Category: My Daily Race

Lately, I am often asked are you running? I need to clarify that question before I can answer it. So, I ask, do you mean, what race am I joining soon? Or am I running as a candidate at the next election?

Funnily enough, half the time it turns out I am being asked the first question, the other half of the time, the other question.

You see, there are really two kinds of women who run:

– Women who put on running shoes and run recreationally or competitively,

or

women who run for public office

I am a woman who runs, on both counts.

Although these two kinds of running seem like they are worlds apart, in truth they are not. Both entail grit and determination, a commitment, support from family and friends and most apparent of all, both are male dominated.

Women have historically been side-lined when it comes to participation in the political process and in running as a sport.

In politics, women were not allowed to vote in many countries until decades after men were voting. Even then, women were not allowed to run for public office. Today, most countries allow women to run, but statistics show that women politicians are still in the minority.

A survey conducted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) shows that across the world, women make up about 18% of members of Parliament. In the Philippines, there are 4 female senators out of 23, and about 25% of the members of the lower house are women. But the number of women are even smaller at the local level.

Why is it important that there are more women in politics?

It is important because women bring a different perspective to governance. Women see things differently because of their experiences and background. True democracy and prosperity requires gender equality at all levels and all sectors of society.

Consider the following: Many women are joining the work-force because of economic hardships or the desire to find professional fulfillment. Many women continue to be full-time homemakers or work from their homes. Many ailments and diseases are specific to women or affect women differently. Women deal with consumer issues, the education of their children, housing issues and more.

All these require policies that are specific to women. Why then, are those making decisions mostly men? Shouldn’t women have an equal say on these matters? Who else can better promote policies that affect women then women themselves? But how can they, when they do not occupy political positions?

Again in a survey conducted by the IPU, women stated family responsibilities as the primary obstacle in pursuing a political career. But if you think about it, if men shared more of the family responsibilities, then women could participate more in politics.

As for women who run with their running shoes on, we take this for granted, but the reality is, women were not allowed to join marathons until the 70s. Kathrine Switzer is the first woman to officially run a marathon which she did in the Boston Marathon in 1967 disguised as a man! She was instrumental in getting the Olympics to finally include a marathon for women in 1984 which was won by American Joan Benoit Samuelson.

In most races, I join, I’m guessing from the looks of it, participation of women is about 10%. Just like politics, women are allowed to participate, in fact they are quite welcome, but there are still a lot of obstacles that prevent them from doing so. These include misconceptions on the effect of running on a woman’s body and health (including her ability to conceive), lack of training and insecurity about her ability to engage in physical activities, balancing family, work and running, and the lack of support from her family, particularly her spouse or partner.

When I run in a race, I proudly run on behalf of women. I run to empower women. I run to raise awareness that there is still a lot of discrimination and injustices against women in our country. I run because I know this will be a better place when women’s voices are heard as equally as men. Mostly, I run because I know a little girl is always watching from the sidelines and I hope to empower her, to inspire her to be a woman of substance and perhaps a woman who runs one day.

Are you a woman who runs? Or a woman who wants to or dreams of running? Join me at the Pinay in Action 10k, 5k and 1.6k fun run at the MOA on March 29, 2009 at 6 am. Registration is on-going at Maxiworks in High Street or Rockwell until March 25.

We need more women who run and more men who support women who run.

For more details on both kinds of running, visit my official website www.senatorpiacayetano.com and www.pinayinaction.com.

This will be the first time I will be posting something on my blog that I did not write. I prefer to write about my personal insights, life experiences with family and friends, and avoid serious work related stuff, since all that you can read on my official website www.senatorpiacayetano.com. But given the subject matter, I thought it would be best that those who heard about this issue get the chance to read this piece. The introduction is from my media officer Mike Ac-ac who sent out the article below to those on our official mailing list. If you would like to be included, just send us an email at [email protected].

——
Dear All,

Greetings!

On Jan.28th and 29th, TV, radio and print media carried news on the “walk out” staged by Sen.Jamby Madrigal at a committee hearing being presided over by Senate environment committee Chair Sen.Pia S. Cayetano on 30 proposed protected area laws in different parts of the country.

News reports quoted a fuming Sen.Madrigal calling Sen.Cayetano a “spoiled brat” after her walk out. She also criticized the latter for spending too much time on sports activities instead of focusing on legislative work. But Sen.Cayetano remained calm, choosing not to dignify the accusations and appealing on Sen.Madrigal to just let her do her job.

Below is an insider’s view of the Jamby-Pia incident written by Senate beat senior reporter Efren Danao, and which appeared on his column in the Manila Times on Feb.4. Mr. Danao knows the Senate inside-out, having covered the beat for decades. We are sharing this article to give others a wider perspective of what appeared in the news as just another emotionally charged moment at the Senate.

