- Filipino Muslim woman Samira Gutoc highlights her plans and visions for the Philippines as a senatorial candidate
- Gutoc says every Filipino has the right to be heard
Samira Gutoc, a Marawi civic leader and peace-builder, envisions the Philippines as a country where every citizen is heard and represented in decision-making. With this, Gutoc launched her two-minute video which underscored the need of every Filipino to be included in the country’s narrative and nation-building.
In her video, as one of the senatorial candidates supported by the opposition for the 2019 elections, the Filipino Muslim woman shared her aspirations for the country and its citizens.
“Working many years in the community and in peace-building, I understand the real needs of ordinary Filipinos and that everyone of us should be given a chance to speak out and be heard regardless of faith, gender or social status,” said Gutoc, a long-time community organizer from Mindanao, who also represents the marginalized and ordinary Filipinos in the halls of the Senate in 2018.
“We cannot stay in the sidelines and fringes anymore, watching helplessly as we continue to be excluded by a political system that does not represent our dreams and aspirations.
“Desmond Tutu, a South African human rights activist, once said ‘exclusion is never the way forward of shared paths to freedom and justice.”
“And in our shared struggle for social justice, equality, and representation, I can be your voice. Let me be in this battle with you, without fear or favor,” Gutoc concluded.
