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Protect women’s rights

May 18, 2021 People's Tonight 427 views

DEMOCRACY “flourishes” when the two-chamber Philippine Congress – the Senate and the House of Representatives – further promotes women’s rights and gender equality.

And Congress has the capacity to enact transformative laws for women through its priorities, structures, policies and processes, said House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.

Although significant progress has been made in recent years, Velasco said that more needs to be done to promote gender equality and empowering women in the country.

That’s why the highly-articulate House Speaker deserves the support of the public as he called on his colleagues to come up with pieces of legislation promoting women’s rights.

Velasco said lawmakers ought to work in unison to promote how women should rightfully be seen – as equals having equal rights – whether in crafting laws or debating in the plenary.

These processes will greatly affect the resulting bills and policies of the government, said Velasco during the launching of the handbook “How to be a Gender-Responsive Legislator.”

He said the handbook is seen to give lawmakers an opportunity to craft gender-responsive laws, amplifying the voice of women within the halls of the two-chamber Congress.

The people cannot, for instance, turn a blind eye to reports of gender violence that has dramatically increased during community lockdowns, according to Velasco.

This, despite the fact that women, like medical doctors, nurses and other frontliners, play key roles in the government campaign to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further promoting women’s rights and gender equality will be good for the nation and the Filipino people in the long term.

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