PASAY CITY — Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday lauded the Philippine Federation of Local Councils of Women (PFLCW) Inc., for overcoming the challenges of digitalization, and being a valuable partner of the national government in finding avenues for the sector to grow and become truly empowered.

“Your efforts to champion the utmost welfare of women in this day and age — where gender inclusivity demands to be addressed in narrowing the existing technological divide — are indeed laudable,” Duterte said during the PFLCW 18th General Assembly at the Heritage Manila Hotel here.

“Now is the best time to work together and capacitate Filipino women all over the country, providing them with the necessary skill sets, knowledge, and resources required to successfully navigate the digital world,“ she added.

In her 30-minutes speech, Duterte cited the The Women-Helping-Women: Innovating Social Enterprises Program, a national government initiative that taps the power of technology as a valuable platform to ensure the success of women’s entrepreneurial projects.

Duterte said the grant program provides a wide range of gender-focused support for women entrepreneurs, such as start-up incubation, mentoring, business support, capacity building, marketing, and market validation.

Citing her previous experience as mayor of Davao City, Duterte shared the “caravan of government services,” where she made annual visits to all 182 barangays to deliver the city’s government services and personally check on the communities.

“We bring the government services to them so they understand that the government is with them, behind them, beside them, and hindi na sila kailangang pumunta pa sa city hall,” Duterte said.

She also cited the Mag Negosyo Ta ‘Day (MTD), an entrepreneurial project that assists women and members of the LBBTQI+ by augmenting their daily income, making them economically empowered and independent.

“It was really successful because we saw transformation in lives. It was so successful with women that we decided to also share it to the LGBTQI+ community,” Duterte said.

“We make them think and we make them study kung anong negosyo ang dapat para doon sa community nila just to ensure na sustainable and successful ang negosyo nila,” she added.

The Vice President coordinated with PFLCW Chair Ms. Myrna T. Yao to grant the identified group beneficiary from the PFLCW the livelihood program.

“Ito po ang dala namin ngayong hapon para sa ating federation. Kinausap ko na po si ma’am Myrna kanina na we have P300,000 from the Office of the Vice President to give to your identified group beneficiary na kailangan na capacity-building sa kung paano mag- negosyo, at nangangailangan ng seed money para masimulan nila ang kanilang negosyo,” Duterte said.

“We’ll look for the best proposal from all of the members of the federation so that mapanigurado natin that the P300,000 would change lives in the communities,” she added.

The MTD livelihood program is one of Duterte’s many flagship projects when she was still mayor of Davao City. The project has been adopted by the OVP for nationwide implementation.

The first beneficiary of MTD is the Makabagong Ina at Kababaihan tungo sa Asenso, Inc., or MIKA, a women’s group in San Pedro, Laguna that produces paper products from water lily pulp.

Duterte then highlighted the Marcos administration’s commitment to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and “leaving no one behind.”

According to her, by enabling Filipino women to develop their capacities, it will allow them to “flourish and build opportunities for other women to grow and innovate.”

“Together, let us highlight the importance of improving women’s access to opportunities, resources, and tools that will help them thrive during this digital age and, more importantly, empower them to succeed in the direction of their aspirations for a better life for themselves and their families,” Duterte said.

“Hand-in-hand, I am optimistic that we will be able to welcome more women who will be proactive players in digital transformation. Together, let us march towards a stronger nation and more empowered citizenry,” she added.

OVP MEDIA