Mike C. Ac-ac
Media Officer
Sen. Pia S. Cayetano

INSIDE CONGRESS
By Efren L. Danao, Manila Times, Feb. 4, 2008

Link:
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/feb/04/yehey/opinion/20080204opi4.html

Rumble at the Senate: Pia vs. Jamby

Women have gone a long way at the Senate since the election of Geronima Pecson as the first lady senator in November 1947 and served for two terms. From 1947 to 1965, only one lady senator was elected in each election ”Pecson, 1947 to 1953, Pacita Madrigal,1956to 1961, Maria Kalaw Katigbak in the 1961 election. Now, in the Fourteenth Congress, there are four lady senators Pia Cayetano, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Loren Legarda and Jamby Madrigal. Four is the biggest number of lady senators ever and this was also reached at the Eleventh Congress and the Thirteenth Congress.

I now fear that the strides made by lady politicians would be set back by the latest incident between Pia and Senator Madrigal. The two entered the Senate at the same time, in 2004, and almost immediately, Madrigal showed her antagonism towards Pia. A member of the majority, Pia was given two committee posts, one of which was coveted by Madrigal, who belonged to the minority. When Pia said she was willing to give up one of the committees in favor of Madrigal, the latter angrily retorted that committee chairmanship is not a thing that could be given to somebody as a favor.

Bad blood

The “bad blood” between the two was also discernible each time Pia sponsored something on the floor. Madrigal would ask for the submission of even minute details about the subject. Maybe, Pia would have wanted to return the “favor,” except that Madrigal had never sponsored anything since 2004. Oh yes, she did sponsor one ”the Juvenile Justice System” as chairman of the Senate Committee on Youth, Women and Family Relations. However, she later disowned the bill, interpellated the sponsor, proposed amendments and even voted against it” unthinkable for a chairman of a sponsoring committee if you ask me.

The latest “encounter” between the two took place last Tuesday when Pia held a hearing on protected areas as chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Madrigal walked out of the hearing after failing to convince Pia to hold separate hearings on each of the 30 bills on protected areas, and called her “a spoiled brat.” She had also derided Pia as one who was not born with a silver spoon. The Madrigals (Pacita Madrigal, the second senator of the land was her aunt) are old rich that made their fortune in shipping and mining, among other businesses.

I may be partial towards Pia but I do know that she would call as many hearings as possible to get full data and cross-section opinions on a bill. Her industry might have escaped public notice because very often, her committee hearings were not extensively covered by the media. In several such hearings, I was the only newsman present and in some instances, I was joined by Bulletin’s Mar Casayuran. During the holiday break, Pia was conducting hearings while others were enjoying their vacation.

Jamby’s record

Madrigal would have been more credible in seeking more committee hearings had she been as industrious as Pia in conducting them. Since 2004, she had never sponsored on the floor any of the hundreds of bills referred to her committees. In the Fourteenth Congress, I think she did hold one committee “hearing,” but this was held in The Netherlands and by his lonesome, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Peace, Unity and Reconciliation.

Her negligence as chairman of the Senate Committee on Youth, Women and Family Relations was also evident in her inaction on various bills proposing a Magna Carta for Women. A group of women activists led by Inquirer columnist Rina Jimenez David went to the Senate Wednesday to lobby for passage of the proposed law, whose bills had been languishing in Madrigal’s committee.

The Magna Carta for Women seeks to give more teeth to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women that was adopted in 1979 by the United Nations and ratified by the Senate in August 1981. Although it has been in force for 26 years in the Philippines, Filipino women continue to suffer from various forms of discrimination. The proposed Magna Carta for Women is meant to strengthen the promotion of gender equality in the country, which should be a priority for Madrigal’s committee.

Incidentally, there are six bills pending in the Senate on the Magna Carta for Women. These bills were filed by Senators Manuel Villar, Bong Revilla, Ping Lacson, Loren Legarda, Edgardo Angara and Pia Cayetano. Could Pia’s authorship have any bearing on Madrigal’s failure to act on the bills? Expect media, to give full coverage to that hearing if and when it is held in anticipation of sparks flying between the two again.

[email protected]

Last Saturday, May 26, 2007, upon the invitation of PGH Neurosurgery’s Chief, Dr Gap Legaspi, I went to PGH to observe their mission for children with hydrocephalus and cranio-facial disorders.

They do this mission 3-4 times a year as there are just too many indigent patients in need of surgery that cannot be accommodated during the regular days.

I got there late morning and suited up in scrubs, nice color but not dri-fit as Dr Gap had promised me:(

There were five operating rooms being utilized. We met his energetic staff and colleagues, all of whom gave up their Saturday to join this mission without pay to make a difference in the lives of 14 young children, including Dra Kay Pioquinto neurosurgery’s chief resident. A girl! Yeh! Also met Dra. Geraldine Jose, the first and only neuro-anaesthisiologist in the country. Another girl, yeh!

I saw kids with bumps and swellings on their faces and heads that distorted their beautiful faces. This 20 month old child, nicknamed Prince had a sack of cerebro spinal fluid (CSF) that was already larger than his head. He just lied in bed because the sack was so heavy, he could barely move.

