Women from all walks of authority, either in judiciary or law enforcement, gathered Monday in a forum organized by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Dubbed as '#EmpowerHer: Advancing Women in/for Justice', Supreme Court Magistrate, Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh spoked to hundreds of women who were neither lawyers, judges, law enforcement agents, and officials, to tell her journey on pursuing "gender equality."

Singh said in her entire career of being a lawyer, a judge, and now as the "most junior magistrate" of the High Court, the idea that women are less than other is still prevalent.

For some women, according to Singh, this notion "compromise their access to justice", which most of the time also "compromise the rule of law", as it fails to ensure gender sensitivity.

This is what UNODC forum is all about, Daniele Marchesi pointed out. Marchesi, who is the UN Resident Coordinator for the Philippines, noted the campaign was launched in 2022 in time for the first anniversary celebration of the International Day of Women Judges on 10 March 2022.

"It aims to expand opportunities for woman and promote gender responsiveness at all levels of the criminal justice system," he said, pointing that investing in gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls" is essential for ensuring just and effective crime prevention and criminal justice response that meet the needs of all members of society, leaving no one behind," Marchesi added.

The activity is organized by the UN Joint Programme on Human Right, UNODC, UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and UN Women with the support of the Quezon City goverment led by Mayor Joy Belmonte.

Gustavo Gonzales, UN Resident Country Coordinator in his video message to the participants said the gathering is to "solidify our commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment particularly by ensuring women's meaningful participation in the justice sector."

"We, at the UN, are committed to 50-50 gender parity at all levels, including in the justice sector. Despite enormous challenges and gaps towards achieving this goal, we have seen progress in recent years," he added.

P/Brig. Gen. Portia Manalad, Director Women and Children Protection Center also shared her journey in career path and told her co-women audiences that she lost her "pagkamalambing" (sweetness) in breaking the double standard.

"We will do what our counterpart is doing," Manalad said.