Friday, August 10, 2007 Women leaders to celebrate 70th year of women's suffrage
THE National Federation of Women's Clubs Foundation (NFWCF) is spearheading the Women's National Electoral Assembly in celebration of seventy years of emancipation for Filipino women in a two-day conference on September 14 and 15 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila.
The assembly marks the beginning of the Diamond Jubilee of the Filipino Women's Right to Vote, first granted in 1937 during the Commonwealth period of then President Ramon Magsaysay.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will grace the opening ceremony which is expected to be attended by thousands of Filipino women leaders nationwide.
NWFCF President, Julie Benedicto said the Carrie Chapman Catt Center of Ames University will also send a message in remembering the woman suffragist who helped start the movement in the Philippines.
Other notable speakers during the 2-day conference are Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP); Senate President Manuel Villar, and Senators Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero.
Institutional awards to pioneer organization in women suffrage will be given to NFCW, the Catholic Women's League; Associacion De Damas Filipinas, Girl Scouts of the Philippines, among others along with posthumous leadership awards to Filipino and American women leaders who helped in the women's suffrage movement in the country.
Notable Filipina suffragists are Clemencia Lopez, Concepcion Felix de Calderon, Rosa Sevilla de Alvero, Trinidad Almeda, Constancia Poblete, Pura Villanueva Kalaw, Paz Mendoza Gauzon, Pilar Hidalgo Lim and Josefa Llanes Escoda. (Press release)
