From "Kathryna who?" to "why not?!" is possible

Last Wednesday in The FREEMAN, there was this story that, to me, stood out among others. It was about Kathryna Yu Pimentel and her success in various capacities and endeavors. But I would not blame you if you say "Kathryna who?" because even with that illustrious last name, it would still take some effort to take in the fact that she is the wife of Senator Koko.

Blame the "Kathryna who?" on her being a very unassuming, quiet, and low-profile person that even as wife of a former Senate president, such an awkward question cannot be helped from time to time. So why the sudden splash last Wednesday? Because she is the wife of Koko, that's why. No, let me rephrase that. She is the wife of outgoing Senator Koko.

At this point let me digress a bit to a few issues back of The FREEMAN when fellow columnist Attorney Josephus Jimenez became probably the first person to start talking about the 2028 presidential elections, still a good five years away. Why, before that happens, there is still the 2025 midterm elections to consider.

And then it dawned on me. Kathryna Yu Pimentel making ripples in The FREEMAN, I think, is akin to her dipping a toe in the pool of Philippine politics, where the business of politics is also family business. Of the seven sitting women senators we have, five got their roads to the Senate paved with powerful and popular names that preceded them.

So why not Kathryna? Despite her shyness from the limelight, she is actually a very accomplished person. Her lack of public exposure should not in any way serve as a measure of her overall capacity as a person, as a worker and an achiever. In fact, it can be a sterling quality if indeed she makes the jump into politics. She would make one less "epal" at least.

Her public position, minus the publicity it usually entails, is as chairwoman of the PDP Cares Foundation. While others may scoff at it being a cinch since she is the wife of the PDP party president, I would rather dwell on her being an unsung frontliner who risked her life for others during the most dangerous and difficult years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kathryna is also a very successful chef and restaurateur, whose Tiong Bahru Philippines is part of the twice Michelin-recognized Singapore parent. To be able to maintain that Michelin quality, knowing how rigid that can be, is to me nothing short of the presidency in her particular field of endeavor. Multiple recognitions is a multiplicity of presidencies.

As I mentioned earlier, there are seven sitting women senators in the 19th Congress. Five of them will have their terms end in 2025. That only leaves two through 2028, not a very good reflection of the voice for women in our legislature. Unless of course we vote into office in 2025 a fresh batch of five women senators. Or even more.

So, starting with this month as International Women's Month and on to the 2025 midterm elections, the country's 43 million plus voters and counting have ample time to consider their options for new women in the Senate, numbering five to at least replenish the existing number, or even more, to maybe hit an exact one-third of the upper chamber.

We have no shortage of women who have made their mark in ventures they pursued. In politics, we have elected two women as president and three as vice president. A 2021 Grant Thornton study shows our country is leading the way in the number of women holding C-level positions with 48% of senior leadership positions being held by them, making us first in the list among all countries in the survey.

I think Kathryna should consider a run for the Senate among the many women we need there. And not just because she is the wife of outgoing Koko but because her having been a frontliner as head of PDP Cares during the pandemic shows her willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for her country and countrymen. The Senate is a small price to repay her.