NCRFW celebrates pinay power!

29 March 2008 — The National Commission on the Role of Filipino successfully spearheaded the 2008 National Women’s Month celebration focusing on the promotion of Pinay power by highlighting the achievements of Filipino women and what the government must do to further uplift their lives.

NCRFW Chairperson Myrna T. Yao said this year’s celebration, which revolves around the theme “CEDAW ng Bayan: Yaman ng Kababaihan,” underscores the conscious implementation of gender and development (GAD) budget in the government to finance programs and projects for gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Philippines.

She highlighted the need to strictly implement and monitor the GAD budget to fully benefit women in the society.

“Filipino women are gifted with talents and potentials that need to be fully recognized. Filipinas are the first in Asia to be granted the right to vote. The first woman president in Asia is Filipina. Filipino women have enormous achievements that should be celebrated not only during the Women’s Month but all year round,” Chairperson Yao said.

To encourage women to fully participate in development efforts, national development plan and budget must explicitly integrate GAD principles and GAD-related programs. There should be increased cooperation between government and non-government actors, particularly women’s NGOs and the civil society. The private sector should be tapped as a partner for gender-responsive corporate social responsibility.

Chairperson Yao added that NCRFW, other government agencies, NGOs and the academe have celebrated Pinay power during the month-long celebration of National Women’s Month.

Hundreds of young women from various schools and colleges, government agencies and NGOs converged at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Gymnasium to celebrate the National Women’s Day on March 8, 2008 with united voices to call for women’s advancement. On this occasion, the NCRFW and Vibal Foundation unveiled two women internet portals WikiPilipinas.org (encyclopedia of Filipino women) and Filipiniana.net (Philippine women’s studies) which contain a collection of articles on the life stories, achievements, struggles and contributions of Filipinas in the Philippines and in the world.

The Aim High Pinay campaign was also presented during the event in partnership with Modess, Bridges@Com and Women’s Feature Service (WFS). The campaign aims to raise a higher level of consciousness for women to seek ways to further improve themselves, to do more and achieve more.

The local government unit celebration was hosted by the Provincial Government of Batangas, Vice President Noli De Castro keynoted the event that was attended by more than 4,000 participants from various localities in Batangas, non-government organizations (NGOs), government agencies. The activity was also highlighted by the oath-taking ceremony of the Provincial Women’s Coordinating Council (PWCC), ribbon-cutting of Batangas trade fair promoting the province’s best products and the awarding of women achievers in Batangas as spearheaded by Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto.

To his address, Vice President De Castro challenged more Filipino women to aim higher than what is expected from them and to empower themselves when facing hardships in life.

Chair Yao meanwhile stressed the need to have a sex-disaggregated data in order for the Batangas government to identify the needs and provide better services for women and men in the province.

“Having sex-disaggregated data will help your local officials to identify the services that Batangas residents need. We should also take note that all concerns of women will not be solved overnight thus we should think of long-term solutions,” Chair Yao added.

Governor Recto noted that Filipino women nowadays are more versatile, independent and empowered as exemplified by the diverse roles of women she played in her award-winning movies.

Aside from the two major events spearheaded by the NCRFW, national government agencies and LGUs simultaneously conducted their own activities to celebrate 2008 Women’s Month throughout the country.