Ex-UP professor is women’s commission head

Philippine Commission on Women Chair Rhodora T. Masilang-Bucoy (Photo from the official website of the PCW https://www.pcw.gov.ph/)

CEBU CITY – A retired associate professor of the University of the Philippines Cebu (UP Cebu) associate professor was appointed as chairperson of the Philippine Commission on Women.

In its Facebook page, the commission said Dr. Rhodora T. Masilang-Bucoy was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte effective immediately. She will be sworn into office by the President in Malacañang on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Bucoy served as a commissioner in PCW representing the academe sector from August 2013 to June 2016 and proposed several resolutions to facilitate gender-friendly curricula within the Department of Education (Dep-Ed) K to 12 program.

She is a pioneer in incorporating Gender and Development (GAD) in the university curriculum.

In her stay as a professor of political science development, and of gender studies in UP Cebu, gender-related courses were introduced in the Social Science Department from 2005 up to 2011.

Bucoy said, in a statement posted by the PCW, she was “…deeply honored to serve as chairperson of the Commission that is mandated to lead on bringing about gender equality and empowerment of Filipino women.”

Her plans as a PCW chairperson include the passage of women-friendly laws, an efficient technical assistance for a gender-responsive government and the elimination of gender stereotyping in school curricula, and in mass media.  SFM