The Media and Gender Equality Committee (MGEC) was reconstituted on Thursday to further advance its agenda with the support of key government agencies, led by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).
The MGEC’s reconstitution took place during the first-ever UniCOMM GAD event, organized by the PCO at the Press Briefing Room in Kalayaan Hall, Malacañan Palace. The event was attended by GAD chairpersons and focal persons from various government agencies.
The event also aimed to foster network-building, benchmark projects and best practices, share GAD accomplishments and strategies, and cascade GAD projects and events, among other government initiatives.
The MGEC is an inter-agency committee tasked with promoting gender mainstreaming and formulating guidelines and a code of ethics for media. Its member agencies lead the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of media-related projects.
Government agencies such as the PCO, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and the Optical Media Board (OMB) signed the MGEC Commitment Wall.
PCW Chairperson Ermelita Valdeavilla said the MGEC Commitment Wall is a testament to the shared goals of the MGEC members.
“It represents our collective promise to challenge stereotypes, promote diverse voices, and ensure the representation and promote diverse voices, and ensure the representation and empowerment of women in the media landscape,” Valdeavilla said.
“As we add our commitments, let this wall inspire us to follow through and support one another. Thank you for being part of this meaningful moment. Let’s continue to create a space where everyone’s stories are valued and heard,” she added.
For her part, PCO Undersecretary for Digital Media Services Emerald Anne Ridao assured member agencies of the PCO’s unwavering commitment to promote and lead the committee’s activities to ensure gender equality in the media.
Ridao highlighted the importance of conducting annual SOGIESC seminars, promoting health and wellness projects “to give women the time to take care of themselves,” and helping employees through self-defense training.
“[We will also] increase the youth’s awareness about the difference between misinformation and fact-verified information … develop critical thinking to differentiate fake news from real facts in their everyday lives,” she added.
Ridao emphasized the PCO’s commitment to helping teachers embed Media and Information Literacy Campaign (MILC) in their daily teaching “as opposed to having it as a different and separate course.”
PND