An Open Letter to all Filipino Women

The year is 2020.

The world redeems more of our sex in exchange for gender equality and women empowerment. This is the generation with natural-born leaders, the generation with persistence in eliminating misogyny. Unlike 100 years ago or more, we were sought as second class citizens—men constantly governed the entire Philippine nation, and a few would recognise what Gabriela Silang’s purpose was in the Revolution against Spain. Luckily, today, we are living in the same air as Sarah Elago, Kara Taggaoa, and Risa Hontiveros. Gabriela Silang would’ve been proud of these contemporary leaders. Yet, the list of women figures does not stop with them. We are currently living in a time that is more keen for progression and diversity. According to the Gender Statistics on Labor and Employment, the number of women in the Philippine labor force is approximately 16,107 as of 2018. What’s more delightful about this data is that every single day, there is a guarantee for women to get hired. There is a growing satisfaction for us Filipinas and our overall economy with the increase of employment for women on either blue or white collar jobs. Each woman, whether one works outside of the household or the opposite, are our modern-day heroes. We should continuously celebrate, not only for these multiplying victories, but solely for being a proud Filipina.

However, we must not ignore the never-ending mishaps us Filipinas still endure, wherein our bodies still remain as the usual victims in this chaotic and sexist society. Filipinas, up to our time, are still terrified to express themselves in any situation because there is an opportunity for insulting their sex. A constant uneasiness still lurks through our senses when we walk through the streets at any time of the day, each time having to overcome terror, which causes us to create degrading assumptions that even worse, leads us to condemning our own lives from its disturbance on our mental health. Fortunately, the Republic Act No. 11313 or Safe Spaces Act was finally implemented by President Rodrigo Duterte only in April last year, despite him catcalling a female GMA-7 reporter during one of his press conferences in his own city. The Safe Space Act, also known as Bawal Bastos Law, ensures crime and punishment to those who commit sexual harassment to a person. It is a law that is very timely and useful for us Filipinas, who are constantly drowned in fear and agitation lest our society would make a simple and normal day for us into a terrifying one that makes us feel like preys.

This letter consists of three crucial barriers that we normally experience up until today: women in politics, violence and harassment against women, and women’s sexual rights. We rekindle some of our greatest Filipinas who have shown courage for being themselves despite nuances in the Philippine situation, where we are usually damned and belittled for expressing our opinions. We commemorate the increase of body positivity among each Filipina because this is worth triumphant for loving ourselves. Lastly, we defend women who experience all kinds of uninvited sexual behavior and honor who fights for our dignity—whatever it takes.

“An unstoppable momentum seems to be building—of women speaking, rising, dismantling structures that have been pressing down on us, drawing the curtains for so many others, allowing them a platform to be brave.”

Vice President Leni Robredo said in her keynote address at the Women 2020 Summit held in Taguig. The vice president called on women to unite so that we Filipino women may strengthen together. A vision where women rise together, pull together, and chip away barriers that have hindered our rights to gender equality. According to CNN Philippines, women in positions of power had to work harder than men, a crucial barrier that disregards women in the political platform. A few women in the past, however, would not let such a sexist construct hinder their ability to voice out their rights.

All of us Filipinos know who the mighty Miriam Defensor-Santiago is. She was the most powerful senator ever to sit in the supreme court, the Iron Lady of Asia. The senator passed away in September 2016, a tragic news that was told upon the Filipinos. It has been four years without Miriam Defensor-Santiago sitting in the senate and since then, the government is not doing much good. The senator was always known for her feisty remarks and her crucial arguments that brought the supreme court in silence. Now that Miriam Defensor-Santiago is gone, there is no one who has that amount of courage to berate the entire senate house. No one can call out those cunning politicians who have been abusing their power, those who are committing grafts, those who are non-transparent of the national funds, and whatnot, now that the senator is gone. Senators have no one to fear now. We can’t help but think how Miriam Defensor-Santiago would react when she sees how the government is handling the Philippines. She would probably scold the whole supreme court. Come to think of it, Miriam Defensor-Santiago was the sole balance that kept the government working. She was fearless, honest, and transparent to our nation. With power, Miriam Defensor-Santiago has left within us a voice that is yet to be heard. May the platform be in politics, economics, sciences, media, or any other disciplines that long for justice. Sarah Elago, Kara Taggaoa, and Risa Hontiveros continue to fight for the never ending battle of discrimination against women. These women in positions of power have passed us the responsibility of standing up for what is right and it is your duty to raise your voice. So to all Filipinas, do not let anyone shut you up. One woman could silence a house full of intelligent politicians. Us Filipinas, can silence the nation.

Moreover, the Philippines, despite being one of the most religious countries in the world and the only country in Southeast Asia who wholeheartedly practices Christianity, accounts on awful and numerous cases of violence against women. A stigma is even projected when a woman files a sensitive case of either rape or sexual harassment against the opposite sex. Sudden controversies rise between real and fake stories written in tabloids and newspapers that causes public hysteria because women are seldom given the chance to share their voice. We remember Pepsi Paloma and Maggie de la Riva who are one of the famous victims of rape and physical abuse during the late 1960’s to 1980’s. Their stories are deeply horrifying and it continues to inspire us, Filipinas, to speak loud about the horrors of rape and to fight for justice against the offenders and rapists. Up until now, Paloma’s case remains unsolved which caused her to take her own life from the numerous accusations and threats she received.

