DENR Caraga Regional Gender and Development Focal Point System headed by OIC - Chief of the Administrative Division Elsalyn J. Evangelio, facilitated the conduct of the 2023 Kalandrakas in celebration of the National Womenโ€™s Month on March 10, 2023, at the Regional Covered Court in Brgy. Ambago, Butuan City.

The activities during the Kalandrakas include monitoring of blood pressure, sugar, uric, and cholesterol levels of employees; Zumba; tutorial on dishwashing liquid and fabric conditioner making; ๐˜œ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜บ-๐˜ถ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜บ and bazaar display; aromatology booth; and pampering services such as free massage, facial cleansing, nail services, and haircut.

In his message, Regional Executive Director Nonito M. Tamayo highlighted this yearโ€™s NWM celebration theme, โ€œWE for gender equality and inclusive society,โ€ wherein, WE stands for โ€œWomen and Everyoneโ€ or โ€œWomenโ€™s Empowermentโ€ to emphasize that when women and everyone work in synergy, WE can make gender equality a possibility.

โ€œBased on the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, women compose 34.5% of the labor force of the country and earn an average annual income as heads of the family, of more than Php334 thousand compared to men at Php307 thousand. These data are proof of why the Philippines remains the best-performing country in Asia in terms of gender parity. According to the 2022 Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum, on a scale of 0 to 1, where 1 represents optimal gender parity, the country scored 0.783 and is the only Asian country in the top 20,โ€ RED Tamayo added.

After the program, the DENR Caraga Regional Office personnel danced simultaneously to the tune of the โ€œOne Billion Rising Advocacy Danceโ€ to show support for women's empowerment.