MANILA: (Bernama-PNA) Philippines’ President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is calling on Asean member states to give women greater roles in decision-making, saying their leadership is essential to the region’s security, resilience and prosperity, the Philippines News Agency (PNA) reported.
Speaking at the 4th Asean Women Leaders’ Summit in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday (Sept 29), Marcos said women remain underrepresented in Asean governments, describing this not only as a representation gap but also as a leadership gap.
"Women’s leadership is not optional to our regional agenda. It is the core driver of our security, resilience and prosperity,” Marcos said.
"This is not simply a gap in representation; it is a gap in leadership in whose voices shape the decisions that affect our region,” he added.
Marcos, serving as this year’s Asean chair, urged the bloc to build stronger leadership budgets, advance measures that open pathways for women to decision-making positions, and establish a regional network that connects and supports women leaders across Southeast Asia.
He said the region must also ensure that women benefit from economic opportunities, noting that more than 60 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Asean are owned or managed by women.
However, he said limited access to capital and digital skills continue to constrain women-led enterprises.
"Under the Philippines’ chairship, we are accelerating digital financial inclusion and ensuring market integration explicitly benefiting women-led enterprises,” Marcos said.
Marcos also linked women’s leadership to peace and security, citing the Asean Women, Peace and Security Agenda and stressing that "when women sit at the table, peace agreements are more durable, and rebuilding is more inclusive.”
At the same time, he called attention to gender-based violence in online spaces as Asean continues to digitalise.
"We cannot speak of empowerment while our women and girls face harassment and abuse online,” Marcos said.
He said the Philippines would work with Asean in developing digital frameworks that make online spaces safer for women and girls.
Marcos said the joint ministerial statement on women’s leadership for inclusive prosperity adopted during the summit should serve as a roadmap for concrete action in areas including climate action, technological innovation, economic participation, and peace and security.
"Declarations and summits are certainly valuable, but action is our true currency,” he said.
He urged Asean members to translate the commitments into national development plans and regional frameworks toward the Asean Community Vision 2045.
The President urged Asean women leaders to "keep demanding space” and appealed to fellow leaders to continue working until equality becomes a lived reality for women and children across Southeast Asia. - Bernama-PNA