Dr Gap showed us around, explained a few cases to me (in very layman’s terms of course) and gave me a crash course in reading an xray. Wow, I actually can point out the fluid in an xray headshot. He also showed us the new pedia surgery rooms, renovated courtesy of Rotary Club San Juan del Monte.

Back to the little Prince, we met his worried parents in the corridor as they waited for him to be rolled into the OR. His mom silently wept as they put him on the operating table.

I lightly tapped her shoulder and smiled (yeah as if she could see my smile under the mask I was wearing). I felt her pain all too well, because.. well, my son had lived in a hospital all his life and I know what a mother feels.

Dr Gap and his staff went about their job. A little past 2:00 the little prince was freed from that sack of fluid which he had carried with him in the back of his head, for all his life.

Like him, all the other 13 kids were successfully operated on. What a miracle. They would have wanted to do more kids, but this is a long tedious process.. and fatigue does take its toll even on miracle workers.

I take my hat off ( ALL the different kind I have – running caps, bike helmets, swim caps ete etc) to Dr Gap Legaspi and his team and all the other doctors and staff of PGH and health professionals like them, who choose spend a beautiful Saturday to give a child a new life

Now if only…

– Malacanang will allow DBM (the Department of Budget and Management) to release my funds for all the other projects I have pending in PGH including the Liver Center, the Women’s Desk, various hospital equipment (from my last count this totals close to P15Million)
– My funds for all the other hospitals like Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, the Provincil Hospital in Marinduque, and various health centers all over the country.
– DBM will release the allocation from the proceeds of VAT and SIN tax as specified in said laws for healthcare;
– if only more local governments would prioritize health care for their constituents;
– if only pumasa na sa Lower House ang bill on Cheaper Medicines which the senate has already passed;
– if only we could comply with the WHO minimum recommendation of allocating 5% of GDP to health, instead of our current 2+%.

ayy, if only..

Meanwhile, I’ve allocated P2million of my 2007 Priority Development Funds (otherwise knows as pork barrel) for the pediatric neurosurgery program of PGH.

But knowing the release of those funds will take a while, I’ve also pledged from my foundations (Companero Rene Cayetano Foundation and Gabriel Symphony Foundation www.gabrielsymphony.com) to fund the salary of the nurses for the pediatric neurosurgery OR which according to Dr Gap will immediately allow them to start using the new Operating Rooms shown above and operate on 200 more patients a year. Imagine 200 more little princes will have a better life.

If anyone would like to contribute to our foundations for this project which is so so deserving please contact Mailet Bonoan at at 09177008665 or Dr Gap Legaspi’s office at 5242338.

Until then, preventive health care muna tayo… Jogging, jogging or other forms of exercise, good nutrition and healthy living, pampatanggal na ng stress, pampapayat at pampalusog diba?

While Alan was stuck in Manila attending to his COMELEC case to have Joselito “Peter” Cayetano disqualified as a nuisance candidate, I did my only little thing campaigning for him across the country (as of posting, Comelec has not yet disqualified the nuisance candidate which means his name is still in the ballots and as reflected in the past surveys is causing Alan’s rating to drop from 7-12%).

We headed north and biked throughout the provinces of La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte. Biking with me were my brother Lino, national triathlon champ, George Vilog and Patrick Joson of Kape ni Juan and Yabang Pinoy.

We also did market stops along the way. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a vegetable vendor, Aling Nellie in a market in San Fernando, La Union, wearing dad’s shirt. Imagine how I felt! I wanted to hug her… which I did. Promised to send her Alan’s campaign shirt and one of my Pinay In Action shirts.

We slept in beautiful historic Vigan that night. The next day we took in the sights and food, walked along the cobble stone road and ate good ol’ dirty ice cream. That’s Lino and my kids, Maxie and Nadine.

Next day we moved on to Laoag and then Pagudpud. As the sun started to set, I went for a run heading eastward, running through the breathtakingly beautiful golden rice fields and then up the mountains towards Cagayan.

The following week, I biked with a group of ever enthusiastic Cebuano
supporters, organized by former national triathlete and long distance triathlon champ, Nonoy Jopson, who rode with me around Cebu campaigning for Alan.

We did the same thing in parts of Batangas, Cavite and Tagaytay.

I have to admit, biking is my favorite way of campaigning!

Before I go, a friendly reminder.. para mabilang ang inyong boto, isulat ALAN CAYETANO!.

If you are reading this, consider yourself a participant invited to share my daily race called life…This being my first blog, I am not sure how it will evolve. But the intention is to share with family and friends the ups and downs, happy and not-so-happy parts of my personal, professional/political life.. Nothing majorly serious, but hopefully inspirational, thought provoking, at times funny…

Your comments are always welcome but since this is meant to be a “feel good” blog, you can only say nice things. Hehe!

Let’s start with some serious stuff…