News & Articles

Why just one month for women?

March is National Women’s Month. Only March? Is it not funny that we treat the subject of women like a minority when we are half of the population? Sometimes you wonder why there needs to be a month to celebrate women rather than celebrating their successes every day. Why is there a need to dedicate one month? I am quite ambivalent about this because I know we need awareness about gender issues while being torn that the idea must have been ingrained in everyone for some time now.

Pacita U. Juan |

WomenbizPH represent the Philippines @ ASEAN Women Leader’s Summit 2022

Challenging gender inequality

Has March 2020 ended? If you recall, it was in March 2020 when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, prompting several countries to impose lockdowns and travel restrictions. It has been a year, but the reality is that we seem to be in the same place a year ago. Hence, in an effort to humor ourselves with a bleak running joke, some say that it is now the 365th day of March 2020, even complete with a website called www.IsMarchOverYet.Com.

Ma. Aurora “Boots” D. Geotina-Garcia |

What is a woman’s worth?

“She’s just a housewife. She doesn’t work.” This was what Ajunath Sindhu Vinayala would often hear from his father, whenever he introduced his wife. Ajunath, a 9th grader from Thrissur, Kerala, was disturbed by this as he never saw his mother idle. And so, he painted a picture of his mother’s daily routine, from feeding chickens to milking the cow, hunting birds, going to market, tending the garden, cooking meals, sweeping the floor, drawing water from the well, doing laundry, giving the baby a bath, combing her daughter’s hair, and more.

Monette Iturralde-Hamlin |

2020 vision with a diversity lens

The first months of 2020 have been very exhausting, to say the least. We experienced a volcanic eruption, and are still not out of the woods with the threat of COVID-19. While our vision for the future remains hazy, I remain optimistic that for the rest of the year, we will hear many stories anchored on the tagline “20-20 vision.” For me, this is more than just a catchy phrase, but a call to sharpen our focus on the persistent gaps and glaring problems in society.