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By Sammy Martin, Reporter
WOMEN nowadays are no longer for display,
beauties only to be appreciated by men. They are now models of
courage, excellence, talent and accomplishment and they have learned
to insist that their rights are equal to those of men.
This is how the party-list group Gabriela’s
representatives describe modern Filipino women who have been
contributing a lot to society and working to uplift women in all
walks of life, in urban as well as in rural areas.
Gabriela has two distinguished members of the
House of Representatives. They were elected in the 2007 elections.
Representatives Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan
are now working in tandem to push several measures to directly
benefit Filipino women.
Maza told The Manila Times that Gabriela’s
advocacy “for women and children’s rights and welfare also
includes ensuring that the government resources are available
especially to those in the marginalized sector.”
“We also want to strengthen the human rights
aspect, address the deteriorating situation of poverty and equal
work and pay to uplift the economic status of women,” Maza said.
“Our hands are not tied on prostituted women,
sexual harassment and low-income women workers. We are mandated to
enlighten our group on what is the real score for women in this
country,” she added.
She said Gabriela is proudest of having
succeeded in the enactment of the “Anti-Violence against Women and
Children’s Act.”
Gabriela has filed and is now pushing the
controversial “Divorce Bill” now pending in the committee on
Women and Family Relations.
She said the bill is the product of the hard
work of members of the Women’s Legal Bureau and the Ten
Outstanding Women in National Service (TOWNS) awardees. Several
female lawyers from distinguished schools also helped craft the
proposed measure.
“Reality tells us that there are many failed,
unhappy marriages across all Filipino classes. Many couples,
especially from the marginalized sectors, who have no access to
courts, simply end up separating without the benefit of legal
process,” Maza explained.
Compared to women of the neighboring countries,
the two congresswomen say Filipino women are more aware of their
rights and the political climate.
Ilagan said that modern Filipino women are no
longer content with being in the sidelines but demand to be on equal
footing with men, adding “They deliver the needed income for their
families to compensate for the skyrocketing prices of prime
commodities.”
“In the domestic front, may mga problema din
tayo [we have problems too]. When the men can no longer provide for
the family, the women take over. That is why a lot of women are
leaving the country to work abroad and help their families make both
ends meet,” Ilagan stressed.
Women usually hide their problems they encounter
in foreign countries because they are determined to keep their jobs
and send money home to feed their family.
“But they are vulnerable to harassment and
violence in their workplaces. The perpetrators are their employers.
Government should look for an avenue to at least minimize harassment
if not totally eradicate it,” she said.
Ilagan, a retired teacher from Davao City, said
that she is more familiar with women working with their husbands in
the farms to earn a living.
“Women in the provinces working in the rice
fields are not recognized by the banks if ever they need to secure
loan. It is still the husband who needs to sign the documents needed
because the women are still considered as mere supplemental wage
earners,” she said.
“Women are not considered farmers that is why
they cannot access loans, they cannot access credit services until
they work in urban centers. When they decide to go to the cities
they have no idea that they will be exposed to harassment there.
When you say farmer, it is the world of men. Wala namang women
farmer di ba? [There are no women farmers, are there?]” Ilagan
explained.
The greatest battle they are now waging is for
their funds from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF),
commonly known as pork barrel, which the Arroyo administration has
refused to release to them.
“Malacañang has not released a single centavo
to us. They consider us as enemies of the state, which we cannot
accept. The only reason is we are identified as opposition and all
members of Congress identified with the opposition are deprived of
their rights to get funds from PDAF,” the two Gabriela lawmakers
claimed.
This started when National Security Adviser
Norberto Gonzales allegedly accused them of using their PDAF to
overthrow the government by funding rallies, effigy-burning
demonstrations and the production of banners used to voice out their
sentiments.
Both lawmakers admitted that they are having a
hard time explaining to their constituents that they do not have the
funds to make their projects a reality.
Maza said they are only forced to identify their
projects by giving health care to specific hospitals, money for the
indigents and construction of school buildings to be deducted from
the PDAF.
“But this is all for show because the
Department of Budget and Management refused to release the funds.
Our hands are tied. We are unable to help the needy,” Maza said.
She admitted that on her first term in the 12th
Congress, she was able to deliver the goods to her constituency and
half of the PDAF in the 13th Congress. But when they supported the
impeachment in 2005 after the “Hello, Garci” controversy
erupted, the Arroyo administration held back their rightful share of
the PDAF.
Ilagan said her partner is luckier than her
because she was able to deliver at least before Malacañang totally
shut down the flow of funds to opposition congressmen. The DBM
confirms that the documents were forwarded to the Palace for
approval but has been action.
“It is our constituents who suffer most. This
administration is so vindictive. It will never go anywhere,” she
pointed out.
But they never lose hope that someday; the
administration will realize that they are not an enemy, but a
partner in nation building.
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