WOMEN’S SUMMIT. Mary Ann Sapar (right) and Bai Ali Indayla (left) of Gabriela announced during the regular Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City on Monday the gathering of women leaders from all over the country in an event dubbed as “What Women Want: CHANGE” that is slated on June 30 in Davao City. (Alex D. Lopez/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY – More than 200 women from all over the country will gather here on June 24 to draft and present the women’s agenda to the incoming President Rodrigo Duterte before he assumes office.
Dubbed as “What Women Want: CHANGE”, the summit, which is hosted by the southern Mindanao chapter of GABRIELA and Gabriela Women’s Partylist, will be a whole day activity starting from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Alexian Brothers Health and Wellness Center in Mc Arthur Highway.
The acronym CHANGE stands for: comprehensive social services; human rights and social justice; anti-discrimination, anti-violence against women and children; national sovereignty; genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization; environmental protection.
Mary Ann Sapar, secretary general of Gabriela Southern Mindanao said that the theme came with the people’s hope for change under the incoming Duterte administration.
“If we are to look at the six years of the Aquino administration, women had the worst experience,” Sapar said.
Sapar said President Benigno Aquino’s “daang matuwid” (straight path) “did not happen.”
Meanwhile, Gabriela Women’s Partylist spokesperson for Mindanao, Bai Ali Indayla, said that the upcoming summit went through a thorough consultation with other women groups all over the country.
“This is important because before Duterte assumes his post the women’s agenda will be presented to him,” Indayla said.
Indayla also said that the incoming president is also invited on the summit “for us to personally give to him the product of women’s unity and commitment for change.”
“We are hopeful that he will heed our call for cooperation and unity for the sake, not only of women, but of the entire Filipino people,” she said.
Both groups hope for the incoming administration to include the basic demands of women on his government.
Aside from Gabriela and Gabriela Women’s Party, women in government, academe, showbiz, and leaders from various women’s organizations are also expected to attend the summit.
Aside from Duterte, other guests invited are Senator Cynthia Villar, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, and Congresswoman Maria Carmen Zamoba, representative of Davao del Norte first district. (davaotoday.com)
