Senator Imee Marcos emphasized on Wednesday the significant contributions made by Filipino women in various challenges that the Philippines faced, particularly in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), during the closing session of the International Conference on Women, Peace, and Security (ICWPS) 2024 held in the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
In her speech, Senator Marcos cited the achievement made by the Philippine Government in reaching a peaceful resolution after harassment made by the China Coast Guard in the Ayungin Shoal last June through the efforts of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro.
“The answer wasn’t to call upon the United Nations’ Mutual Defense Treaty nor to bring more military ships or even weapons. Instead, the answer, as the United Nations told us time and again, was dialogue, as any sensible woman would have told you in the first place. So it was, that a peaceful resolution came to pass because the Philippines sent a woman, Usec. Tess Lazaro, to handle the situation,” Marcos said.
“My old law school classmate, Tess, was able to reaffirm the commitment of China to de-escalate the tensions in the 9th meeting of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism,” she added.
Marcos also mentioned the Philippine Coast Guard’s “Angels of the Sea” composed of 81 female radio operators who issue radio warnings to unauthorized foreign vessels, as well as respond to radio challenges directed at Philippine Coast Guard vessels.
“Not only during the Ayungin Shoal incident and perhaps, with more women like Usec. Tess and more Angels of the Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the West Philippine Sea, as well as the entire South China Sea will once again be quiet and profitable. Certainly, this is our dream,” she said.
The senator also shared that the compensation being given by the national government to Marawi siege victims is being managed by the Marawi Compensation Board, which includes five women, including the chairperson.
Marcos, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, believes that women deserve a role in decision-making on whether to go to war or during disasters “because they are duly affected.”
“We simply know and have a unique knowledge of our local ecosystems and intimate and symbiotic understanding of her, our Mother Nature,” Marcos said.
“So, let us invest in women in every way, and their children, and we will indeed invest and form the future,” she added.
The lawmaker also cited a study conducted by the International Peace Institute saying that when women participate as negotiators, mediators, or signatories to peace agreements, the deals are 20 percent more likely to last, at least two years longer, and 35 percent more likely to last up to 50 years. (PNA)