Asuncion Arriola Perez on Philippine Stamps

ASUNCION ARRIOLA-PEREZ

15 August 1895 to 1967

Asuncion Arriola-Perez was the first woman to hold a Cabinet rank when she was appointed as the secretary of the Bureau of Public Welfare in 1941.

Asuncion Arriola-Perez 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 also provided social work training for college graduates since there was no course offered at that time.

In 1941 she became the first woman to hold a Cabinet rank when she was appointed as the secretary of the Bureau of Public Welfare. After the war she was called back to government service as superintendent of the Relief Office for the Greater Manila Area and as president of the PACSA (President's Action Committee on Social Ameliorization) she was entrusted to handle a budget of 4 million pesos to rehabilitate victims of the war.

In 1953 when President Quirino lost to Ramon Magsaysay, she resigned from her post as cabinet member.