Meet Maj. Geraldine Matienzo, PAF pilot-in-command

Major Geraldine Abigail Matienzo, one of the first female pilots-in-command in the Philippine Air Force, knows her capabilities.

"Kaya kong gampanan 'yung mga duties na 'yun. Kung paano gampanan ng mga lalaki, ganon ko rin siya ginagampanan," said Matienzo in an interview with Marisol Abdurahman on "24 Oras" Thursday on the occasion of March as National Women's Month.

"You can do all of that, you're a woman.. you can do what you want, you have to believe in yourself," she added.

Matienzo is the first woman pilot to be trained to handle the C-295M airbus military transport aircraft, which ferries personnel and cargo to different parts of the country. Furthermore, according to the Philippine Air Force, Matienzo is actually "dual current," being qualified to fly both the C-295M and the F-27 Fokker aircraft at the same time.

Matienzo, together with her Philippine Military Academy (PMA) classmate Major Marjorie Donggayao Mukay, are the first female military aviators to attain the PIC status in the 220th Airlift Wing of the PAF. Mukay is the first female PIC of the C-130 transport aircraft. — Anna Felicia Bajo/BM, GMA News