Press Release
March 11, 2014

MIRIAM: NEXT PRESIDENT SHOULD BE FEMALE

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, in a speech celebrating International Women's Month at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna, said that to ensure the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of gender equality, the next president of the Philippines should be female.

"We've had 13 male and only two female presidents so far. The Philippines has had a total of 15 presidents. To achieve equality between males and females, since we have had 13 males, the next 11 presidents should be female," she said.

"We should have a female president in 2016. Research shows that when women are empowered as political leaders, countries often experience higher standards of living with positive developments in education, infrastructure, and health care," Santiago explained.

Santiago also said that to meet the standard of gender equality, in the 2016 elections, voters should pick at least six female candidates in order to balance the male and female senators in the Senate.

According to the feisty senator, in numerical terms alone, there is still a wide gender gap in public office between the sexes.

"Numerically, half of our high government officials should be women, and half should be men. And yet the division between the sexes is highly disproportionate in favor of men. In the Philippine Senate, in the 16th Congress, of 24 senators, only six of us are women," she said.

Santiago said that the Civil Service Commission has issued a memorandum circular setting a target of 50-50 representation of women and men in executive positions.

Yet in 2011, the Civil Service Commission found that women occupy only less than one-third of third-level positions in the government; more than one-third in government-owned and controlled corporations; less than twenty percent in local government units; and more than one-third in the judiciary. Overall, the proportionate share is 1:2 in favor of men holding top posts in the government.

Further, women government employees are more likely to be technical staff, while the men are likely to be clerks, managers, or executives.

Santiago said that while the country has had two female presidents and now a female chief justice, Congress has never had a female Senate President, or a female Speaker.

"The greater majority in both chambers of Congress has always been men. Possibly, this is one reason why there is so much corruption in Congress," she said.

Feminization of Agriculture

The senator also expressed concern over the phenomenon of the "feminization of agriculture." In feminist economics, the feminization of agriculture refers to the measurable increase of women's participation in the agricultural sector, particularly in the developing world. In Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, women contribute at least half of total labor inputs in rice production. In the Philippines, as of October 2010, there are 5 million women laborers and unskilled workers; and 839,000 women farmers, forestry workers, and fisherfolk.

Santiago said that while women's role in the agricultural sector continues to grow, women are often poorer than their male counterparts. Their plot sizes are smaller. They have less access to productive resources like education, tools, and seeds; and social connections like credit and market networks.

Santiago hailed the IRRI for leading the way in empowering women in the agriculture sector. The IRRI's Training Center has trained 2,450 female scholars. From 2002 to 2012, the institute has also given 200 women from 26 countries leadership training courses in agricultural research, development, and extension.

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