QUEZON CITY, (PIA) --The Armed Forces of the Philippines activated its Gender and Development Office (GADO) on March 28 to highlight a significant development in its gender mainstreaming efforts.

AFP Chief of Staff, General Andres Centino, led the ceremony with the new AFP GADO Chief, Col Arlene Frage, held at the AFP Headquarters.

"My commitment is to remain focused on the organizational training that will provide appropriate knowledge, skills, and attributes from the bottom to the top of our military organization," Col Frage said in her assumption speech, emphasizing the need to maintain a safe space for both men and women that will cater to their development.

"We need to uphold ourselves as military personnel to higher standards to protect the dignity of all human beings. We as a thriving and dynamic organization should strive to succeed in this endeavor," added Col Frage, a career Armor officer who led an all-women Armor platoon in 1995 and became a company commander in 2000.

She also paid tribute to the various women in uniform who have excelled in the military profession since the AFP first started accepting women in 1963 under the Women Auxiliary Corps and later both in combat and non-combat positions.

The AFP GADO will assist the CSAFP, through AFP GAD Focal Point System, in strengthening the gender mainstreaming efforts of the AFP in strategic planning, budgeting, execution, monitoring, and evaluation.

It aims to effectively integrate GAD principles into the organization's programs, activities, and projects. It will have 34 personnel composed of nine officers, 14 enlisted personnel, and 11 civilian human resources.

"I am confident that under its first-ever chief, Col Frage, our newly activated unit will lead the way in achieving our GAD goals and enabling a dynamic culture of equality among men and women in our organization," the CSAFP said.

(Photos by Sgt Ambay PA, PAOAFP/PIA-NCR))