As part of the National Women’s Month Celebration 2025, twenty-one (21) new Philippine Fisheries Development Authority - Central Office (PFDA-CO) personnel attended the Gender Sensitivity Orientation (GSO) 2025 on March 27, 2025 at the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Agrohub Building, Diliman, Quezon City.

Organized by the PFDA - Gender and Development Focal Point System (PFDA-GFPS), newly hired representatives from all PFDA-CO units actively participated in the one-day orientation that tackled various ways to address gender-based stereotypes and promote safe spaces for all.

PFDA-GFPS Overall Technical Working Group (TWG) Head and Operations Services Department (OSD) Officer-in-Charge Mr. Mc Christian Julius A. Macaranas II and PFDA-GFPS TWG Committee on Advocacy, Linkages, and Capacity Building Head and Public Information Division Officer-in-Charge Mr. Miguel M. Pilarta served as the resource speaker for the one-day GSO. 

Mr. Pilarta discussed various topics, such as the difference between sex and gender and the fundamentals of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sexual Characteristics (SOGIESC). Meanwhile, Mr. Macaranas engaged the participants in an in-depth discussion about gender stereotyping in various institutions and gender as a social construct.

This activity is part of the agency’s month-long participation in the 2025 National Women’s Month Celebration with this year’s sub-theme, “Babae sa Lahat ng Sektor, Aangat ang Bukas sa Bagong Pilipinas”.

14 male (66.67%) and seven female (33.33%) PFDA-CO personnel participated in the GSO.

(Mark Angelo N. Perez and Katherine Ericka H. Cornejo - Public Information Division)