Learn from nations led by women in addressing COVID-19 crisis — VP

Published June 27, 2020, 1:49 PM

The national government should not rely on its own capacity and can learn lessons from nations led by women in addressing the coronavirus crisis, Vice President Leni Robredo said.

“If you look at women leaders who have been successful, they were more inclusive. Mas bukas makinig sa iba’t ibang mga points of views (They are more open to listen to different points of views),” she said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

The vice president was referring to the success stories of Taiwan, Germany, and New Zealand in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

These three countries have one thing in common: they all have female leaders who are managing the crisis better than their male counterparts.

New Zealand, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, appears to have eliminated the local transmission since it has not recorded new COVID-19 cases for more than two weeks.

Robredo said the administration could have done better on its response to the pandemic with the help of other sectors.

“We would have responded well if many other people are given voices, hindi lang ako (not only me),” the official said.

“It would have benefitted our fight against COVID-19 kung mas nabigyan ng papel iyong mas maraming sektor to help na hindi na-confine sa gobyerno iyong pag-isip ng mga paraan (if many sectors were given a role to help, so that thinking of the solutions to the problem is not only confined to the government),” she stressed.

The opposition leader emphasized the need to allow the active participation of the private sector to the response measures.

“I think sa mga problemang ganito, mahalaga na maraming boses iyong pinapakinggan kasi wala namang isang tao or grupo na may monopoly ng kahusayan (I think in solving this problem, it is important to listen to many voices because there is no person or group who has a monopoly on knowledge),” she said.

Given its limited mandate and low budget, Robredo’s office heavily relies on the private sector for its distribution of aid to support frontliners and Filipinos affected by the pandemic.

Among their projects are free dormitories, temporary shelters, food packs, personal protective equipment, and medical supples for COVID-19 frontliners.

SOURCE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/06/27/learn-from-nations-led-by-women-in-addressing-covid-19-crisis-vp/