Manila – The Institute for Labor Studies’ Gender and Development (GAD) Committee lined up month-long online activities for all its employees in celebration of the International Women’s Month, which officially started on March 8.

The series of online events included a bi-monthly screening of two films, which were followed by a post-screening discussion among its employees.

“On the Basis of Sex” is an autobiographical film about the life of former US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who as a struggling attorney and new mother, faced adversity and numerous obstacles in her fight for equal rights. When she took on a groundbreaking tax case with her husband, Atty. Martin Ginsburg, she knew it could change the direction of her career and the way the courts view gender discrimination.

“Kim Ji-young: Born 1982,” a film from South Korea, was inspired by a feminist book of the same title. It tells the story of a Korean woman juggling work and family, and the gender discrimination she faces at each phase of her life. The film went against gender stereotypes as the character of the husband played a more active role as a father.

This year’s ILS GAD Committee is composed of Arianne Ishreen C. Bucar as its Chairperson, Franchesca Rose S. Castillo as Vice-Chairperson, together with its members Marc Raphael A. Peñaredondo, Athena Mari E. Son, Tranquilina L. Fallera, Arvin Jae A. Sanchez, Cesar A. Mansal, and Malorie Joy O. Mones.

Other activities of the ILS-GAD Committee included its support of the online advocacy of the Philippine Commission on Women to provide daily inspirational quotes from Filipino women with the hashtag #JuanaSays. The Institute had a series of social media posts featuring the quotes/statements from women resource speakers, including Executive Director Ahmma Charisma Lobrin-Satumba, from last year’s Revive and Thrive webinar series.

The ILS GAD committee is constituted in compliance with the Philippine Commission on Women Memorandum Circular 2011-01 institutionalizing the Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Point System to serve as a mechanism in catalyzing and accelerating gender mainstreaming in government agencies toward the promotion of women’s rights and the elimination of discrimination in the workplace based on gender.