United States Secretary of State John Kerry. NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
Despite United States’ strong democratic values and active civil rights movements, it took them hundreds of years to finally give a woman a chance to lead the highest post in the land.
Looking up to Filipinos for being one of the first societies that elected a woman leader, United States Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the nomination of Hilary Clinton for the presidency.
“I think other countries have been ahead of us in that, obviously. Great Britain has its second woman prime minister, and other countries have been—so—and here, Cory Aquino,” Kerry told Filipino youth leaders in Manila on Wednesday.
Kerry recalled the elections that put into power the late President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, making her the first female to hold the office in the Philippines.
“I worked very, very closely in the election process here in the Philippines a number of years ago, and during the time when Cory Aquino was running for president, and NAMFREL, the National Movement for Free Elections in the Philippines, was working and I remember working very, very closely with them in an effort to make sure the elections were what everybody in the Philippines expected them to be,” he said.
Speaking with the members of Young Southeast Asian Leader’s Initiative (YSEALI), Kerry said Clinton’s nomination is a “big moment in the United States of America.”
“We’re still breaking barriers, obviously, in America,” he said.
Clinton, Kerry’s predecessor at the State Department, became the first woman in history to win the White House nomination, beating US Senator Bernie Sanders and creating a faction among Democrats.
READ: Clinton makes history as Democratic presidential nominee
“I’m not allowed to be involved in partisan politics, but I don’t think it’s partisan for me to say how significant it is that the United States has nominated a woman to lead one of its major parties to be president of the United States,” he said.
Clinton is now pitted against business head honcho Donald Trump, who earlier secured the Republican nomination.
READ: It’s Clinton vs Trump in November vote
The dialogue with the youth was Kerry’s first order of business in the Philippines, followed by his appointment at the Department of Foreign Affairs and a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte.
The top US diplomat encouraged the Filipino youth to work harder in ocean conservation and always be involved in political process. RAM/rga