Women as AFP top brass: Why not?

The Armed Forces of the Philippines regularly honors female soldiers bravely serving and defending the country from security threats, AFP public affairs chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said.

Trinidad shared with DAILY TRIBUNE the military’s “strides in the realm of gender and development,” saying that the “active pursuit of gender equality is evident” within the various units of the AFP.

He said this is realized through the increased representation of women both in combat and administrative roles, with female commanders and generals.

Trinidad said the AFP acknowledges that being a soldier knows no boundary, even for a woman.

The AFP Surgeon General’s office is headed by Brig. Gen. Fatima Claire Navarro, the Chief of Dental Service, is commanded by Brig. Gen. Angelica Torres, while Brig. Gen. Ma Dolores Lim is the Chief Nurse.

Col. Consuelo Castillo, on the other hand, has been serving the Philippine Air Force as spokesperson.

Making history in the various AFP major services is 1Lt Jul Laiza Mae Camposano-Beran, the first female AS-21 combat-mission-ready pilot and wingman of the Philippine Air Force.

Army Col. Ma. Victoria Blancafloor is the first female graduate of the Philippine Military Academy and the first female Platoon Leader of the 7th Light Armor Company.

Commodore Luz Camacho is the first female skipper to command a Philippine Navy warship. She also served as the first female commander of a Philippine contingent to a United Nations peacekeeping force.

Camacho likewise made history as the first female star-ranked naval officer.

Earlier this week, the AFP installed its new spokesperson, Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, the first female soldier to hold such a critical post in the military organization.