home

agenda

photo album

wewatch98

win

e-mail

During the 1992 presidential elections, UKP convened majority of the women groups in the country for the formulation of a 10-point women's political agenda, and secured the commitment of then presidential candidate Fidel V. Ramos to adopt the agenda in his party platform.

There’s a voting bloc that’s threatening to put to shame the Iglesia ni Cristo vote, the Roman Catholic vote, the "Earth" vote, the labor vote, or any other voting bloc already formed or about to be formed for the coming polls. This is for the sheer reason that it’s probably the biggest bloc of all. It’s probably one of the most ignored facts in the coming elections, but the women’s vote is not something that can be easily cast aside. There’s a catch to it, though. The women’s bloc first needs to be galvanized.

Vanguards of the women’s movement in the country are now working to achieve just that. And not just so that a particular ticket or certain candidate will get the seats they covet. Now, these vanguards are telling women not only to exercise their hard-earned right to vote on May 11, but to vote as women for women, and as women committed to pursuing their own political agenda. Why? Because in a male-dominated political sphere, and in a world that is largely male-defined, women’s needs, even if articulated in legislative bills, are often left in cold storage.

Last April 10, the "Women’s Ten-Point Political Agenda," a first in Philippine history, was presented during a press conference by the Ugnayan ng Kababaihan sa Pulitika (UKP) or the Women’s Political Caucus. The group is an alliance of women from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academe, the bureaucracy and in electoral politics whose aim is to strengthen the participation of women in politics and in the formation of public policy.

Venue of the activity was the Manila Pavilion’s Music Room, and the guests of honor were women candidates. One wonders whether any of the men aspirants were invited at all. There was only one male at the head table---Dr. Abdullah Madale, a senatorial candidate---but he was introduced as the representative of presidential candidate Miriam Defensor Santiago of the People’s Reform Party (PRP).

The agenda formulated by the UKP may sound too broad and wanting in specifics, but it appears to be a comprehensive one in that it attempts to address a host of interrelated issues that seek to uplift the condition of women and of Philippine society in general. As one UKP convenor, Fe Mangahas of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’s Women’s Desk, put it, "Our provisions are not sectoral in nature. They are national in scope."

Among the provisions are the following: uphold international humanitarian laws; stop environmental destruction; penalize sexual harassment in the workplace and discrimination in hiring on the basis of sex; support women’s livelihood activities; eliminate gender stereotypes and promote a nonsexist projection of women in culture and in the media; and ensure that more women are appointed in all levels of policymaking bodies.

The agenda was not a quickie, drafted just so the women could say they did something special for the 1992 polls. No. As another convenor, Jenny Llaguno of Forward-Looking Women (FLOW), stated, "The agenda was the result of a process. It was not decided by any one women’s organization."

At least 10 consultations with various women’s groups in the country were held before the provisions were spelled out. So it’s not just a Women in Nation-Building (WIN) or a GABRIELA or a FLOW agenda, it is the agenda too of groups like the Women’s Media Circle, KALAYAAN, the Federation of Free Workers, and a host of others. It certainly isn’t the brainchild of just a handful of prominent NGO women like Karen Tanada or Imelda Nicolas or Gertie Tirona or Aurora de Dios but also that of women peasants and women leaders in the bureaucracy like Civil Service Chair Patricia Sto. Tomas.

The agenda is a meeting of the minds of all these women and articulates their collective longings.

Attempts to formulated and present to legislators and those in the executive branch a women’s political agenda were made as early as 1987 when the first post-Marcos Congress was convened. These early attempts were, however, not successful.

The women candidates who were invited to the gathering were enthusiastic about the agenda.

Reelectionist Senator Santanina Rasul, who, together with Representative Raul Roco, worked for the passing of Republic Act 7192 or the Women in Development and Nation-Building Act, said that if a group like this had been formed earlier, a lot of pro-women laws could have been passed.

What appears to be Rasul’s favorite among the provisions was the one on women’s political participation. She said more women will be able to participate in government, especially by virtue of one provision in the newly signed Local Government Code which requires the provision of sectoral seats for women even down to the level of local government units. But even with this new law, she said it was still essential to see to it that more women get elected to the higher posts so that pro-women measures won’t become what she called "dead-letter laws."

Another reelectionist, Leticia Shahani, expressed happiness over the formulation of the agenda. Offering some constructive criticism, she said that the agenda was too broad. "I wish it would be more specific," she said, so that legislators would know what laws need to be filed. She also advised the women to be more involved in the legislative process.

First, she said, women must "study the legislative process," know what needs to be done, and who can do something about it. This is because "there are limits so what legislation can do." Legislators can be blocked, too, she said. In these situations, it is important to know who to --- next. Second, she said women ought to show more support for legislators who espouse their causes. Women shouldn’t disappear into the background once their choice candidates get elected. Shahani, sounding like a slighted mother, said: "Will we see you in the Senate afterward? Will you be in the rally? Will you give your senator a smile when she’s making a speech on the floor?"

