On International Women’s Day, March 8, Araneta City launched a public exhibit that pays tribute to some outstanding female COVID-19 warriors in the country.
The City of Firsts opened an exhibit at the activity area of Gateway Mall that commemorates 17 Filipina health workers who bravely faced the war against the pandemic. These modern-day female heroes were given recognition through portraits done by artists Aurelio Castro III, Tessa Punzalan-Brodeth, and Lupiciano Ng.
Present in the unveiling of the exhibit were Castro and Punzalan-Brodeth, along with Araneta City’s Assistant Vice President for Marketing, Marjorie Go, and J. Amado Araneta Foundation’s Executive Director, Diane Romero.
“The COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted our normal daily lives, and even caused fear and endangered lives. But there still are courageous individuals — like the female health workers we are featuring in this exhibit — who chose to give service despite the dangers. Some of them survived, some of them perished. And we are recognizing them all by sharing their stories to the public through this very special exhibition,” Go said.
Included in the exhibit are portraits of 12 physicians, 3 nurses, and 2 community health workers who faced the threats of COVID-19 while doing their work. Out of these exemplary women, only 2 women — both doctors — have survived.
The exhibit, which will be open to the public from March 8 to 15, kicks off Araneta City’s lineup of events for International Women’s Month. For 2021, the City of Firsts adopts the theme “Challenge Accepted”, a response to the worldwide International Women’s Day theme #ChooseToChallenge.
“There is so much work to be done for the Filipino women. Stereotypes need to be broken, policies have to be made, more seats in leadership should be filled to achieve equality for sustainable development. It is up to us to accept the challenge for our future,” Romero said
