The Pinay among the rest

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

We could have told them.

The results of a World Bank study released recently showed that the Philippines ranks Number Six in gender equality out of 129 countries included in the survey.

Anyone can see by simply looking over the rosters of most major private and public establishments how many women are occupying key positions. In business, in the academe, in politics, in industries, in the professional world, more and more women can be found pulling their weight in the success of the companies or organizations they are involved in.

What other country can boast of having two women presidents elected virtually within the same decade? A look at the listing of the country’s cabinet members will also show several women holding top positions and doing very well at them.

The media reports did not focus on it, but the study should also have included the particular skill of Filipino women in handling and succeeding in various roles, often as top executives of the offices they work for, while at the same time successfully managing a family and guiding her children towards useful lives.

But this recognition of the position of women and the regard they enjoy in our country is nothing new. Our history has records of outstanding women such as Gabriela Silang, Marcela Agoncillo, Teodora Alonzo, and so many others who had excelled in fields believed to be exclusive to men. Even then, the “Pinay” had been contributing her share to the development and defense of her country.

It is no surprise to all of us, therefore, that the World Bank survey has finally noted this!*