MANILA – Did you know that of the country's 146 cities, 40 or nearly one-third of the total are under the stewardship of women, indicative of the continuously expanding role and participation of women in the levels of governance in the Philippines -- the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judiciary?
The 40 female city mayors joined their male counterparts in the League of Cities in the Philippines (LCP) in extending their unified birthday greeting to President Rodrigo R. Duterte who marked his 76th birthday on Palm Sunday, March 28.
In their birthday greeting published by a national newspaper, the LCP listed the country’s 40 highly urbanized or component cities and their respective women mayors as (cities in alphabetical arrangement, followed by province or region and mayor's name):
Antipolo (Rizal), Andrea Ynares; Bacoor (Cavite), Lani Mercado; Bais (Negros Oriental), Mercedes Goni; Batangas (Batangas), Beverley Rose Dimacuha; Cabadbaran (Agusan del Norte), Judy Amante; Cabanatuan (Nueva Ecija), Myca Elizabeth Vergara; Carcar (Cebu), Mercedita Apura; Cotabato (Maguindanao), Frances Cynthia Gulani Sayadi;
Dapitan (Zamboanga del Norte), Rosalina Jalosjos; Dasmarinas (Cavite), Jennifer Barzaga; Davao (Davao del Sur), Sara Duterte; Iriga (Camarines Sur), Madelaine Alfelor; Isabela (Basilan), Sitti Djalia Hataman; Lamitan (Basilan), Rosita Furigay; Las Piñas (Metro Manila), Imelda Aguilar; Ligao (Albay), Patricia Alsua; Makati (Metro Manila), Mar-Len Abigail Binay; Mandaluyong (Metro Manila), Carmelita Abalos; Masbate (Masbate), Rowena Tuason;
Mati (Davao Oriental), Michelle Marie Denise Rabat; Meycauyan (Bulacan), Linabelle Ruth Villarica; Palayan (Nueva Ecija), Adrianne Mae Cuevas; Pasay (Metro Manila), Imelda Calixto-Rubiano; Quezon City (Metro Manila), Ma. Josefina G. Belmonte; San Pedro (Laguna), Lourdes Cataquiz; Santa Rosa (Laguna), Arlene Arcillas; Sto. Tomas (Batangas), Edna Sanchez; Sipalay (Negros Occidental), Maria Gina Lizares; Sorsogon (Sorsogon), Mari Ester Hamor;
Tabaco (Albay), Cielo-Krisel Lagman-Luistro; Tagaytay (Cavite), Agnes Tolentino; Tanauan (Batangas), Mary Angeline Halili; Tandag (Surigao del Sur), Roxanne Pimentel; Tangub (Misamis Occidental), Jennifer Tan; Tarlac (Tarlac), Maria Cristina Angeles; Tayabas (Quezon), Ernida Reynoso; Toledo (Cebu), Marjorie Perales; Trece Martires (Cavite), Gemma Lubigan; Valencia (Bukidnon), Azucena Huervas; and Zamboanga (Zamboanga del Sur), Maria Isabelle Climaco.
The country's 106 other cities and their respective male mayors were also published by the newspaper.
The present LCP officials are Mayor Evelio Leonardia of Bacolod City, national president; Mayor Belmonte of Quezon City, executive vice president; Mayor Edgardo Labella, Cebu City, national chairman; Mayor Ronnel Rivera, General Santos City, national vice chairman; Mayor Arnan Panaligan, Calapan City, secretary-general; Mayor Antonio Ferrer, General Trias City, treasurer; and Mayor Abalos of Mandaluyong City, women's sector representative.
The youngest among the 146 cities in 81 provinces in the country's 17 regions is Sto. Tomas City in Batangas. It is the fourth city in that province after Lipa, Batangas and Tanauan and the first to be created so far under the Duterte administration. (PNA)
