Kapamilya actress Liza Soberano is joining Gabriela Youth as a special guest to discuss issues that girls and young women are facing in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 22-year-old actress will appear on a Tuesday webinar with the youth arm of Gabriela Women’s Party at 6 p.m. via Zoom as a guest speaker in “Mga Tinig ni Nene: Reclaiming Our Voice on the International Day of the Girl Child.”
The webinar will be livestreamed on Gabriela Youth’s Facebook page.
Soberano will join women activists such as Gabriela Youth secretary-general Clarice Palce, Andria Vera of Alyansa ng mga Residente sa Katuparan Youth, lawyer Minnie Lopez of Gabriela Services and Nikki Aserios of the Children’s Rehabilitation Center.
Palce will reportedly discuss the general situation of the country while Vera will share her struggle for decent housing and quality education in Tondo.
Lopez and Aserios, meanwhile, will talk about their experiences in providing legal and psychosocial services to young women.
The International Day of the Girl Child observed every October 11 recognizes girls’ rights and the unique challenges that they face around the world.
It focuses on the need to address girls’ challenges, promote their empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.
Soberano’s participation was lauded by supporters, including filmmaker Antoinette Jadaone who has worked with the actress on the romance-drama film “Alone/Together.”
“OMG GRABE ‘YON GY (Gabriela Youth)!!!! Ika nga nila, the L in Gabriela Youth is Liza Soberano?!?! Attend tayo, mga LiQuens!” another Twitter user wrote in response to reports of the actress’ webinar appearance.
“Hoyyy LOUDERR. Looking forward to this, ghaddd nakaka-proud,” a different online user wrote as she tagged Soberano’s account.
Liza says no to rape jokes, misogyny
The actress previously filed a complaint against a Filipino who made a rape remark about her when she made headlines for calling out an internet service provider (ISP).
The individual, who was believed to be a telecommunications employee of the ISP, was charged with e-libel, grave threats and unjust vexation.
Soberano shared that she filed a complaint because she wanted to stand up for the silent victims of rape, rape jokes and misogyny.
“The issue here is rape. I don’t think that I can just let that pass because for me the reason why I want to pursue this case is because I wanted to take a stand for all the silent victims of rape, of rape jokes, of misogyny,” she said in an interview last month.
“And I feel like it’s about time that it ends because rape is not funny. There’s nothing funny about joking about it,” Soberano added.
Her initiative was welcomed by Gabriela, which in turn tweeted the hashtags “#StandWithLiza” and “#LabananAngAbuso” to show its support to her legal action.
“Women have been receiving rape threats online for voicing out their opinions on social issues. Again, WOMEN WILL NOT BE SILENCED. We stand with Liza during this critical time when violence against women is increasing due to the intensifying culture of impunity. #StandWithLiza,” the party-list said before.