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On March 29, 1984, Proclamation No. 2346 was enacted declaring April 30 as βWoman Suffrage Dayβ to enable Filipino women to βrenew their advocacy and support for clean, honest and free elections and pursue with greater zeal their efforts towards this directionβ.
On April 30, 1937, Filipino women exercised suffrage for the first time when an overwhelming majority of 447,725 Filipino women voted in a plebiscite in favor of their right to vote in political elections under Commonwealth Act No. 34.
Forty years after Proclamation No. 2346 was enacted, the second Sunflower Run was held last March 23, 2024 at the Acad emic Oval of the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines (UP).
βPagpugay sa Kababaihan, Pag-asa Para sa Kabataanβ is the Sunflower Runβs theme as part of the Women’s Month celebration.
Atty. Vien Tiempo Mendez of the Portia Sorority Alumnae Association explained that the sunflower is also known as a symbol of women power in the suffrage movement.
Sunflower pins were worn by women in Kansas as they campaigned for the right to vote in 1867. While the Kansas referendum failed, yellow remained a color of the suffrage movement through the 20th century.
Sunflowers have become the symbol of the ultimate rites of passage in the university.
As a parting gift for graduating students, sunflowers symbolize devotion and loyalty as denizens hurdled every academic requirement through sleepless and restless days and nights.
As one blossoms inside the campus, there will come a time that one will have to leave.
Sunflowers, in order to grow, need full sun, just as every student treat every experience inside the university as necessary for their individual growth.
Participants assembled around the UPLift sculpture in front of the University Theater which is a statue of a nude female levitating over a pool of water, with arms outstretched.
Ferdinand Cacnio, creator of UPLift, said the sculpture is about βenlightenment and uplifting oneselfβ and about βaspiring for honor and excellenceβ.
The ‘Uplift’ was also described as βa woman rising from the waters; levitating like a Diwata who welcomes the sunlight; the spread arms at an angle that clearly suggests that like the Oblation, she is offering herselfβ.
UPLift is a woman arising with open arms to welcome the knowledge and values of UP as an institution.
The face of UPLift is based on Atty. Dot Gancayco of the Delta Lambda Sigma Sorority and UP Concert Chorus Alumni Association.
βTo be a woman today is both a burden and an honor β a burden because of the injustices that women from all sectors of society from every corner of the world still face today, but an honor because of the ability of these women to continuously come together with our allies and fight for our rights and the rights of our children,β says Atty. Dot Gancayco of Delta Lambda Sigma Sorority.
The sunflower run, Gancayco said, aims to remind the world that women and children have rights that need and deserve to be protected, and to exemplify the truth that these Filipino women are not alone.
βWe encourage all women and womenβs groups to continue to raise awareness in our own way. Continue to hold training seminars on sexual harassment, safe spaces and violence against women and children. At home, husbands can start by respecting your wives, and show your sons how to treat their mothers and sisters well,β says Dean Ada Abad of the UP Women Lawyersβ Circle.
The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) said that 17.5% of Filipino women aged 15-49 have experienced any form of physical, sexual, and emotional violence. As of 2021, there were 8,399 reported cases of physical violence, 1,791 on rape, and 1,505 on acts of lasciviousness.
βLetβs do it one day at a time, one person at a time. These commitments should be constant and non-negotiable. This is one concrete way we forge the path toward a more equitable and humane society that truly recognizes the worth and contributions of those women who hold half the sky,β Abad added.
Officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, International Women’s Day is celebrated every March 8 as a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political.
March was declared as Womenβs Month after President Cory Aquino signed Proclamation No. 288 on March 17, 1988 emphasizing the role of Filipino women in the social, cultural, economic and political development throughout our history.
The event was led by UP-based women groups which include the Portia Sorority, the Portia Sorority Alumnae Association, the Women Lawyersβ Circle, the Women in Law, the Delta Lambda Sigma Sorority as well as Concert Chorus Alumni Association, Kontra GaPi, and the Celebrity Club.
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