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By Nora O. Gamolo, Senior Desk Editor
PRESIDENT Arroyo proudly says that “The
Philippines is on schedule in achieving gender equality by 2015.”
The Switzerland-based World Economic Forum
ranked 128 countries of the world in terms of gender equality, and
gave the country the sixth slot. The country bested even its
political mentor, the United States, which ranked only 31st.
The second highest ranking Asian country, Thailand, ranked 52nd.
In closing the so-called gender gap, or the lack
of equality between the sexes, only the four Scandinavian countries
(Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland) and New Zealand bested the
Philippine in terms of closing the gender gap, particularly in terms
of health and education.
In fact, according to a study on the United
Nations Millennium Goals, the Arroyo government has a huge budgetary
gap in achieving the ideal budgetary support for maternal health and
childcare and in combating diseases, all major women’s concerns.
The budgetary gap results in women and their
families churning out more of their precious resources on health
expenditures. Personal health expenditures reach 47 percent to
maintain one in a state of optimum health. Only 29 percent is
shared by government, 9.2 percent is shared by the health insurance
agency PhilHealth; and 13.5 percent is shared by employers or
private insurance companies.
Just the same, with glorious reviews of its
performance in women-oriented programs and projects, President
Gloria Arroyo can claim that her administration is meeting the
Millennium Development Goal for gender equality.
The second woman president of the land also
boasted that UN economist Jeffrey Sachs had once told her that the
Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 2004 to 2010 (which
contains an integrated women’s development plan) is the best
national development plan he has seen.
Mrs. Arroyo also boasts of the Philippines’
foresight of allotting five percent of its development budget to
projects promoting women, gender and development. Even small
business and cooperative laws have given women a special focus.
Women figure even in peace and order programs.
To help enforce this, the PNP has increased the number of
policewomen to be hired from 300 to 400 yearly, or 20 percent of the
total. After years of internal debate among officers, women are now
admitted in the Philippine Military Academy and the women cadets are
among the best and brightest.
The country has enacted various laws protecting
women and giving them assistance: Anti-Violence Against Women, Solo
Parenting Law, Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, Anti-Trafficking Law,
among others.
Still, in her address to women’s leaders on
March 7, even the President admitted that many things remain to be
done to give better services to women. The government has to
ensure that health services to pregnant women for safe motherhood
and natural family planning services will be delivered on time.
Labor groups like the Trade Union Congress of
the Philippines testify that women still suffer discrimination in
the workplace and they are the greater number of informal workers in
need of assistance and protection.
While women’s increased participation in the
labor force has been trumpeted, as more women now turn up as
supervisors, women workers have been found to be in jobs that have
higher separation rate and faster turnovers. Women are more
vulnerable due to the contractualization schemes.
This year, the government launched two programs
aimed at giving the Filipino woman the “right break so she can go
as far and as fast as her talent can bring her.”
One project launched is HATAW (Harnessing
Appropriate Technology to Assist Women) and POWER (Projects for
Women Entrepreneurs). HATAW seeks technology-based solutions to
community-based problems and address women’s lack of economic
opportunities. It is for “bold, innovative and inventive women who
will see development through the prism of science.”
Mrs. Arroyo asserted it would also “mesh local
knowledge system with modern technology to create value- added
products and services out of available and abundant resources in the
area.” She is looking at more practical applications like
resolving janitor fish infestation by harvesting them for fuel, and
tapping safe biotechnology practices for food production and
bankrolling new food preservation techniques.
The President said the government has funds to
“bankroll [women’s] vision” since P380 million has been
earmarked in the 2008 budget of the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) for technology innovation and commercialization.
A P50-billion loan facility will be made
available in various lending windows for micro, small and medium
enterprises, and another P34 million for microfinance in the 2008
budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Both Department of Science and Technology and
the Department of Social Welfare and Development are led by women
Cabinet members.
POWER, according to the President, would be for
women entrepreneurs who need additional capital, “those whose
expansion plans are blocked by the lack of wherewithal.” Funds
poured by the government into these programs are “wise
investment” if only because women have steely credit discipline
“so what will be lent [to them] will be recouped.”
