The ConnectEd: Tech for All by Her Legacy Project embodies a transformative mission. It seeks to bridge the digital divide and empower young individuals with the tools, knowledge, and skills to thrive in a technology-driven world. By fostering access to technological resources and training, this initiative enables the next generation to pursue their dreams, unlock opportunities, and shape a brighter future—not just for themselves but for their communities.
Tootsy Angara and Karen Davila recall their first visit to Pag-asa Island, a remote outpost in the West Philippine Sea. The journey took three hours by plane, with a stop to refuel before continuing to the farthest-flung school in the Philippines. When both women finally landed, they were greeted not just by the teachers and students but by a sobering reality: the school’s digital infrastructure was non-existent. Wi-Fi access in the military office served as the community’s only window to the internet. For the children of Pag-asa, digital literacy was a distant dream.
The Tatler Ball’s most important guest this year, as always, was generosity, the fairest of them all, dressed to nines with pockets and purses deep enough for fat wallets, thick checkbooks, and big, big hearts. As it does every year in Manila, the Tatler Ball ended 2024’s ball season with a bang. More than Halloween, this belle of balls, held every year in November by Tatler Philippines, headed by Irene Martel Francisco, managing director, and Anton San Diego, editor in chief, signals the beginning of holiday merrymaking. Until then, the invitees to the ball, this year numbering no more than 300 of the country’s most influential, would go slow on attending dinner parties for fear of not fitting into the gowns or tuxes usually custommade for the occasion or for fear of looking tired, puffy-eyed, and bloated on the night of the ball.
Even before the Philippine Tatler’s 23rd anniversary celebration ended, managing director Irene Martel Francisco proudly announced that the ball had already raised more than the projected donation of P12 million for the evening’s beneficiary ConnectEd, Tech for All by Her Legacy Project headed by dedicated partners, charming Tootsy Angara and media icon Karen Davila, to provide essential resources and laptops to gifted but marginalized children in last mile schools across the Philippines.