Shahani also said: "Let’s not make the women’s issue a political football." She warned against falling for politicians who embrace the cause of disadvantaged sectors like women only for publicity purposes. She said it’s very easy nowadays to have one’s picture taken for the papers with the appropriate captions thrown in.

Other guests at the gathering included Liberal Party senatorial bet Florangel Rosario Braid, who praised the peace provision of the agenda and vowed commitment to it. There was also Charito Planas, candidate for vice-mayor of Quezon City who singled out the provision on the environment and promised to contribute her share by making Quezon City the "garden city." Nikki Coseteng was also on hand to reiterate her support for the agenda. She deplored the way the national budget was structured toward debt payment, saying the money ought to be used to prime the country’s economy. Other guests who expressed support for the agenda were Elsa Payumo, a teammate of Coseteng in the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) ticket; Marietta Primicias Goco, a senatorial candidate; Madale, and Sonia Roco, who represented Raul, her senatorial-aspirant husband.

Of course, the candidates, who were being asked to commit themselves to the agenda, wanted to know how the votes would come in. Candidate Goco wanted to know how the votes would be mobilized. Goco showed concern about the candidates’ qualifications. She asked, "Are we going to push for someone who is not qualified as long as they are women?" Goco’s question brought out the controversies surrounding the agenda. The first was: Should a woman candidate be supported as long as she professed commitment to the agenda?

There was a noticeable difference in opinion here. Emcee Gertie Tirona was for voting all women candidates because the important thing, she said, is to get the women in first. Because if they’re not in, who’s going to push the agenda? It’ll surely be shelved by the men who are the majority.

But Tirona clarified things wouldn’t be that simple. "The moment the candidate signs this document, we are committed to endorse the candidate. Dahil kabaro natin, e. Pero palabra de honor ito." Tirona warned that if, after getting the women’s votes, the women candidates elected don’t push the agenda, "uusigin namin sila."

Does this mean, for example, that if a signee to the agenda, which pushes for a total log ban and a nuclear ban, suddenly votes for selective logging or for a measure allowing the dumping of nuclear wastes in the country, she’ll be cast out as a pariah by the women’s bloc?

Well, yes, if Tirona is to be believed.

Another controversy had to do with political ideology. Would a woman candidate get the votes regardless of what her party believes in? Should the voters forget that a candidate’s personal views run counter to party principles and thus may force the candidate to turn her back on the agenda later on?

Mangahas of the CCP Women’s Desk said: "We will ignore contradictions for the moment because our agenda cuts across ideologies and eccentricities. If we do not accept our differences now, we can’t have a women’s vote."

But although the aim is to get more women in office, Mangahas cautioned that a candidate’s track record should not be ignored.

So there’s some degree of ambivalence here. Ellen Dionisio of PILIPINA articulated the dilemma being faced by women voters who are now being asked to vote for all their kabaro. Reminding those present at the forum of election promises made and broken, Dionisio wanted to know how candidates would reconcile personal views with those held by the party-views which the candidates all agreed they would have to adopt also as members of a party. Otherwise, like Payumo said, "If you can’t abide by the party rules, you have no business being in the party."

Dionisio wanted to ask the case of Nikki Coseteng who won a seat in Congress via KAIBA, the women’s party, but who is now running under the NPC of former Marcos crony Danding Cojuangco. How would Coseteng reconcile her view on the debt issue, for example, with that of her standard bearer who has said often regarding the debt problem: "Ang utang ay dapat bayaran"?

Nikki had earlier said that for as long as half of the budget is earmarked for debts, there will be no substantial change in the quality of life in the country. Fortunately for Nikki, she wasn’t around to be grilled anymore. But the question addressed to her is something a lot of progressive women voters will have at the back of their minds when deciding whether or not to vote for her, or for other women candidates as well.

It’s clearly a dilemma for the voters. Most likely, where these ticklish issues are concerned, some women organizations may block off some women bets. Track records will be carefully perused. Avowed programs will certainly be considered.

Senatorial bet Goco wanted to know if UKP would campaign for specific candidates. No, according to Llaguno, because it is not the endorsing organization of any candidate. What the UKP will certainly do is mobilize all its member organizations to popularize the women’s political agenda to women all over, hoping that with the agenda as a framework, they will be able to make enlightened choices among the thousands running for public office.

"To mark the end of the presscon, emcee Tirona said: "Women and men politicians come and go, but the women’s political agenda is here to stay." Even if the women don’t get as many of their kabaro elected as they hoped to, the agenda will still be there as some kind of anchor to keep the women’s movement from foundering.

The formulation of the women’s political agenda can be seen as a victory in itself for the women’s movement in the Philippines. It is a movement that is reputedly among the strongest in the world. It is a movement that goes back to the Filipina suffragists of the Thirties who fought for the vote and got it, to the women of Malolos who dared demand a school from the friars and whose gumption inspired the likes of Jose Rizal, an much farther still, to the babaylans who defied the conquistadores and stood their ground although not without a lot of pain and sacrifice.