Rizal Technological University (RTU) held its 2026 Women’s Month Celebration on March 25 under the theme “Lead Like the Babaylans, Filipinas,” organized by the PRIME–HRM Learning and Development Section in collaboration with the Employee Relations and Engagement Unit (EREU) and the Gender and Studies Development Office.
The program, formally titled WOW! Women of Worth for All and POWER!—an acronym for Potential Opportunity of Women in the Workforce, Empowered to Rise—was conducted at the SNAGAH Building, Penthouse B, with a concurrent Zoom broadcast, ensuring broad participation across the university community.
The event ran from morning until noon and opened with welcoming remarks delivered by Dr. Emily Concepcion C. Miguel, Head of the Health and Services Unit, who framed the morning’s discussions within RTU’s ongoing commitment to gender-responsive education and institutional development.
Two formal topic presentations constituted the academic core of the program. The first, focused on women’s workplace empowerment, was delivered by Instr. Shereen B. Cadileña, Director of the General Services and Development Office (GSDO), was introduced by Instr. Jean T. Francisco, Head of PRIME–HRM LDS. The second presentation, addressing women in leadership, was delivered by RTU University President Dr. Ma. Eugenia M. Yangco, introduced by AO Gabriela Felipe, Deputy Director of the Human Resource Management Office.
Both sessions examined the structural and cultural barriers that continue to limit women’s advancement in the public sector, and proposed frameworks for building more inclusive, equitable institutions at every level of governance and academic administration.
“Women’s Month is a celebration of courage, competence, and contribution — and a recognition of women’s transformative role in nation-building.”
The choice of the babaylan as the event’s thematic anchor carries particular scholarly and civic weight. In pre-colonial Philippine society, the babaylan occupied a position of profound spiritual, medicinal, and political authority—roles that were systematically marginalized and suppressed during the colonial era. By invoking this figure as a model for contemporary Filipina leadership, RTU’s program situates its gender advocacy not merely within the framework of modern policy but within a longer arc of historical recovery, asserting that female authority is not a new concession but a restoration of indigenous social order. This framing also aligns the university with the mandate of Republic Act No. 9710, or the Magna Carta of Women, and with the strategic directions of the Philippine Commission on Women, which designates March each year as a national period of reflection, advocacy, and action on gender equality.
Forums of this nature carry considerable institutional value for a university such as RTU. Beyond their ceremonial function, they serve as structured mechanisms for building gender literacy among faculty, staff, and students—fostering an environment where equity is not merely legislated from above but internalized through shared discourse and example. When senior administrators, such as the university president, take the podium as speakers, they communicate through their very presence that the institution treats women’s leadership not as an ancillary concern but as a core organizational value. This modeling function is especially significant in state universities, which are simultaneously employers, educators, and public institutions accountable to a broad and diverse constituency.
Furthermore, activities like this celebration reinforce RTU’s responsiveness to national development priorities. The Philippine government has consistently identified gender and development (GAD) as a cross-cutting concern in public sector planning, and universities are expected to mainstream GAD principles into their programs, curricula, and internal governance. By hosting substantive academic discussions rather than purely ceremonial observances, RTU demonstrates institutional seriousness about these obligations. For students in particular, exposure to women leaders in formal academic settings provides aspirational models and helps dismantle the implicit hierarchies that can discourage women from pursuing leadership roles in public service, research, and administration. In this sense, the 2026 Women’s Month Celebration is not only a commemoration but a pedagogical act, one whose effects extend well beyond the single morning in which it took place.