Women lawmakers take over House

A power shift at the House of Representatives is expected on March 5, as women legislators temporarily take full control of the plenary in observance of International Women’s Month.

An all-women session at the plenary will be led by Bulacan 4th District Rep. Deputy Speaker Linabelle Ruth Villarica acting as the Speaker. She is president of the 86-strong Association of Women Legislators Foundation Inc. (AWLFI), a non-profit, non-partisan organization composed of all lady lawmakers at the House of Representatives.

The other presiding officers in the all-women session are Bernadette Herrera-Dy (Bagong Henerasyon Partylist); Corazon Nunez-Malanyaon (1st District, Davao Oriental); Jocelyn Sy-Limkaichong (1st District, Negros Oriental); and Imelda Calixto-Rubiano (Lone District, Pasay).

Maria Carmen Zamora (1st District, Compostela Valley) will be the majority leader with Lucille Nava (Lone District, Guimaras), Cristal Bagatsing (5th District, Manila) and Ma. Lourdes Acosta-Alba (1st District, Bukidnon) as deputy majority leaders.

Anna Marie Villaraza-Suarez (Alona Party-list) and Abigail Ferriol-Pascual will serve as minority leader and deputy minority leader, respectively.

One of the measures that will be discussed on the floor is House Bill No. 4113, otherwise known as the 100-Day Maternity Leave Bill, which seeks to grant 100-day maternity leave with 30-day unpaid extension for working pregnant women in public and private sectors.

The all-women session is jointly sponsored by the AWLFI and the House committee on women and gender equality chaired by Herrera-Dy. As part of the women’s month celebration, they are also sponsoring other activities in partnership with the Gabriela and Bagong Henerasyon Party-list, Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) and Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development.

These include a women’s day exhibit, forums on women empowerment, roundtable discussion on child, early and forced marriages, a seminar on livelihood training, and beauty and health services.

“This year’s celebration of women’s month, themed ‘We Make Change Work for Women,’ highlights the empowerment of women as active contributors to our country’s development,” Villarica said.

“In our various capacities, whether as government officials and employees or private individuals, we can work as one, imbued with a vision and a goal to work for the betterment of our country,” she added.

Beneficiaries of AWLFI’s fundraising drives are the Mega Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Nueva Ecija, families of fallen government troops in the Marawi siege, Philippine Tuberculosis Society Inc., Philippine Breast Care Foundation Inc. and the Philippine General Hospital Pediatric Cancer unit.