Kapuso star Marian Rivera, and clinics in upscale areas like Bonifacio Global City.

She started the Kamiseta Clothing brand fresh from college in 1990 with P6,000 that her father gave her to start a small business. Its first store opened in 1992.

In an interview with the Philippine Star in April 2020, she said the turning point in her career was when the Sy family’s SM group offered her a space for a Kamiseta boutique in SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City, which gave the brand wider exposure than its small boutique stores.

Among the celebrities who have become endorsers of Kamiseta are China Cojuangco, Gretchen Barretto, Kris Aquino, Heart Evangelista, and even Hollywood stars like Natalie Portman, Alicia Silverstone, Kate Hudson, and Katie Holmes. In one of her posts, Roque said she is a “friend for life” of Kapuso star Heart Evangelista, wife of new Senate president Francis “Chiz” Escudero. The model-actress serves as creative director of Kamiseta.

Roque said a “combination of a strong brand and a celebrity who is a perfect match for it is definitely a winning formula.” 

She also cited several factors for her brand’s success: “Even if I had so little when I started, while I was growing up, my parents instilled in me strict discipline and the value of good education and hard work. My mom would always tell me to either ‘sacrifice now and enjoy later’ or ‘enjoy now and sacrifice later.’ Hindi sila nagkulang ng advice sa akin. (They did not lack in giving me advice.) They always told us that money is not the defining factor to one’s life, and that hard work, perseverance and faith in God are the keys to make it.”

Competition, she added, was good for consumers since it “pushes businesses beyond their boundaries, and inspires us to keep innovating and offering products and services.” 

Based on her Instagram posts, she appears to have become close to First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos only during the Marcos administration. She has posted photos of videos of her with the First Lady on her public Instagram account. 

One photo shows her with the First Lady during a trade event in June 2023, with the caption: “Congratulations FL Liza A.Marcos for a very successful LIKHA 2. Your Passion and Determination in promoting the Philippine Weavers, Philippine products and the Filipino talent is very admirable as this will remind each and everyone of us of our heritage and our culture.”

She also posted a video of her being introduced, apparently for the first time, to the First Lady on November 6, 2022 at a “fundraising event.” In the video, the First Lady tells her, “Oh, I love Kamiseta, I (inaudible) my stuff there.”

Aside from being DTI undersecretary for the MSME Development Group, Roque also also oversaw the Small Business Corporation and the Cooperative Development Authority. As undersecretary, she managed the Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development, the Bureau of Marketing Development and Promotions, the OTOP Program Management Office, and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Management Office, the DTI said.

Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion hailed the appointment of Roque, saying, “The President could not have picked a better person to lead the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).”

“During her time as Undersecretary for the MSME Development Group, she has proven to be a strong ally of the MSMEs, assisting in whatever way she can in pushing for policies that can benefit this critical sector of our economy,” he said in a statement on Friday.

Concepcion cited, in particular, Roque’s experience as a successful entrepreneur.

“She can bring private sector perspective to the DTI and give continuity to programs that have already been set in place,” he said.

Roque obtained her degree in Industrial Management Engineering, minor in Chemical Engineering, from De La Salle University. She went to De La Salle Santiago Zobel in Alabang for her secondary education and Colegio de San Agustin in Makati and De La Salle Santiago Zobel for her primary education. – Rappler.com