One of the people who threatened her was the future Senator Tito Sotto, who desperately wanted to drop the charges by pointing a gun to her head. Luckily, the case remains to be the topic by most of the Filipinas and netizens in this generation. The issue on the Pepsi Paloma’s was only recently brought into awareness due to the power of the internet which further encouraged women empowerment by breaking the social construct of modesty with confidence and making use of their freedom of speech. On the other hand, De la Riva was able to earn justice after winning the case from the four men who abducted, raped, and tortured her. In 2017, Inquirer.net asked her what seemed to be an impolite question about the revelation of her rapists, “How does it feel like to be responsible for the death of four men?”. De la Riva answered concisely and with pure intentions:

“I’m not responsible for the death of four men. They did it to themselves. They had the power of choice. They chose to be evil. They had to meet the consequences of their action.”

These are one of the very few rape and sexual harassment cases in the Philippine that were given justice. The majority of Filipino women are still hiding behind shut doors, waiting to seek justice against their perpetrators. A big factor on why these cases remain hidden is the indifference on the abuse of power. Rapists and abusers are often connected, if not one, with men in positions of power - men who have seats in politics, business, and media. Thus, perpetrators, along with their connections, can manipulate trials and documents that keep them from facing the atrocious law. To put it in layman’s terms, “they got away with it.” Lawmakers should not limit justifiable punishments to crime-related issues because rape itself, is an act of crime. Not only is it regarded as a crime, but the horrors of such an act will forever circulate through the victim’s physical and mental health.

When it comes to our sexual rights, on December 21, 2012, a bill was signed into a law that altered the perception of sexual rights among women in the Philippines. The Reproductive Health Bill was signed and is now known as Republic Act 10354. The remark of the bill, however considered taboo during the time it was broached, allowed women for non-discriminative access in the use of contraception, fertility control, sexual education, maternal care, and post-abortion care. Signing the bill was a stepping stone in acknowledging the sexual rights of women and the issue of proper family planning in the Philippines. It had become one of the most controversial measures handled by the legislators – running for 13 years in Congress before it passed the Senate and the House of Representatives – as it was faced with criticism, especially from the church, stating that it established “religious persecution.”

Many opposed this however, stating that the law promised to improve the wellbeing of Filipino families, especially to those of women, children, adolescents and the poor. Which it does. The law, in its purity, is pro-women, pro-poor, and pro-choice. It conceded the long running issue on the abandonment of women’s rights in the Philippines when it came to the discussion of reproductive health. It is only sad to think about the latency of the matter when it could have been projected as an important issue earlier, but then they only heard so much from us before. Women, for the longest time, are the members of society who had always been standing in the middle of two opposing parties: the church and the state, and it doesn’t help that the majority of the time since our democracy was declared, the latter continues to remain patriarchal. The fate of women would always be left at the hands of those who do not know how to include them in a society without ostracizing them from certain privileges, and much less know how to treat one with respect.

There is a clear distinction in the difference between what we, women, are dealing with today than what we were dealing with before our ideas were permitted to be liberated into the public without the vehemence and dismissiveness from the general patriarchal public. This is evidently seen from our grand-grandparents’ time when they would prefer to have 6-7 children. Unlike them, couples today would rather settle for 2-3 kids due to our generation of women having the privilege of greater economic opportunities than that of our lolas. The amount of couples wanting 3 or more children decreased when the women in these received greater access to work opportunities, and contraceptives. Women who had cases of unwanted pregnancies had an increased choice of choosing not to persist with the child. As time went by, decisions made by society leading up to the government gradually grew to become more and more inclusive.

Despite the democracy we are privileged with today, the issue still runs underneath, especially among the poor, whom, (despite being constantly consoled by the promises of our government to give them a life with better quality) failed in receiving the decency of proper healthcare, especially to those of pregnant women.

As we reach the last day of Women’s month, The Lakambini Movement writes for the Filipinas, who are constantly living in doubt for being who they are and how they aspire to be. This open letter is intended to be a wake up call for when you are confused and for whether you should disregard your inner soul. Because no one should feel the urge to sacrifice their sex in order for others to move forward. We scream for boldness especially in the darkest situations, for it is noble to fight for what is right. We commemorate all the powerful female figures that have inspired us. All the struggle Filipinas went through in order to transcend this ongoing misogyny. This is a time where we must not remain silent, where we must continue to plant our ideas to the public because we are the future. We live in a digital age where we can finally exercise our freedom of speech to its greatest extent and use media in expressing the validity of our train of thought. Piece by piece, we tear down the barriers that hinder us from achieving equal rights. We will strive to continuously defy what society has made us suffer for simply being a Filipina. Time’s up, Filipinas. It’s time you realize the capability and power hidden within your majestic beauty. Abante, Babae!

Written by Gayle Belvis, Gaby Catahan, and Kirsten Navarro