Manila: The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) on Thursday pushed for stronger policies and government programs to advance gender equality and women's empowerment as the country begins the National Women's Month commemoration this March.
According to Philippines News Agency, in a Bagong Pilipinas interview on Thursday, PCW Social Marketing Section Head Jescel Aquino said the agency continues to focus on strengthening gender mainstreaming across government agencies by providing technical assistance and monitoring the use of gender and development (GAD) funds. "Ang PCW po kasi ay policymaking body at coordinating body po kami para sa mga gender mainstreaming efforts ng pamahalaan (The PCW is the policymaking body and coordinating body for the government's gender mainstreaming efforts)," she said.
She added that the commission works closely and monitors the utilization of the GAD budget of government agencies to ensure programs that address the needs of women. On Friday, the Women's Month celebrations kick off at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila, spearheaded by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Department of Trade and Industry.
Aquino said gender mainstreaming initiatives under regional cooperation efforts will be discussed. "Pag-uusapan po natin ano ang mga gender mainstreaming efforts sa ilalim ng mga ASEAN pillars at ipapakita natin dito paano ba nagta-translate ang programa ng mga ahensiya ng gobyerno para sa mga kababaihan (We will discuss the gender mainstreaming efforts under the ASEAN pillars and show how the programs of government agencies for women are being translated)," she said.
Beyond the celebration, Aquino assured the PCW continues to push policy reforms through various initiatives, including the Women's Priority Legislative Agenda for the 20th and 21st Congress, which outlines proposed measures to strengthen gender equality and protect the rights of women and the LGBTQIA+ community. "Ito po iyong comprehensive na roadmap po natin para i-advance ang gender equality at to protect po iyong rights ng mga kababaihan at ng LGBTQIA+ community. (This is our comprehensive roadmap to advance gender equality and to protect the rights of women and the LGBTQIA+ community)," Aquino said.
As this year's chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Aquino said the Philippines is also the chair of the ASEAN Committee on Women. "Inilatag po natin dito ay mga programa po para tuluyang wakasan ang karahasan sa kababaihan, financing po para sa fair economy, paglunsad po natin ng ASEAN Center of Excellence, mga topics po or mga focus po pagdating sa (What we have laid out here are programs to completely end violence against women, financing for a fair economy, the launch of the ASEAN Center of Excellence, topics or focuses when it comes to) leadership and political participation, women's economic empowerment, and women peace and security," Aquino said.
