PH Consulate General in SF Joins ‘Orange The World Campaign,’ Features Talk on Domestic Violence by ALLICE
Left photo: Deputy Consul General Raquel R. Solano gives her welcome remarks. Right photo: Personnel of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco watch a video presentation on intimate partner violence. (San Francisco PCG photo)
SAN FRANCISCO 08 January 2019 – On Human Rights Day, the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco joined the global campaign to end violence against women through an interactive discussion on intimate partner violence with resource persons from the Alliance for Community Empowerment (ALLICE).
Consulate General personnel wore orange ribbons on their sleeves in solidarity with the United Nations Women campaign, “Orange the World, End Violence against Women and Girls.” According to UN Women, the color orange symbolizes a vision of a bright, positive, violence-free world.
The Consulate General invited ALLICE Founder Cherie Querol Moreno and ALLICE Vice President Elsa Agasid as resource speakers. The talk was especially moving as it was the first time for Ms. Agasid to publicly share her story as a survivor of intimate partner violence.
Consulate General staff were briefed on the causes and effects of domestic violence. They actively participated in the discussions, which enabled them to know more about the tell-tale signs of abuse, the patterns and cycles of the intimate partner violence, and available resources to attend to victims.
The resource speakers emphasized the importance of listening to victims with empathy. Consulate General personnel learned that offering quick solutions to victims need not be the first step in attending to their needs. They were discouraged from uttering the words “should” and “must” when dealing with victims, as they need a listening ear first and foremost and be given options rather than pieces of advice.
The resource speakers also did role-playing to show the participants how to appropriately respond to someone suffering from intimate partner abuse.
In her welcome remarks, Deputy Consul General Raquel R. Solano thanked the resource persons and expressed the hope that the Consulate General personnel would learn more about the issue and enhance their service to the Filipino Community in line with the Assistance-to-Nationals mandate of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Deputy Consul General Solano also underscored the need to promote and fight for women’s rights, as abuses against them are still prevalent despite various advocacies and 70 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human Rights Day is celebrated around the world every 10th of December each year.
“Let us all be sensitive to the needs of others, bearing in mind that everyone has inalienable rights and that we are all part of the family of mankind,” Deputy Consul General Solano said.
ALLICE founder Querol Moreno encouraged Consulate General personnel to participate in its activities. ALLICE is an independent nonprofit, nonpolitical, nonpartisan team of volunteers formed in 2003 to engage individuals and groups to share resources toward educating the public about healthy relationships.
Members call themselves “Kumares” and “Kumpares,” from the Filipino term for confidante. In December 2006, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo presented the “Kaanib ng Bayan” Presidential Citation for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas to the CORA Kumares, as ALLICE was known while it was part of the San Mateo County domestic violence service agency. The group was honored for its “admirable humanitarian services in promoting the welfare of Filipino Americans and empowering them to end domestic violence.”
In 2009, the group went independent and named itself after its honorary chair the late Ms. Alice Bulos, a retired sociology professor who dedicated her life to empowering the community.
The Consulate General’s event was part of the DFA’s series of activities in the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women, instituted in the Philippines by Proclamation No. 1172, s. 2006. The campaign underscores the government’s commitment to address all forms of violence against women by protecting women’s rights as enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The late Filipino diplomat Leticia Ramos Shahani was one of the original drafters of the CEDAW.
For online resources on domestic violence, visit http://allicekumares.com/dvresources/ END
For more information, visit www.sanfranciscopcg.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philippinessanfrancisco.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHinSF/
Resource persons ALLICE President Cherie Querol Moreno interviews ALLICE Vice President Elsa Agasid, an intimate partner violence survivor. (San Francisco PCG photo)
Deputy Consul General Raquel R. Solano, Mariza S. Bensurto, and ALLICE resource persons Cherie Querol Moreno and Elsa Agasid with San Francisco Philippine Consulate General personnel. (San Francisco PCG photo) #PinayAkoTaasNoo #PinoyAkoProudAko #HearMeToo #VAWFreePH