Asunción Arriola-Pérez (August 15, 1895 – 1967) was a Filipino government official and the first female cabinet member who served as a Social Welfare Administrator under four Philippine presidents. She became a social worker for the Red Cross in 1924 and held such positions as Executive Secretary of the Associated Charities of Manila and the Red Cross.
[
] She and her husband were arrested and detained in Fort Santiago in 1944. Her husband, Cirilo Barcial Perez of Santa Maria, Bulacan was later executed by the Japanese and buried at the 29 Martyrs of World War 2 Memorial at the Manila North Cemetery. She was a former administrator of
Social Welfare
Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...
from 1948 to 1953. She was also one of the original
board of trustees
A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency.
The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
of the
Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement.
[ Flavier, Juan M., '' Doctor to the Barrios'', page 6.]
In 1954 she founded an orphanage, the Children's Garden of the Philippines. She also served as the president of
Wesleyan University Philippines from 1954 to 1967.
References
Women members of the Cabinet of the Philippines
Secretaries of social welfare and development of the Philippines
Roxas administration cabinet members
Quirino administration cabinet members
1895 births
1967 deaths
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