15/04/2026
From April 8 to 9, Miriam College โ Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) served as a Knowledge Partner for the Datin Doris Ong (DDO) Women Empowerment Workshop, organized by the Ramon Magsaysay Transformative Leadership Institute (RMTLI), bringing together young leaders to explore the role of women and gender in shaping inclusive and transformative education.
On Day 1, Ms. Frances Therese Zabala, WAGIโs Project Coordinator, served as a speaker for the Sensemaking Forum on the role of institutions, youth, and gender in the Philippine education landscape. She shared, โRedistribute visibility and voice in student spaces. Deliberately place women and girls, call on them first in dialogues and discussions,โ because โEmpowerment is not given, it is built through everyday choices.โ
On Day 2, on behalf of Dr. Melanie Reyes, WAGIโs Executive Director, Ms. Zabala opened the program with welcome remarks, highlighting the agency of learners and advocates. โWomen, gender advocates, and young people are not passive recipients of education, they are powerful drivers of its accessibility and relevance,โ she said. She further underscored, โThe true measure of this experience will be how you carry its lessons back to your communities, how you apply what you learn, how you stand for inclusion, and how you work to ensure that education is accessible, meaningful, and responsive to the realities on the ground.โ
In the afternoon, Ms. Mary Ann Lascano, MCHS Grade 9 Level Coordinator and MC Gender Mainstreaming Committee (GMCOM) member, led a learning session on behalf of WAGI on the theme โAccessibility vs. Inclusivity.โ She emphasized that while accessibility focuses on removing barriers, inclusion ensures that learners feel welcomed, respected, and able to participate fully. Through interactive activities and reflection, participants were encouraged to design more responsive and inclusive learning spaces, grounded in representation, flexibility, and meaningful participation.
