Women will be eyes of Poe gov’t, says Grace

PILI, Camarines Sur—Women will play key roles in the government should she become president, Sen. Grace Poe told residents in a campaign stop here on Friday.

Poe bared plans to form a council of women volunteers that would keep tabs on government projects down to the barangay level and report to Malacañang if they were not progressing as expected.

The council would be a nongovernment group composed of women volunteers from various sectors, she said.

“What would your job be? Down to the barangay level, you would report on the projects that have not been completed,” she said.

Monitor projects

She would give the women a list of government projects that need to be monitored, she said.

“Sometimes, if you’re far from Malacañang, certain things are not reported to you, such as the asphalting of a barangay [road] that hasn’t been completed for three years. The women will do this, and we will recruit respected women,” she said.

Poe also allayed fears that being a woman, she would be unable to handle the country’s security problems.

She said a woman’s nurturing image shouldn’t be considered a weakness.

“Women are loving and patient, but if we’re put to the test, we don’t back down, do we? If our loved ones are attacked or are in danger, we women are the first to come to their rescue.”

She cited women who have proven their mettle in government, among them, Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and former Commission on Audit chief Grace Pulido-Tan.

“Women were appointed to head all of the departments that go after the corrupt,” she said.