Prospective POWER projects include the Botika ng
Barangay and Tindahan Natin, almost all of which were initiated by
women individual or women’s groups. The government will establish
3,200 Botika branches this year, while the Tindahan program will be
expanded.
Dissatisfaction prevails
Massive dissatisfaction, however, prevails among
women with government’s failings to enforce the laws for which the
country earned tremendous accolades.
Poverty alleviation has not been achieved, even
with tremendous funds spent on it for decades, and unachieved even
with supposed high growth rates.
Said the Gabriela national women’s coalition,
“The economic situation in 2007 was a trick, and not a
trickle-down effect of the supposed economic growth. The extent of
belt-tightening is most felt by women who are usually tasked to do
the almost impossible chore of making ends meet with their
family’s meager budget.”
The 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES)
shows that expenditure of the bottom 30 percent Filipino families is
bigger than what they actually earn. The disparity of income is
still glaring as only the richest 10 percent accounts for a third of
the total family income of the country. Between 2003 and 2006,
poverty worsened. Out of 100 Filipinos, 33 were poor in 2006,
compared to 30 in 2003.
The extended family system of Filipinos saves
the day for many Filipinos. To get by, many Filipino families rely
on relatives from whom they borrow money.
Filipino women’s groups are aghast that the
official poverty threshold in 2007 is P41 a day, which means that
other women’s and family needs will have to be left unmet.
According to the Center for Women’s Resources, a women’s
research group that had been monitoring corruption issues since
Arroyo assumed power in 2001, many gaps in social services could
have been addressed using the amount that was allegedly pocketed
from overpricing, kickbacks and cash-gifts giving.
In fact, all the questions posed on corruption
issues prompted the women’s march on International Women’s Day.
Women’s groups also demystify the myth that
Filipino women have already broken free from oppression and
inequality, contending that they are still victims of domestic
violence, comprising 76.2 percent of all reported cases. In 2007, a
woman is battered every one hour and 50 minutes. Rape is committed
against a woman every seven hours and 30 minutes.
Poverty makes women very vulnerable to
prostitution and trafficking within or outside the country. Every
year, about 300,000 persons are victims of trafficking worldwide.
Victims are usually women and children from Southeast Asia like the
Philippines. Worse, more trafficking victims end up in jail than
repatriated.
Since 2001, there has been a decline by 14.4
percent in the number of cases of violence against women reported to
PNP, and by 0.7 percent to DSWD. There is a need to assess the
causes of this decline.
Said the CWR, “One hypothesis is the existence
of RA 9262, or Anti-Violence Against Women and Children [VAWC],
wherein VAWC cases shall be reported to all barangay centers.
However, there is still a need for systematic evaluation and
assessment in its implementation in the barangay level, such as: in
the number of cases facilitated, in the number of cases resolved or
filed in court, and even in the level of awareness of barangay
residents about the provisions in RA 9262.”
Women’s groups are bitter because barangay
courts simply dismiss cases of violence against women, or even force
women to make up with their violent husbands, “for the children
and family.”
In the Department of Justice Task Force (DOJ-TF)
that handles cases of VAWC, two were dismissed, of the 24 cases
filed since 2005. Twenty-two (22) are still in preliminary
investigation and one still to be filed in the courts. Since 2003
until 2006, 186 cases of trafficking of women have been filed in
DOJ, yet only seven cases were resolved, convicting the perpetrators
with violation of the Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act (RA 9208).
Civil society is now seen as a helping hand by
women, even if that is not its proper role. Gabriela has been
receiving requests for assistance in the increasing number of VAW
cases brought to them. VAW cases reported to them in 2006 reached
284; it reached 573 in 2007.
Women’s groups, among the most militant in the
country, have also challenged the militarization campaigns now being
waged by the government. The counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay
Laya 1 and 2 has displaced two million people. In Mindanao, the
military intensified its operations against the Abu Sayyaf and has
forcibly evacuated 95,000 to 115,000 persons, said the militant
women’s coalition Gabriela.
All over the country, women are among the
victims of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other
kinds of abuse committed either by soldiers, paramilitary units or
groups known to be associated with AFP officers.
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