With President Rodrigo Duterte’s last year in office comes his sixth State of the Nation Address (SONA), and Gabriela expects nothing but the worst.
“Mas grabeng kabangisan ang makikita natin sa kanya (Duterte). Mas marami siyang gagawing aksyon na anti-people at anti-women, at mas gagrabe lamang ang repression,” an exasperated Gertudes Libang, chairperson of the feminist group Gabriela, told the Collegian.
Right off the bat, Gabriela called for the Duterte administration to address pressing issues faced by women. Among these are comprehensive social services, human rights and social justice, anti-discrimination and anti-violence on women and children, national sovereignty, genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization, and environmental protection.
However, if the last five years has proven anything, it is that Duterte has no regard for women’s rights and welfare.
The pandemic has plunged the world’s economy into a crisis, but in the Philippines, its effects have been made worse by the government’s militaristic response, leaving millions out of work and the whole population saddled in debt. The impacts are even worse for women.
When the pandemic hit, 70.6 percent of micro, small, and medium enterprises closed in the country, and more than half of them were led by women entrepreneurs. This forced the affected women to take jobs in the informal economy, which only shoved them into abysmal working conditions characterized by less pay, precarious employment situations, long working hours, and less benefits.
But, even before the health crisis, Duterte’s neoliberal policies have already placed women at a disadvantage. “When we talk about TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) Law, the Rice Liberalization Law, which actually brings up the prices, sino ang haharap diyan kundi kababaihan?” Libang lamented, citing that women have long carried the burden of ensuring there is food on the table for their families.
To recall, TRAIN was a reform on individual income and consumption taxes, which lowered income tax but increased excise tax on fuel, and therefore the price of products in the market. Meanwhile, the Rice Liberalization Law has created an influx of rice imports from other countries, forcing Filipino farmers to lower their prices to be able to compete.
In a stereotypical Filipino household, the women are responsible for budgeting, making sure there is food, and tending to the sick—all of which are imperiled in a failing economy. With quarantine restrictions at hand, the education of the children also fell to mothers, adding more work to their plate without any compensation.
To remedy this, Gabriela urged the House Committee on Economic Affairs to reallocate the billions from the counterinsurgency program as cash aid to poor families affected by COVID-19 as part of Bayanihan 3. However, to this date, this call continues to fall on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, Duterte’s misplaced counterinsurgency agenda has also tremendously affected the representation of women in politics, as Gabriela Women’s Party was the first target of the National Task Force Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict for a disqualification case for the congressional elections.
“The ATL (Anti-Terror Law) has affected all of the left-leaning groups, activists, pero Gabriela ang unang kinasuhan, and I think may ibig sabihin ‘yan,” Libang said.
Aside from the economic effects, because of the hasty and thoughtless imposition of the lockdown, violence against women and their children (VAWC) cases have skyrocketed to almost triple in December 2020, said Kristie Balmes, Philippine Commision on Women Deputy Executive Director for Operations.
However, this is contrary to the findings of the Philippine National Police (PNP), which actually reported a decrease in VAWC cases during the pandemic. For Libang, this only means that VAWC cases have become more frequent during the lockdown but women are afraid to come forward. It may be because of the lack of knowledge on where to go, the depleted human resources to man VAW desks, or an altogether absence of trust in the PNP, she noted.
The culture of impunity among uniformed officers has also become more glaring during the lockdown, with the “sex for pass” issue at checkpoints, and the case of two cops in Ilocos Sur who sexually harassed two teenagers for violating the curfew, allegedly raping one of the girls and then killing the other one after she filed a complaint.
Dishearteningly, this is not shocking anymore since even the commander-in-chief himself is the main perpetrator of misogyny. “What can you do about a president who keeps on saying that his military can rape women and he will take the blame for that, or to shut NPA women in their vagina!” exclaimed Libang.
“Women have been fighting for women’s rights for a long, long time. Pero nakikita namin ang pagtulak ng rehimen ni Duterte to push back our gains; yung mga batas na sinubukan, pinagpaguran, at pinag-isipan na ipasa, hindi naman sila nasunod, vina-violate pa nga,” said Libang, citing the Magna Carta for Women as an example of a law constantly breached by the president’s misogynistic remarks and actions.
In preparation for the SONA and Duterte’s final year in office, Gabriela is set on strengthening the support for communities to cushion the blow of the foreseen intensified crackdown on activists and anti-women policies. Their primary goal is to protect those who have been rendered voiceless by the state so they may never lose their will and platform to speak up again.
While Gabriela gears for a more abrasive presidency, they can guarantee an equally strong pushback from the masses. “Kung mabangis siya, mabangis din ang labang ipapakita sa kanya ng kilusan ng kababaihan. We will not stop criticizing him if we think that he is wrong,” Libang said. ●
