PHILIPPINES: LOREN CALLS FOR MORE WOMAN POWER IN NATION BUILDING

SAN FABIAN, PANGASINAN – Sen. Loren Legarda last night (Jan. 19) called for more woman empowerment in nation building during the crowning of the fiesta queen of this town on the occasion of its annual fiesta celebration.

“Your chosen theme for this year’s celebrations, Let Us Build a Better San Fabian! , serves as a fitting reminder of how important the role of Filipino women is in our quest for progress and development,” Legarda said, in her speech upon crowning the fiesta queen.

“While we have had two women presidents, a large number of Filipino women continue to live in poverty, bereft of opportunities to chart their future and make a significant, positive impact on our society,” she averred.

Consequently, Loren declared, “It is incumbent upon us to lay the groundwork to support our women in maximizing their potentials not only as mothers and sisters, but also as promising leaders of the community and society as well.”

Senator Legarda said that in the Senate, she had filed several measures to help address the basic needs of our fellow women. These were:

  The Women Empowerment Act which seeks to provide equal opportunity between men and women in the areas of public governance by reserving certain percentages of positions in the different branches of government to qualified women;

  The Women and Children Crisis Survivors Assistance and Protection Act which seeks to expand the coverage of assistance and protection to rape victims to include survivors of other gender-based violence and crimes against children;

  The Magna Carta for Women which seeks to provide the necessary mechanisms to enforce and guarantee the realization of women’s rights as well as adopt and undertake steps to include temporary special measures which encompass a wide variety of legislative, executive, administrative and other regulatory instruments, policies and practices aimed at accelerating the equal participation of women in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other fields.

Loren praised the municipal officials of San Fabian, headed by Mayor Jaming Libunao for holding the Ms. San Fabian Competition not only for the beauty of the contestants but also for their talent, intelligence and the advocacy and values which they espouse.

“This occasion likewise symbolizes our unity and commitment towards the further advancement and uplift of the rights and welfare of the Filipino women in our society. To add to that, I earnestly hope that this competition likewise help bring out the best in our young women, become role models among the youth and encourage them to become active and productive members of our society,” Loren emphasized.

“From my experience in my first term as Senator, where I was chosen by my colleagues to be Majority Leader, the first woman to have occupied the post, I found that to gain the position did not necessarily mean that I had to abandon my being a woman and play like a man in this male-dominated field. I learned that to earn the esteem of my male colleagues, I did not have to be a `woman with balls’ but simply a woman with a backbone,” she averred.

She thanked the women voters for sending her to the Senate for two terms.

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