BAGUIO CITY — Women now dominate the Baguio City government, with 56 percent of the department heads women, 42 percent of the total city workforce women, and three members of the local legislative body women.
City Human Resource Management Officer, lawyer Augustine Laban III, said nine of the 16 department heads in the city hall are women.
They are lawyer Leticia Clemente of the Budget office; engineer Nazita Bañez of the City Building and Architects Office; engineer Evelyn Cayat of the City Planning Office; Maria Almaya Addawe of the City Assessor’s Office; Cordelia Lacsamana of the Environment, Parks, and Management Office; Sylvia Laudencia of the Local Civil Registrar; Dr. Brigitte Piok of the Veterinary Office; Dr. Rowena Galpo of the City Health Services Office; and Betty Fangasan of the Social Welfare and Development Office.
The three councilors are architect Mylen Yaranon, Elaine Sembrano, and Lea Fariñas.
The city government employs 1,530 permanent and casual workers and 643 of them, or 42 percent, are women, a number of whom are occupying supervisory and division head positions.
“There are more women in city hall than men. Our appointment is based on qualification, so it goes to show that there are more women qualified in the government service. Yun lang naman ang implication nun (That is its implication),” said Laban.
In all aspects of government service in Baguio City, women are always there — from metro aides to office clerks and those holding technical positions, supervision, and department heads.
Laban explained that in the selection of employees, gender is not a requirement. Qualification is the primary consideration in appointing someone to a position or city government post, he stressed.
“When we post vacancies, we implement the equal opportunity policy, which means it is open to all qualified men and women, including the ‘disabled’ who can also apply to the position,” the personnel manager said.
He noted women are now empowered, as they could already perform jobs that in the past many years were only for men.
“There is no labeling” in the city government, when it comes to positions, so long as the person is qualified to do the job, Laban said.
Baguio Mayor Mauricio Domogan, during the launch of the women’s month celebration in the city, said the women in the city are partners in development locally and nationally.
Domogan said there are roles that women can play well but which men could not do as effectively.
“For a long period of time, we have achieved a status that we do not mind when the women are on top, so long as she is doing well. We, as men, should be obligated to support her,” he said. “The city has achieved women and men equality. We have achieved the status that men and women are co-equal and we treat each other as co-equals and as partners.”
The city government launched the women’s month celebration on Monday, with the awarding of the Outstanding Women Leaders (OWL) as the highlight on Thursday. (PNA)
