Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (File Photo)

    MANILA, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Filipino women have steadily been outnumbering men in executive positions over the last five years, a survey by the Department of Labor and Employment showed on Thursday.

    Citing data from the survey, Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo D. Brion said that there are more Filipino women supervisors and executives than men, noting the gap had steadily widened since 2002.

    Data showed that there were 1.4 million Filipino men holding supervisory and executive positions against 1.86 million women in 2002. The numbers increased with more women rising to supervisory positions than men in the next four years.

    In 2004, the number of male supervisors and executives totaled 1.613 million rising to 1.629 million in 2006 with only 16,000 additional male executives.

    In contrast, the number of women executives rose in bigger number from 2.162 million in 2004 to 2.257 million in 2006 with 95,000 women managers added to the total last year.

    Brion noted that the number of Filipino women holding top positions is globally remarkable. He cited an international survey which showed that 97 percent of businesses in the Philippines have women in senior management positions, the highest among 32 countries surveyed and also significantly higher than the global average of 59 percent.

    This survey by the Grant Thornton International Business Report released early this year also showed a 13 percent increase in the number of Philippine businesses with women managers from the 2004 figure.