Half of the Cabinet would be women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community if presidential candidate Leody de Guzman is elected President, the labor leader said Thursday.
De Guzman issued the statement during a Pandesal Forum on women’s rights in Quezon City on Thursday, two days after the International Women’s Day on March 8.
He said he would do this to make their voices heard and to prove that there was equality for all sexes regardless of capacity or ability for government service.
It would also prove that an intelligent, free, and loving society can be enjoyed by Filipinos, De Guzman added.
“We cannot leave behind or discriminate our women and LGBTQI community, as if only men had the right or ability to perform this kind of work (government service),” he explained.
“Let’s leave behind the old beliefs that we shared before, that women are the weaker sex and thus can be discriminated against. Let’s make them partners and helpers, them and the LGBTQI community, in raising our economy.”
While there are now more women serving in government posts, the ratio of male to female is still disproportionately high in favor of men, when the Philippine population is almost evenly split between the two genders.
In the Senate, for example, Senator Risa Hontiveros pointed out there are only seven women senators out of the 24 — with one of them, Sen. Leila de Lima, detained for over five years on drug charges.
At the House of Representatives, Gabriela Party-List Rep. Arlene Brosas said there are only about 80 women out of 300 lawmakers, with some committees with just one female member or none at all.
