The Center for Women’s Resources commemorates International Working Women’s Day (IWWD) with Ulat Lila, its annual report on the situation of Filipino women.
A national forum, organized in partnership with the UP Diliman Gender Office, the UP School of Statistics, the Cordillera Women’s Education Action Research Center, Inc., Women’s Center Panay-Guimaras, Community Visions-Radyo Natin Guimba, the Women’s Resource Center of Visayas, Inc., and the Women’s Studies and Resource Center Davao, was held on March 4 at the UP Diliman College of Statistics auditorium.
CWR reported the impacts of continuously implementing neoliberal policies to Filipino women’s socio-economic conditions. This includes widespread poverty and hunger amidst lack of employment and livelihood opportunities alongside rising costs of living.
The crisis has resulted in more vulnerabilities for women thus, despite existing legal protections such as the Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act (VAWC) and Safe Spaces Act, gender-based violence (GBV) remains a widespread concern in the country, with only one in every 10 cases of VAW being reported to authorities. Such concern also persists in workplaces, with 22% of women workers experiencing violence and harassment.
Austerity measures, privatization, and low budget for healthcare and other basic social services increase women’s burden. Around 44.4% of the current health costs come from out-of-pocket expenditures. This leads to women being discouraged from seeking immediate medical attention. In the Philippines, 32 women die every day due to breast cancer.
Ulat Lila 2025 also highlighted the worsening human rights situation in the country including the extra-judicial killings of 281 land and environmental defenders, many of whom were indigenous leaders and farmers. More than 3.8 million victims of human rights violations were recorded in just two years.
Representatives from grassroots communities—including workers, farmers, migrant women, urban poor, and young women—shared their stories and lived experiences, bringing to life the data presented in the Ulat Lila.
Finally, CWR presented the Women’s Agenda for CHANGE – Comprehensive social services, Human rights, peace and social justice, Anti-discrimination and Violence Against Women and Children, National sovereignty, Genuine land reform and national industrialization, and Environmental protection – a call that women have put forward since the 2016 elections. Nearly a decade later, women’s call for genuine change remains.
The forum brought together a diverse group of participants, including civil society organizations (CSOs), school and community-based groups, academic institutions, and local government offices. It served as a platform to raise awareness about the realities faced by Filipino women, facilitate exchanges, strengthen solidarity, and, importantly, amplify women’s call for change. #
