To commemorate the diverse achievements and milestones of women and provide comprehensive fire safety training, Sorsogon State University (SorSU), spearheaded by Gender and Development (GAD) and Disaster Risk Reduction Management and Climate Change (DRRM CC) Offices, paid honor and respect to SorSU female (teaching and non-teaching) employees in celebration of both International Women’s Month 2023 and Fire Prevention Month through a one-day meaningful culminating activity on March 31, 2023, at SorSU Social Hall and Covered Court, Sorsogon City Campus.
With the theme: “𝘞𝘌 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺,” an energetic Zumba for all SorSU female employees, led by Mr. Tommy Encinares, commenced the culminating event for the women’s month. The cluster of ‘early bird’ Sorsogon City Campus employees, joined by Bulan Campus, headed by its Campus Director – Prof. Ma. Elena C. Demdam enthusiastically grooved to the high-energy aerobic fitness exercise. A hearty breakfast meal was served to SorSU #zumbadancer faculty and non-faculty personnel after the aerobic dance session.
“𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘢 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪 𝘱𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘦 — 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺𝘢, 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘸𝘢, 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘰𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢!”
This is the message articulated by Prof. Ruth P. Barcelo (Director, GAD) as she asserted that a woman’s contribution to society is immensely incomparable, and even while it is not women’s month, women’s rights, equality, and empowerment should always be fought for and championed.
“𝘈𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪 𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘩𝘢𝘯, 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘰 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨, 𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘬𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨-𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘸-𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘯𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘴𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘩𝘢𝘺… 𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘯𝘢 𝘶𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘪 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘪 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰.”
These are the opening remarks of SUC President III, Dr. Geraldine F. De Jesus, in her inspirational message, as she highlighted the unparalleled capabilities of women: noting that succeeding to the first three presidents of Sorsogon State College [now SorSU] are two women presidents. She emphasized that women now have more opportunities to bring out their utmost potential and competence — asserting that many of the top executives in the current administrations are women, not for the reason of them being female, but because of their unparalleled capabilities to lead and serve. With a feisty conviction, President De Jesus ended her speech with a compelling message, addressing all women, “𝙋𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙖𝙣: 𝙄𝙠𝙖𝙬 𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙚, 𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙜!”
Meanwhile, Dr. Dorothea Farah Dorion-Jarabo, MD, FPOGS, MHA (Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Metro Health Specialists Hospital), the first speaker for the seminar proper, discussed the topic of ‘Pre-menopausal and Perimenopausal Stages of Women and Taken for Granted Health Check-Ups of Women. She contended, “𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘩𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘈𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺.”
Likewise, Nutritionist Grace Chua-Jardin (Dietitian IV/Provincial Nutritionist, Sorsogon Provincial Health Office) delivered a talk session regarding ‘Healthy Eating of Women by Different Age Groups, giving emphasis on balanced diet and health tips: basic food groups, Ten Kumainments, as well as Pinggang Pinoy (a food guide using a food plate model with recommended proportion), particularly for pregnant and lactating women. Q&A Sessions participated by SorSU employees proceeded after the talk sessions.
In addition, to empower the female participants in terms of making effective choices on financial resources, a representative from City Savings was also invited and gave an informative talk on financial literacy.
Meanwhile, in the afternoon activities, Sorsogon City Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Personnel and Firefighters, headed by SF01 Elaine Labitag-Surbano, provided a comprehensive lecture and demonstration on fire safety education and prevention tips: (1) proper use of a fire extinguisher; how to extinguish a flaming LPG tank; bucket relay; rolling and using fire hose attached to a fire truck. Moreover, various first-hand fire simulation exercises and drills, guided by Sorsogon City BFP Personnel and Firefighters, were also participated by SorSU female employees to enhance their preparedness and response plan capacities in times of hazards and emergencies.
A snappy performance drill was also executed by SorSU Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Female Fire Brigade Members, before the start of the simulation of fire drills led by Sorsogon City BFP in the covered court. A total of 350 SorSU employees, with 90% female participants and the remaining male attendees as a support group attended the event of SorSU – GAD and DRRM CC. (SorSU PIO)
Video Link: https://www.facebook.com/sorsogonstateuniversityofficial/videos/1879503445750520
