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By Fidel Valdez Ramos, former President
[Message of Pres. Fidel Valdez Ramos, chairman
of the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation (RPDEV) and the Boao
Forum for Asia (BFA) at the workshop on “Women in
Nation-Building” organized by the Centrist Policy Institute and
the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The workshop was held at the EDSA
Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City, on November 25, 2008.]
Introductory
I am delighted to be asked to address this
Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats Workshop on “Women in
Nation-Building.” And, before all else, let me thank Francis
Manglapus of our party’s Policy Institute and our German friends
at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, who have made it possible.
Pinapa-abot ko rin ang aking pagpupugay sa ating
mga governors, mayors at mambabatas na narito—lalung-lalo na kina
Grace Padaca, Marides Fernando, Mary Jane Ortega, Vilma Santos at
mga iba pa—who represent the best of our women-leaders in
politics.
Holding half the sky
Women have always had a prominent part in our
country’s social, economic and political life. In fact, cultural
historians note a distinctive pattern of relatively high female
autonomy and economic importance in Southeast Asia.
The dynamic Chinese may say, “Women hold up
half the sky;” but, like the Indians, they do value their
daughters less than they do their sons.
By contrast, Southeast Asians have always
believed that “the more daughters a man has, the richer he is.”
And I count myself among the wealthiest, because Mrs. Ramos and I
have five of them.
The European bride brought her dowry into her
husband’s house. So did the Indian girl.
In Southeast Asia, by contrast, wealth passed
from the male to the female side in marriage.
In most households around the world, the man
manages the family’s money, allocating to his wife only the
household budget.
Dito sa atin, hanggang ngayon, ang sahod ay
ibinibigay kay Misis na sarado pa ang pay envelope.
Ang Mister, kumukupit lamang ng perang
pang-hapi-hapi.
And often enough, the wife makes the money
grow—through her industry, her thrift and her entrepreneurial
spirit. Southeast Asian women are renowned for their business sense.
This is why they have become the preferred partners in
micro-financing ventures in the region.
Longest unfinished revolution
We Filipinos can take pride in that we are way
ahead of other nations in the global struggle for women’s
rights—which has been called the world’s longest unfinished
revolution.
We of the Philippines have come a long way
towards narrowing the “gender gap”—particularly in legal and
political terms.
But Filipino women are still a disadvantaged
group, and the work of empowering them—of giving them fuller
control of their lives and life-choices—and better opportunities
of education, self-improvement and livelihood—is a continuing one:
crucial and necessary work that is far from over.
Recollections
of Pioneering
Filipino Women
I have deep and personal knowledge of the life
and careers of Filipino women who empowered both themselves and the
women of their time.
My mother, Angela Valdez—who was from the
historic town of Batac, Ilocos Norte—and my mother-in-law, Josefa
Jara Martinez were involved in the suffragist movement during the
Commonwealth period. And, as we know, Filipino women won their
vote—and the right to be voted into office that most of you have
invoked—even ahead of French women.
My sister, Leticia Shahani, became a champion of
women’s rights, nationally and internationally as ambassador,
official of the United Nations and Senator of the Philippines.
While president, I had the opportunity to
appoint the first sectoral representatives of Filipino women under
the 1987 Constitution. Since then, wo-men have become
well-represented in national politics. Since then, we’ve had our
second woman-president, several senators, representatives and
justices of the Supreme Court.
Women not
given their just due
But we must admit that, until now, Filipino
women have not entirely received their just due.
Woman’s work—whether at home, in the farm,
the factory, or in the office—remains all too often undervalued
and under-recognized.
As we know women make up the bulk of the great
Filipino dispersal throughout the world. In parts of Western Europe,
“Fili-pina” seems to have become synonymous to “house maid.”
Those we call “domestic helpers”—together
with nurses and caregivers—send home the bulk of the dollar
remittances that are lifting our country over the global financial
crisis. To earn this money, our overseas Filipino workers—the
great majority of them women—endure separation from their families
and the loneliness separation entails. Their dispersal away from
their families and their homes is a reproach to those who lead
us—who cannot offer decent work or livelihood at home enough for
every Filipino who seeks it.
We should use occasions like this to remind
ourselves that bringing home these Filipino women back to the bosom
of their families is our great, unfinished national business.
Winning the war vs. poverty and inequity
The struggle to grant women every right to which
they are entitled is a continuing one. And it is a crucial
battlefront in our protracted war against poverty. For it is woman,
her family, her children and her domain—the home—that poverty
oppresses most heavily.
So that, the full empowerment of women will help
ensure that we as a nation triumph in our struggle against
inadequacy and its consequences—ill-health, marginali-zation and
inability to take advantage of life-opportunities.
I wish you enlightenment in this Workshop. I
strongly associate myself freely with your efforts, and you can
count on me to help, in any way I can, in carrying out the programs
and projects you agree to carry out.
Thank you and mabuhay—Best wishes to all!
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