The important and unappreciated role of women

The negative aspect of the Covid-19 pandemic is the rise of gender-based violence. Because of the prolonged lockdowns, which lasted for over eight months, children and adolescents, particularly girls are confronted with violence and abuse. The government, in partnership with the United Nations agencies and private civic organizations, is fully committed to end this terrible situation.

The inequality of women to men was highlighted in a United Nations Conference held in Beijing, China in 1995. In fact, since then not much progress has been achieved to meet the objectives of the Beijing conference, and now the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to erode the limited gains that have been made.

It is common knowledge that women are the principal frontliners in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic and are more exposed to the virus infection. Also, they constitute over 70 percent in the health sector. The number of physicians is reported at 32,300 of which 56.2 percent are females and 43.8 percent are males.

The professional nurses were registered at 253,500 with women accounting for 74.1 percent and 25.9 percent are men. Thus, women are in the forefront in combating the Covid-19 pandemic and they deserve recognition as our heroines.

In the world of business, the Philippines can take pride that in a survey of 32 countries, it has the most number of women in senior positions. The top 3 roles of Filipino women executives are chief finance officer (CFO) at 38 percent of Philippine businesses surveyed, human resources director at 36 percent, and chief operating officer at 23 percent. The most significant

roles of women in business operations are in strategy, finance, and people.

In the political scene, the Philippines had only one female President and one incumbent female Vice President. There are at present 7 women senators and 17 men, while at the House of Representatives, there are 68 women compared to 174 men. In local government, there are 12 women governors out of 69 and 215 women mayors, against 1,219 men.

In the Judiciary, the latest statistics from the Court Management Office of the Office of the Court Administrator shows that as of February 26, 2020, there are 414 women RTC Judges who constitute 46 percent of the total number of Judges in the RTCS; 35 women Family Court Judges who constitute 73 percent of the total number of Judges in said courts; and 527 women first-level court Judges who constitute 55.75 percent of the total number of firstlevel court judges. In the Court of Appeals, 24 out of the 54 incumbent Justices are women, including the Hon. Acting Presiding Justice Remedios A. Salazarfernando and Hon. Fernanda C. Lampas-peralta. In the appellate courts, women are likewise at the forefront. In the Court of Tax Appeals, seven out of nine Justices are women. In the Sandiganbayan, eight of the 21 incumbent Justices are women, including its Presiding Justice, Hon. Amparo M. Cabotajetang. In the Supreme Court, there are three incumbent lady Justices.

In the insurance industry, sadly women were not able to make much progress as there are only two CEOS out of the 31 life insurance companies and only eight CEOS out of the 64 non-life insurance companies, and one woman CEO in the insurance academia. Nevertheless, three women executives deserve to be cited as “Women Power in Insurance” and they are Ms. Nina Aguas, executive chairman of Insular Life Insurance, Ms. Yvonne Yuchengco, vice chairman of Malayan Insurance, and Mrs. Herminia Jacinto, president of the Insurance Institute for Asia and the Pacific.

In the field of education, women outnumbered men as only one out of four teachers is male. Historically, during the American regime, the teachers were at first mostly men but later on the Americans realized that employing women was less costly than men.

Overall, women have achieved a measure of success in reducing the level of inequality, but much has yet to be done. The negative aspect of the Covid-19 pandemic is the rise of gender-based violence. Because of the prolonged lockdowns, which lasted for over eight months, children and adolescents, particularly girls are confronted with violence and abuse. The government, in partnership with the United Nations agencies and private civic organizations, is fully committed to end this terrible situation.