MikeLigalig.com

Women of the Philippines

Edmundo Ortega

In the Nov 26 2007 issue of Time Magazine, there is a special report that should give us all cause for pride in an unexpected area.
 
The Swiss based World Economic Forum releases an annual list that ranks all  128 countries in the world on the basis of gender equality. The report measures the discrepancies between men and women in four categories:  1) educational attainment, 2) economic participation and opportunity,  3) political empowerment, and 4) health and survival.
 
At the top of the list, from No. 1 to 5 are Sweden , Norway , Finland , Iceland and New Zealand - all OECD countries with very strong socialist leanings. And there at No. 6, lo and behold, the country that has married Hispanic macho tendencies with Asian paternalism - what do you know=2 0-  the PHILIPPINES .

As Pinoys, we've always known we come from a society of dominant females but this is official confirmation.

Other countries of note on the list are: Germany - No. 7, Spain - No. 10, the U.K. - No. 11, Australia - No. 17, Canada - No. 18, the United States - No. 31, Switzerland - No. 40 and France - No. 51.
 
The next ranking Asian country after the Philippines is Thailand at No. 52.  China is No. 73, Singapore is No. 77 , Japan is No. 91, and India is No.. 114.  The Muslim
countries are bunched up towards the end of the list.

In a time when there is precious little to cheer about in the old country, it is nice to know that our sheilas are world leaders and that in the realm of gender equality policies,   we lead the way for other societies.

Go Pinays!


picture from captured and taste (flickr)
this was drawn by my older brother. he interpreted the poem i wrote about the dalagang pilipina yesterday and today. you see the filipiniana (the philippine's national or traditional attire for ladies) in the picture is shorter. in the old times, they were decent, innocent and conservative. i'm a filipina and i worry about those girls today that are getting wilder and wilder.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=18368.0

DIAY UPDATE, MANAY. IN 2008, Phils kept its gender equality ranking.

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines retained its ranking as the best country in Asia where women are given equal opportunity along with their male counterparts, a Geneva-based group said.

In its 2008 Gender Gap Index, the World Economic Forum said the Philippines placed 6th in 130 countries included in the poll.

The Philippine ranking was the same that it had in 2007 and in 2006.

Dominating the list were European countries with Norway as the country which got the best rating in gender equality, followed by Finland, Sweden and Iceland, respectively.

New Zealand came in 5th, Denmark, 7th, Ireland, 8th, Netherlands, 9th and Latvia, 10th.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2008 is based on the innovative new methodology introduced in 2006 and includes detailed profiles that provide insight into the economic, legal and social aspects of the gender gap in each country. The Report measures the size of the gender gap in four critical areas of inequality between men and women such as economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; political empowerment; and health and survival.

The WEF said the Report provides an insight into the gaps between women and men in over 92 percent of the world's population.

Of the Gender Gap Subindices, the Philippines was given a score of 8 in Economic Participation and Opportunity; 1 in Educational Attainment; 1 in Health and Survival; and 22 in Political Empowerment.

“The Philippines is one of two countries in Asia to have closed the gender gap on both education and health and is one of only eleven in the world to have done so.

However, the Philippines’ score relative to its performance in 2007 fell due to a drop in the perceived wage equality between women and men employed in similar positions and a decrease in the percentage of women ministers," the WEF said.

With the present economic gloom, the group said giving women equal opportunity will help in addressing the crisis.

“Greater representation of women in senior leadership positions within governments and financial institutions is vital not only to find solutions to the current economic turmoil, but to stave off such crises in future. At the World Economic Forum, we put strong emphasis on addressing this challenge with a multistakeholder approach through our global and regional Gender Parity Groups," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF. - (GMANews.TV)

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=18368.0