UP Diliman's 'unique' leader

Is PH ready for transgender leaders?

The University of the Philippines has been branded as a microcosm of the country. As its Diliman campus recently elected its first-ever transgender student council chairperson, is the Philippines also ready for a transgender president?

Gabriel Paolo “Heart” Diño, who won as UP Diliman student council chair, is hopeful.

“In electing a president, we should go beyond the sexuality, but rather focus on his or her credibility, ability, character and commitment to serve the nation,” Diño told Yahoo! Southeast Asia in an interview. 

“At the end of the day, whatever your brand of leadership or activism is, I think it is irrelevant with our sexuality,” she added.

As a transgender, Diño identifies herself and prefers to be addressed as a female although she was born male.

The newly-elected student leader stressed that she is unique from the other candidates not because of her sexuality but because of her brand of leadership which is “founded on the values of equality and inclusion.”

“I will make sure that in every issue and decisions that needs to be addressed, every perspective and every side will be heard because that is the true essence of student politics – democracy and non-exclusivity,” Diño said.

She revealed that serving the students through the council has been her way of thanking UP for embracing who she is.

Diño graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics last year and is now a first year MS Applied Math major.

“As a teenager, I endured stigma and discrimination from my classmates and peers because of my gender. And when I entered college, it is in UP where I got the opportunity to be accepted and grow,” she said in a statement from her political party UP ALYANSA.

Though she is aware that there is still some who doubt her capabilities, Diño said she is able to build her character and strengthen her faith through her critics.

“I know I cannot please everybody. All I have to do is to prove to them that I am worthy of the position and that I will do everything to be the best UP student council chairperson,” she said.


http://ph.news.yahoo.com/is-ph-ready-for-transgender-leaders-.html

“FEMALE OF THE SPECIE” – by R. Kipling, an interesting poem a bit long, but tag the internet.

Man during his childhood must have noticed he has tits, though undeveloped like that of full a grown woman. Why? Because we were all conceived basically of a female template, and develops into a female, male, or a combination thereof depending on the prevailing development of the hormones, testosterone, and other factors – from references.

In some species when there is only one gender, the male or the female evolves to be able to reproduce by itself, like that of the African frog specie. Recall the movie “Jurassic Park” when the Lab researchers thought they can control reproduction by coming out of only male dinosaurs, well the male evolved and started laying eggs.

When animal hunters meet, the always agree that the female of the species are deadlier than their counterpart male. Anything between the mother and the offspring perceived as threat, the mother will not think twice to protect the offspring, even go for the ultimate sacrifice. Man on the other hand can enter into a compromise if to save himself, but of course there are exceptions.