De Lima: Women are backbone of PH's COVID-19 recovery
Opposition Senator Leila de Lima lauded the role of women in the country’s fight to recover from the ravaging effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
De Lima noted that, all around the world, women are being celebrated for their resiliency and ability to stand as the backbone of recovery for every community amid the pandemic that put to halt millions of lives and livelihood.
But even if the pandemic extremely affected women around the world, they have continued to serve as a sterling example of innovation through challenging times.
“Even amidst it all, the resilience of women always shined through. We rose to the occasion. Even as we bear the brunt of the pandemic, women are also the backbone of recovery for our communities,” De Lima said in her message delivered during the recent online event “Women Shining Through the Storm Blossoming Amidst Adversity” organized by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
The senator pointed out the social and economic impacts of pandemics fall harder on women as they bear the brunt of the added responsibility of remaining the light of the home even when family members fall ill and or experience loss of income and livelihood, among others.
“They continue to keep the home intact even when their own sanity is challenged by school closures, livelihood and employment changes and the added protocols that life in the new normal entailed,” she pointed out.
Likewise, De Lima commended the “new normal heroes” women who sacrifice to let people around them continue to live their lives even with just a semblance of normalcy.
“We salute your bravery, and express our deepest gratitude for all your sacrifices,” she said.
“Women healthcare workers who continuously showed up garbed in sweat-soaked PPEs manning tents and facilities even when the risks to themselves continued to mount, women frontline service providers who continued to clock in so that life could somehow keep going for all of us,” she added.
“The things you have already done and still continue to do for the nation is a sterling example that inspires us,” said De Lima, a staunch human rights and women’s rights activist.