GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
Filtered By: Opinion
Opinion
Power and beauty: Women in Philippine government
I am fascinated by the power and influence of women in Philippine government.
Joe America
I know I risk getting caught up in gender wars, but it seems to me appropriate to recognize this peculiar circumstance. How did it come to pass that women, in a substantially Catholic nation, would rise so broadly to positions of authority? They are not the nuns of government, they are the priests.
The Philippines has had two women presidents during modern times. The United States, none.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago rises to the pulpit frequently to draw the attention of the entire nation – its press corps, its legislators, its people – to the wayward ways of government officials. Her forte is the law and sex jokes. She has done more to advance the rule of law in the Philippines than an entire court system. She succeeds because she has the ability to talk straight, talk loud, and take the edge off the debate by poking fun at herself.
There's the three furies of the Aquino Adminstration. The women who are charged with enforcing disciplined good behavior in a land that is rather undisciplined. They do it with a sense of purpose. They do it honestly and honorably.
They are working hard to remake the nation:
We have two veteran senators and two newbies who threaten to make the Senate a place of modern values and candid government. The recalcitrant, slow old men drag their feet as the women push and prod for principled values and deeds like the RH Law and a Freedom of Information Act.
We have a woman senator thrust into office by an ambitious father who cares little about capability and credibility on the job.
She seems a decent person who works diligently but awkwardly trapped as a puppet of the enduring trapos system of power and favor:
-Nancy Binay
-Former President Gloria Arroyo
-Disgraced Con-Lady Janet Napoles
-Congresswoman Imelda Marcos
We have the two big time ladies in jail and a former dictator’s wife ambling about in congress, proving to us that the Philippines still has its broader “people’s values” on crookedly. They are the shadows cast by the light that other women bring to Philippine government.
How did it come to pass that so many strong-willed women are playing important roles in the Philippine government?
Well, I tend to speculate on cultural qualities. Take dynasties, for instance. I have to laugh when I read about dynasties that intersect, again and again, like the streets of Manila. You take Lacson Avenue and zig up to get to Roxas Boulevard. And women tend to emerge from these dynasties:
-Representative Leni Robredo, rising from the tragic death of her good and popular husband
-Senator Cynthia Villar, carrying on the work of her husband, former Senator Manny Villar
-Grace Poe redeeming her father who had an election stolen from him, Fernando Poe
Search the Wikipedia profile of most the women on the list, and you will find FAMILY connections that leveraged them into government work and into prominence. The House has some 50 female members, three of whom are named Imelda. Arroyo is in the House, Binay, Ocampo, Marcos, Villarosa, and Cojuanco.
Women in Philippine government are well-educated, well-spoken and, for the most part, stand for good values. They seem more impatient than the men, more modern.
If I were the next president, I’d get Senator Legarda out of Congress and put her into an executive role as head of DOTC or DILG. Same with Senators Poe, Villar and Cayetano, and diligent people like Morales and Hinares, who are doing a lot of tough technical work, ought to be broadened by appointments out of the “enforcement” fields. Or be backed for a run in Senate.
It’s the corporate model for developing CEOs: identify, challenge, develop, promote.
If the men insist on being bound up in the wobbly values of favor and “who you know, own, or owe,” rather than what you do . . . or if the men simply can’t work hard, or smart enough, or fast enough (like House Speaker Belmonte promising FOI by 2015), dump them and put the women in charge.
Enrich the nation. Bring it to life. Enrich us all. — KDM, GMA News
Joe America is a blogger who writes about the cross-cultural experiences and observations of an American living in the Philippines. He is based in Biliran Island. This piece originally appeared in his blog on February 12. We are re-posting it here with permission.
