Celebrating empowered womanhood at all times

‘We Make Change Work For Women’ theme runs until 2022

TO focus on the role of women in society and national development, the National Commission on the Role of the Filipino Women was established on Jan. 7, 1975 through Presidential Decree No. 633 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos. It was also intended to promote and protect the rights of Filipino women, at the time when women’s liberation movement was echoing strong around the globe.

While March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day, the renamed agency as the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), has since declared March as National Women’s Month by virtue of Proclamation No. 227, “Providing for the observance of the Month of March as ‘Women’s Role in History Month’” signed by President Corazon Aquino in 1988.

It reinforced the earlier declaration of the first week of March as Women’s Week and every 8th of March as Women’s Rights and International Peace Day by Aquino, to affirm “our solidarity with the United Nations and recognize Filipino women’s contribution in the struggle for national independence, civil liberties, equality and human rights.”

Toward the end of President Gloria Arroyo’s term, the Magna Carta of Women was signed into law on Aug. 14, 2009 providing better protection for women.

Soon after President Rodrigo Duterte took his oath of office, on July 14, 2016, PCW was among 12 agencies under the Office of the President reassigned to the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, based on Executive Order (EO) No. 1. On Oct. 31, 2018, PCW – along with the National Youth Commission and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos – was transferred to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) through EO No. 67.

PCW is headed by Sandra Montano as chairman and Atty. Kristine Rosary Yuzon-Chaves as executive director.

With two women having already held the highest position in the land, who concurrently served as commander-inchief of the Armed Forces, and many women at the top of the corporate ladder or head of government agencies, the Philippines has consistently ranked high in the Global Gender Gap Index, first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006.

A “framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress over time,” the index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, education, health and political criteria.

According to weforum.org, the country rankings allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups – designed to create global awareness of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them.

“The methodology and quantitative analysis behind the rankings are intended to serve as a basis for designing effective measures for reducing gender gaps. The index and the analysis remains focused on benchmarking progress on disparities between women and men across the four dimensions,” it explained.

In its 2020 report, which is the 14th edition, the Philippines is at No. 16, the highest ranking of a Southeast Asian country, and second to New Zealand (No. 6) in the East Asia and the Pacific region – among 153 countries that have data available for a minimum of 12 indicators out of the 14 that compose the index.

Topped by Iceland as having the most economic participation and opportunity for women, the rest in the top 10 are Norway, Finland, Sweden, Nicaragua, Ireland, Spain, Rwanda and Germany, followed by Latvia, Namibia, Costa Rica, Denmark and France. South Africa comes after the Philippines at No. 17, followed by Switzerland, Canada, Albania and the United Kingdom.

The United States is at No. 53, Singapore at No. 54, Thailand at No. 75, Indonesia at No. 85, Vietnam at No. 87, while China is at No. 106.

The country’s highest ranking was in 2006 at No. 6.

From 2017 to 2022, as identified by the PCW board and Inter-Agency Technical Working Group, the National Women’s Month Celebration is “We Make Change Work for Women,” to highlight the empowerment of women as active contributors to and claimholders of development.

“This pursuit of development is also anchored on the commitment of ‘Malasakit

at Pagbabago’ or True Compassion and Real Change,” PCW explained. And for 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the celebration hinges on the campaign,

“Juana Laban sa Pandemya: Kaya!”

Concrete activities are aligned with national and international instruments and treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action, the Philippine Plan for GenderResponsive

Development (1995-2025), the Framework Plan for Women, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

“We are making our call for women’s empowerment and gender equality louder, as we look at this moment as both an opportunity and a challenge, and as we honor women who fulfill extraordinary roles in society. Our #WonderJuanas, with their grit and grace, passion and compassion,diligence and intelligence, build the family, community and the nation as a whole,” PCW said in a statement about this year’s celebration.

“In different fields – from the home to the school, laboratories, streets, barangay, police or army units, places of art, culture, and music, sports gyms, legislative buildings – women make their mark. This observance also poses a challenge to all of us: Making Change Work for Women, especially as we continue to grapple with the effects of [the] Covid-19 pandemic. [Looking forward beyond this health crisis] we will reap progress as we let #WomenMakeChange!” PCW concluded.

Famous quotes on women empowerment and empowered women

In its Feb. 28, 2020 issue, Harper’s Bazaar listed “60 Empowering Feminist Quotes from Inspiring Women” – words of wisdom from the trailblazers that make women proud of their race. Here are some of them:

“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” – Margaret Thatcher

“I’m tough, ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.” – Madonna

“Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong, it’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” – G.D. Anderson

“Women are leaders everywhere you look – from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes.” – Nancy Pelosi

“No woman should be told she can’t make decisions about her own body. When women’s rights are under attack, we fight back.” – Kamala Harris

“For I conclude that the enemy is not lipstick, but guilt itself; we deserve lipstick, if we want it, and free speech; we deserve to be sexual and serious – or whatever we please. We are entitled to wear cowboy boots to our own revolution.” – Naomi Wolf

“In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.” – Sheryl Sandberg

“Of all the nasty outcomes predicted for women’s liberation... none was more alarming than the suggestion that women would eventually become just like men.” – Barbara Ehrenreich

“There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” – Virginia Woolf