Gender equality under Duterte admin expected

May 15, 2016

Senator Loren Legarda said she hopes to see more women in the Cabinet of presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte.

Legarda expressed her wish as she welcomed the move of Duterte to ensure a gender-sensitive approach to governance.

During the campaign season, Duterte earned the ire of women’s groups for his controversial statements on an Australian lay missionary who was raped and murdered in a prison in Davao City in the 1989.

Duterte, however, vowed to uphold women and children’s rights should he win the presidency.

Legarda said she is grateful that the tough-talking mayor carried out his promise after topping the presidential election.

She also welcomed the move of Duterte’s camp to include outgoing Sen. Pia Cayetano as part of the transition team.

She said Cayetano’s inclusion in the transition team would ensure that women are well-represented in the new administration and men who will hold government positions are gender-sensitive.

Source: Manila Bulletin