Women seek ‘genuine’ change
Credit to Author: CATHERINE A. MODESTO| Date: Fri, 08 Mar 2019 17:11:00 +0000
Members of various women’s groups marched and held rallies on Friday to mark International Women’s Day and demanded “genuine change.”
Gabriela and other women’s advocates who marched to Mendiola made a list of issues that affect women, such as livelihood, wage and housing.
Gabriela Secretary General Joms Salvador said “women had more than enough of President Rodrigo Duterte’s policies that figuratively and literally kill women and their families.”
“Women are coming together to find their voices and shout as one. We will not allow our families to go hungry, jobless and homeless. We cannot allow plunderers and criminals to run our country. We cannot allow politicians to get richer and even top Forbes’ list of billionaires at the expense of our people. Women will fight back and we can succeed if we do it together,” Salvador said.
Some groups who massed at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila vowed to make women’s agenda an election issue.
“We reiterate our call for genuine change. We don’t just complain. We have concrete changes that we wish to see in our country. We want to know how those running for office view our women’s agenda, so that we can decide whether they will genuinely represent women when they are elected into office,” Salvador said.
“We want to know, for example, what candidates think about Duterte’s secret deals with China, or how they can help in the campaign to stop regressive taxation like the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law,” she added.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Emmi de Jesus reminded women to fight for their rights.
“Marami talaga pa din struggles na kailangang ipaglaban ng kababaihan sa rights at welfare, lalong lalo na sa Presidenteng misogynist (We have to fight for women’s rights and welfare, especially with a mysoginist president),” she said.
Salvador said women were also affected in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.
“Sa war on drugs, madaming babae ang namatay, madaming mga bata ang nawalan ng ina (Many women were killed, many children lost their mothers),” she told The Manila Times.
The Executive Director of the Center for Women’s Resources, Jojo Guan said celebrating Women’s Day was important because it shows that women can rise up against abuse.
“Ang kababaihan ay hindi papayag na naka-upo lang, at tatanggap ng kabastusan, kaapihan (women will not accept vulgarity and oppression sitting down),” she said in an interview.
With a reports from REVA MARCELO
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