2012 Women’s Day Celebration highlights women’s role in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management


The Philippine Commission on Women leads the March 8 Women’s Day Celebration with a seedling preparation and forum on gender and climate change and women in disaster risk reduction in Sitio Sapinit, Barangay San Juan and Barangay Calawis in Antipolo City. Shown in photo are PCW Chairperson Remedios Rikken and DSWD Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman (center, 2nd row) and Rizal Vice Governor Frisco San Juan, Jr. (center, 3rd row) and and PCW Executive Director Emmeline Verzosa (4th from right, 3rd row). With them are (from left): Program Director of Marikina Watershed Initiative Mr. Darwin Flores, Brgy. San Juan Captain Julie Bolaños, Presidential Adviser on Climate Change Secretary Elisea Gozun, Climate Change Commission Consultant Dandy Gomez, Antipolo City First Lady Atty. Carmencita Leyble, PLDT SMART Foundation President Ester Santos, and Sapinit Watershed Settlers Assoc Inc., President Mary Grace Tepace. PCW staff wearing green shirts served as the event secretariat.

The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), in collaboration with the provincial government of Rizal and the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF), leads the 2012 National Women’s Day Celebration today with a seedling preparation activity as part of the Marikina Watershed Initiative and disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) actions. The event aims to help rehabilitate the Marikina Watershed and raise consciousness of participants on gender and DRRM and climate change adaptation.

About 300 participants from various national government agencies, volunteers from Antipolo local government units (LGUs), and women with disabilities are expected to join today’s seedling preparation activities at Barangay Calawis and Sitio Sapinit, Barangay San Juan in Antipolo City, Rizal.



After the seedling preparation, a Forum on Gender and Climate Change and Women in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management program to discuss the linkages between gender and climate change and the importance of involving women in planning and strategizing processes will follow at Sitio Sapinit Covered Court, Barangay San Juan, Antipolo City, Rizal.

The 2012 Women’s Month Celebration theme is “Women Weathering Climate Change: Governance and Accountability, Everyone’s Responsibility.”

“This year’s Women’s Month Celebration challenges the common image of women as victims in disaster and focuses on women’s management capacities and skills,” PCW Chairperson Remedios Rikken said. She added that the celebration seeks to generate commitment from local government units (LGUs) to institutionalize measures which help build gender-responsive resilient communities that are responsible, accountable, and prepared for any disaster.



DSWD Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, a staunch supporter of women’s rights, will grace the occasion and deliver a statement in support of the Women’s Month Celebration and DSWD’s agenda to prepare and respond to disasters. Also gracing the occasion are Rizal Governor Casimiro Ynares III, Presidential Adviser on Climate Change Secretary Elisea Gozun, Office of Civil Defense Director Edgardo Ollet, and Program Director of Marikina Watershed Initiative Mr. Darwin Flores.

The 2012 Women’s Month Celebration is in consonance with the continuing national and local efforts to implement Section 10 (Women Affected by Disasters, Calamities, and Other Crisis Situations) of Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) and the Millennium Development Goal 7 (Ensure Environmental Sustainability). The celebration is in collaboration with the Inter-Agency on Women’s Month Celebration, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and Climate Change Commission.