ILOILO CITY -- The country is in need of more women leaders who will continue to make a change and bring more developments in the communities.
This was underscored by Anilao town Vice Mayor Ma. Teresa Debuque during the Women’s Month celebration of the Provincial Government dubbed as “Women Stories of Change,” Tuesday at the Casa Real Iloilo.
Debuque mentioned that politics in the country is still dominated by men, where there is only 19.2 percent of elected women officials in the country. She also stressed that “women empowerment up to this moment remains a burning desire of every nation and a promise yet to be fulfilled.”
Specifically in Iloilo, all representatives in the five districts of the province are men, only three out of 10 board members are women and there are only six towns out of 42 municipalities and one component city in the province that have a woman for local chief executive.
Like men, Debuque pointed out that women have gifted qualities that are also capable of quality leadership and in some instances bring off more inspiring results.
She mentioned the first and only prime minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, and the first woman president of Asia, Corazon Aquino, as among the women who have proved their capacity when they attained high ranks in politics and made remarkable legacies.
Debuque also shared her experiences when she entered politics and became the first woman mayor of her town and the first woman president of the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) in 2007.
She mentioned some of the toughest challenges she overcame such as maintaining peace and order, maximizing people’s participation, steering development within the town, among others.
Her daughter Nathalie Ann Debuque succeeded her as town mayor of Anilao and one of the youngest local chief executives in the province.
Debuque encouraged more women who have passion to serve, not to be afraid of entering governance and to help make a better community.
“I believe that increase in number of women servant leaders will be an effective tool to address to this problem on poverty, peace and orders, among others all over the country,” she said,
She also stressed that men should not be intimidated of women’s presence in governance and neither should women be afraid of accepting the challenge.
“We are not in these positions to be apart, to compete, to overpower or outsmart our male counterparts. The true essence of an empowered woman is to be man’s capable partner in decision-making,” she further added.
This year’s celebration of the provincial government of Women’s Month gathered stakeholders in the province in a forum to highlight the role of women.
It specifically aimed to inform and engage women of government programs and services, inspire and empower women to be agents of change, encourage and inspire women to be courageous and take up the challenges of public service and enable participants to acquire an appreciation of the qualities of women that can make them effective leaders in their fields. (PNA)