Introduction of Speaker: Ms. Maria Cristina Antero Apolinar-Abeya

Our speaker for tonight is an active advocator of Igorot culture in different parts of the globe. She hails from Bontoc, Mountain Province from the clans’ Antero and Tagay. She obtained her Master’s degree in Business Administration from the National University in San Diego, California. She is a professional accountant, business administrator, and financial manager and has worked for the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Due to her exceptional leadership and skills, she received various awards, specifically for the development and implementation of various automated accounting systems and the re-engineering and streamlining various accounting and auditing processes of the U.S. Federal Government.

She is a devoted wife to retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Edwin Bondad Abeya who hails from Sagada, Mountain Province. She is a loving mother to three children and an affectionate grandmother to four grandchildren.

She was the president of BIMAK DC, which is based in Washington D.C., from 1995 to 1996. She is the current president of the Igorot Global Organization, where she continues to promote the Igorot culture through organizing various cultural shows of awareness, dance and song which help raise funds for medical missions and scholarship grants to Igorot children back in the Philippines, as well as giving speeches and presentations regarding the different issues our culture faces in various international conferences, events, and forums. She is doing all these in hopes of keeping the Igorot culture alive and well into the 21st century and beyond.  

Ladies and gentlemen, let us all welcome Ms. Mia Antero Apolinar-Abeya.