To our Senior Vice Presidents, Atty. Graciela Barleta and Atty. Ronald Chua, our department managers and division chiefs and all members of the PNOC family, and staff from the Commission on Audit, a pleasant morning to us all.

I am pleased to welcome everyone back for the resumption of our regular Monday morning flag raising ceremonies. This is my first time joining you in this activity, and hopefully, we can continue with our long-honored practice, as COVID restrictions continue to ease up nationally.

This March, we are celebrating National Women’s Month. For this year, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) has decided on the theme, “Women and Everyone for gender equality and an inclusive society”. This new theme embodies the guiding principles in the 2023-2028 Philippine Development Plan, that is, deep economic and social transformation to reinvigorate job creation and accelerate poverty reduction. The goal is to foster an environment of inclusivity that provides equal opportunities for all, regardless of gender, age or socio-economic status, in order to steer the economy back on a high-growth plan.

As Chair of the PNOC Gender and Development Focal Point System, my role is “to lead the Executive Committee in providing direction and valuable policy advice to ensure timely, effective and efficient implementation of GAD programs, activities and projects, based on the approved budget for both internal and external stakeholders and partners”.

For this reason, initially, we have approved the GFPS-TWG’s proposal for the National Women’s Month activities, which Bel will later present. We also expect PNOC to conduct other activities on gender mainstreaming for the rest of the year.

On gender equality and inclusivity, here in PNOC, our merit selection and promotion policy adheres to no discrimination in hiring and promotion. In fact, records show that we currently have 65 women and 63 men in PNOC with 11 women and 12 men holding full status officer positions. But beyond focusing on efforts to hire and promote more women, PNOC must engage and be welcoming of all genders so that different voices, creativity and innovation are reflected in our work. This is especially in areas most dominated by men such as engineering or information technology. In the macro sense, services, establishments, schools, government agencies, and other institutions must be welcoming of all people, regardless of their gender identity or expression.

All this with the end in view of being able to reinvigorate job creation, build skills and opportunities, and accelerate poverty reduction, for an innovative and globally competitive economy.

While the 30 year Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025 is nearing its coverage, we urge all PNOC personnel to sustain and live the spirit of this Constitutional provision not so much because it is obligatory but it’s our own individual contribution to the country’s socio-economic growth and prosperity.

Mabuhay tayong lahat.

Thank you and again, a pleasant morning to all !