Davide on gender equality

Speaking before UNIFEM, Philippines International Women’s Day celebration, Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr. noted that the Philippines has done much more than other countries to elevate the status of women.

The Philippines is the first country with a fundamental law expressly recognizing the role of women in nation-building, and makes it a duty of the State to ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men (Sec. 14, Art. II).

Only the Philippine Constitution provides a specific sub-article on women under the Article on Social Justice and Human Rights (Art. XIII).

Before the writing of the present Constitution, the: Philippines ratified on August 5, 1981, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women or CEDAW.

In Europe, for a woman to become head of State is a novelty. The United States, "the much-touted cradle of freedom and equality," has so far; produced no woman President.

Then there are more incumbent women magistrates. In the Supreme Court, there are five women justices out of 15, in the Court of Appeals, 20 out of 64. In the Sandiganbayan, three out of 14 members are women; in the Court of Tax Appeals, two out of six, and in the lower courts, 26 percent of the judges are women.

The theme of UNIFEM’s celebration, "Gender Equality 2005: Building a More Secure Future," was apropos, as, the justice said, it placed emphasis on pressing issues as development, human rights, security, and disasters.

The justice considers development and human rights to be "mutually reinforcing. At the heart of both is, and should be, the person – the gift of God created in His own image and likeness." All persons, he said, are equally endowed with rights as a consequence of being persons. But in reality, equality in rights "has always been a point of struggle in wars waged the world over. These wars include the silent ones carried on by women in defense of their rights, which are restricted by the influence of culture and tradition that set gender stereotypes and norms that discriminate against women. As we are all aware, gender discrimination is a source of widespread poverty, inequitable and low economic growth, and poor governance." The challenge then, is for us to ensure the parallel and steady advancement of human rights and human development.

The Judiciary, he said, particularly the Supreme Court, has stepped up its efforts at gender and development (GAC) main-streaming. It has steadily integrated GAD (gender and development) principles in its policies and programs. It created the Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary; adopted the Rule on Violence Against Women and Their Children, The Rule on Administrative Procedure on Harassment Cases, and Guidelines on Proper Work Decorum in the Judiciary, the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary, and the Code of Conduct for Court Personnel which both stress the principle of equality. These, he said, are among the Judiciary’s legacies to the collective task of building a more secure future and making this world – our home – a better place for both women and men."

Incidentally, Justice Davide was conferred the first honorary membership in UNIFEM Philippines, whose chair is Erlinda E. Panlilio, and president, Georgitta P. Puyat.

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Martin Reyes, Batch 51, Upsilon Sigma Phi, passed away recently. At necrological rites held by the fraternity, Leonardo D. Angeles, Batch 55, talked about the legacy Reyes left behind as a forester possessing "a very keen mind, high professional credentials of technical knowledge and experience, a prolific writing ability and above all, credibility and honesty."

Martin helped in the modernization of the management, administration and practices of Philippine forestry through his pioneering concept of the selective logging system. For this outstanding feat, he was called the "Father of Selective Logging System of the Philippines." His concept of SLS was adopted by neighboring tropical countries as their management system for their own forests.

Leonardo said Reyes strongly advocated selective logging as the appropriate system for the dipterocarp forest owing to the forest’s multi-storied and uneven aged structure dominated by the depterocarpaceae family of trees, including the world-famous Philippine Mahogany, a group of dipterocarp consisting of tanguile, red lauan, tiaong, bagtikan, white lauan, almon, and mayapis. Most of his publications concentrated on the management and conservation of the Philippine natural forests, oftentimes focusing on the dipterocarp forest, the largest and hitherto considered most important forest type in the country.

Forester Reyes’ thoughts, according to Leonardo (who by the way was assisted by Manolito U. Sy, BSF ’72, MSF ’82 in researching materials on the late Reyes) "most often converged on the wise utilization and perpetuation of the dipterocarp forest, underscoring selective logging as the harvesting scheme in accord with conservation for environmental and ecological requirements. As he put it, "I firmly believe in the soundness and practicability of selective logging for the conservation and wise use of the dipterocarp forest if we (foresters and concessionaires) make it work. When you have such a forest of varying size-age classes in such proportion that harvesting the mature trees gives way to the more numerous younger trees and large number of seedlings, it is not wise to clear-cut it and resort to the more expensive planting system. Selective logging, in the forestry sense, not in the irresponsible logger’s sense, is leaving undamaged a sufficient number of young, vigorous, well-formed trees of the commercial species in the process of extraction of the mature, bigger trees."

According to Verden C. Dangilan, Upsilonian Batch ’51, Reyes constantly admonished everyone that "to make Philippine forest conservation a success, three simple things: selective logging, reforestation, and protection can and must be done."

Reyes spearheaded the drafting of the bill that became RA 3092, the "Permanent Forest Law." He received many awards, among them the Forestry Achievement Award in 1994 and the Moncano Award (most outstanding alumnus) in 1995 by his alma mater; the Upsilon Sigma Phi Diamond Jubilee Luminary Award in 1994, and the Molave Award by the Zeta Beta Rho in 1990; the Professional Regulations Commission award for "Outstanding Professional in the Field of Forestry; the Philippine Wood Producers Association (PWPA) Merit ward for work on sustained yield forest management in the dipterocarp forest, and the Gold Tree Medal by the forestry bureau where he spent most of his life. He was twice awarded by the Ministry of Natural Resources/Department of Environment and Natural Resources - with the Likas Yaman Award in 1985, and in 1988 "for his relentless efforts to save the forests and renew the environment."

Martin is survived by his wife Consejo, two daughters and six sons.

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