- The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) uses #WomenMakeChange in its online advocacy during Women’s Month.
- This year’s theme is ‘Juana Laban sa Pandemya: Kaya!’
- The team of formidable “Juanas” with Education Secretary Leonor Briones: Undersecretaries Annalyn M. Sevilla, Lawyer Josephine G. Maribojoc, Alma Ruby C. Torio, and G. H. S. Ambat.
Leading the country’s largest bureaucracy is Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis-Briones, a distinguished academic and teacher, public official, and social activist. With her is a team of formidable “Juanas” who we will feature in this story — Annalyn M. Sevilla, Undersecretary - Finance, Lawyer Josephine G. Maribojoc, Undersecretary-Legal Affairs, Alma Ruby C. Torio, Assistant Secretary-Curriculum & Instruction, and G. H. S. Ambat, Assistant Secretary - Alternative Learning System (ALS) Program & Task Force.
To mark the National Women’s Month Celebration (NWMC), the Manila Bulletin highlights these women leaders at the DepEd to inspire the future generation of Filipinos.
The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) uses #WomenMakeChange in its online advocacy during the NCMC. This year’s theme is “Juana Laban sa Pandemya: Kaya!” highlights the participation of “Juanas” in battling the pandemic.
Annalyn M. Sevilla, Undersecretary - Finance
Usec. Anne assists in formulating, implementing, and monitoring finance services in DepEd. She also oversees the operation of the Education Programs Delivery Unit (EPDU) to ensure that bottlenecks and challenges of the DepEd’s delivery system are resolved.
Aside from being one of the alternative spokespersons for the DepEd, she is the chairperson of the National Board of Trustees of the DepEd Provident Fund; the vice chairperson for the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and DepEd’s official representative to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) and the United Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) Board, as well as board member of the Palarong Pambansa.
Asked what is the biggest misconception about women especially those who pursue their careers, Usec. Anne said that people may look differently on women who pursue their careers because of the “conception that they would not have time for their families, or because it is normal for women to stay at home to nurture” their families.
“What they forget is that the love, passion, and commitment that we give our family is equal to the love, passion, and commitment that we give our work,” Usec. Anne said. “Women can balance their work and life responsibilities because they are dedicated to both,” she added.
Usec. Anne has a wide experience in public financial management, governance and change management, having served as consultant for various organizations such as Australian Aid, USAID, Millennium Challenge Account of the Philippines; and the World Bank.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Usec. Anne was a senior budget and management specialist at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) where she served for 10 years.
She took her master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of the Philippines- National College of Public Administration and Governance and is a graduate of St. Scholastica’s College with a degree in Financial Management, cum laude. She also participated in the Executive Education Program for Public Financial Management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Lawyer Josephine G. Maribojoc, Undersecretary-Legal Affairs
Usec. Jo manages the legal concerns of the DepEd. In 2015, she was the director of legal service of the department where she managed, developed, and built the capacity of the new agency.
She cannot recall an instance when she faced obstacles as a leader because of her being female. “As a leader, a most remarkable obstacle I have encountered is insufficiency of resources to meet goals, but that does not relate to my being a female leader,” she said.
Through the years, some of the notable accomplishments of Usec. Jo include formulating case strategy and theory as well as drafting pleadings in the K to 12 constitutional cases against DepEd pending at the Supreme Court, and rendering legal opinions to facilitate policy-formulation and address legal concerns on various matters.
Usec. Jo holds licenses as a lawyer and a professional teacher in secondary education.
As a lawyer, she was a consultant on Constitutional and Human Rights Law to (Ret.) Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno. She also served as court attorney 6 in the Office of Chief Justice Justice Puno, the highest court attorney rank at the Supreme Court. She handled high-level constitutional law and human rights law cases with national and jurisprudential impact.
She graduated Bachelor of Arts, major in Philosophy at the Ateneo de Manila University as cum laude; and Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines with Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence.
She completed her Masters of Education major in School Leadership at the De La Salle University, Manila with high distinction and at the top of her class; and obtained her Master of Laws on Public Law and Human Rights at the University College London, with merit as a recipient of Chevening Scholarship of the United Kingdom government.
Alma Ruby C. Torio, Assistant Secretary-Curriculum & Instruction
Asec. Alma believes that women face crisis differently as they carry their backpacks with simplicity, humility, and calm.
“As women, we fill our memory with what affects us greatly that is why we are tagged as emotional,” Asec. Alma said. “Our emotional stance activates our adrenalin and, in this case, we wisely take a crisis as a battery that leads us to a tested and well-calculated solution,” she added.
Believing that “our actions should speak more than our words,” Asec. Alma has always supported efforts that would help learners develop their maximum potential.
She finished her Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), Bachelor of Science in Commerce (Management), and her Professional units in Education in 1986. She completed her Master of Arts (Guidance and Counseling) in 1989 followed by her graduation as Doctor of Education in 1994. She completed her Master in National Security Administration in 2002 followed by her Bachelor of Laws in 2009.
She started her career in the DepEd as a guidance counselor in Pangasinan National High School in 1986-1990 and was promoted as aEducation Supervisor I in Schools Division of Pangasinan I in 1990, and later became regional director of Region I.
Asec. Alma has a diverse interest as she was also commissioned as a Reserve Officer with the rank of Lieutenant in the Philippine Air Force on August 16, 2002 while fulfilling her duties in DepEd.
G. H. S. Ambat, Assistant Secretary - Alternative Learning System (ALS) Program & Task Force
Prior to her appointment at DepEd, Asec. G.H. spent most of her professional life at the legislative branch of government.
She was a policy specialist and agenda manager of the Senate committees on health, peace, and finance while on detail at the office of Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III from 2013 to 2016.
She also served as a social development specialist at the Senate Economic Planning Office (SEPO) and a legislative staff of then Senator Manny Villar.
Despite the many achievements of women in various fields, Asec. G.H. said the biggest issue facing women - especially of young girls - today is that “we are still being boxed in the socio-cultural expectations imposed upon us.”
She noted that when girls excel in science and math, become engineers and scientists and eventually, leaders in the STEM industry, “it still surprises people — as though analysis and critical thinking skills are a monopoly of boys.”
On the matter of reproductive health, Asec. G.H. said that girls are still forced to drop out of school when they get pregnant because of the stigma. “The lack of support for these teenage mothers make it challenging for them come back to school even if they want to, thereby hindering them from realizing their full potential,” she added.
With her substantial background in discourses on social development, public policy and governance— along with her experiences in management of donor-funded projects and advocacy — she hopes that her current role in DepEd would help achieve the necessary reforms in the education system.
Asec. G. H. obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Master’s in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines in Diliman.
She believes that limiting the tremendous potential of girls is not an issue affecting only girls because “when we fail to address barriers to the education of girls, it eventually impacts society and the next generation in profound ways.”