Statements and Media Releases

As the Philippine government hosts the International Conference on Women, Peace, and Security from October 28–30, the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR) expresses its deep concern in light of the ongoing and relentless attacks against Filipino women.

The Philippines have witnessed a disturbing trend of militarization and violence that disproportionately affects women. The total number of victims of various human rights violations has reached millions since Marcos Jr. took office as president in June 2022. This includes threat and harassment, forced evacuation, bombings, among others. There are 755 political prisoners held in various detention facilities nationwide as of June 30, 2024, with 103 of them arrested under the Marcos Jr. regime. Of this number, 147 are women, and more than half are farmers. There are 21 women victims of extrajudicial killings and four cases of enforced disappearances of women. The government’s collusion with foreign military powers exacerbates these kinds of violence, undermining the very rights and protections that such conferences purport to uphold.

The current geopolitical landscape, dominated by the United States’ militaristic strategies, uses the language of gender equality and women’s rights as a pretext for further military and economic intervention in the Asia-Pacific region. This is particularly troubling as the US seeks to entrench its influence against rising powers, such as China, under the guise of promoting peace and security.

The expansion of foreign military presence in the country poses additional vulnerabilities to women and all Filipino people. Earlier this year, more than 16,000 troops, including military personnel from Australia and France – joined the annual Balikatan exercises. In July 2024, the US government announced $500 million for the purchase of defense equipment and military services, purportedly to boost the country’s external defense capacity at a time of growing friction with China, particularly in the South China Sea.

In addition, the proliferation of Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites and continuous military exercises across the country indicate threats to our security, and the vulnerability of women to abuse. Numerous cases of human rights violations and abuse of women have been recorded since the time of the US military base presence in the country and with the regular conduct of Balikatan exercises.

Women’s rights, peace, and security cannot coexist with militarization and oppression. Instead of facilitating US interests, we call for genuine efforts that prioritize the safety, dignity, and rights of Filipino women and ensure that their voices are central to any discourse on peace and security. Alongside this, we hold the Philippine government accountable for its actions and demand that it uphold the rights of women in the Philippines, rather than using them as mere rhetoric in the service of foreign agendas. #

The Center for Women’s Resources joins peasant groups and advocates in reiterating calls for genuine land reform amidst rampant landlessness, land grabbing, land-use conversion, and displacement of peasant families. Peasant groups and advocates underscore the crucial role played by political dynasties in perpetuating corruption and in exacerbating poverty and landlessness in the country.

The political landscape in the Philippines remains dominated by landlords and business elites with vested interests to maintain a system that strips peasant women of their right to land and life. By occupying political positions while controlling vast agricultural estates, they shaped economic policies that prioritize their own economic and political interests over the needs of the rural poor.

Alongside land grabbing, displacement, and land use conversion, repression and attacks against the farmers remain rampant under the current administration of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. In the Southern Tagalog region, the Santa Rosa Realty Development Corporation (SRRDC) attempted to displace farmers of Barangay Casile, Cabuyao by blocking 24 hectares of farmland and affecting the mobility of 11 families in their community.

The SRRDC is constructing fences for a major road project to connect Casile with the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) without valid permits or prior consultation with local farmers. Barangay Casile is part of the 7,100-hectare Hacienda Yulo, controlled by cronies of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Farmers there have faced threats and eviction attempts from Yulo-Ayala security forces for four years, with armed goons raiding and burning homes of farmer leaders.

In Occidental Mindoro, 29 Mangyan Iraya residents from Hacienda Almeda in Abra de Ilog were forcibly detained by private goons and police. Families of these Mangyan Iraya residents – 17 elders and 12 minors have lost contact with their loved ones and without news of their whereabouts.

The Irayas have been victims of harassment, enforced disappearances, and killings since the 1990s. The lands seized by Hacienda Almeda Inc. and real-estate developer Pieceland Corporation include the Iraya’s settlements, sacred groves, burial sites, watersheds, and sources of livelihood across approximately 1,546 hectares. This is despite multiple rulings in favor of the farmers and the Iraya Mangyan, the Almeda family continues to exploit loopholes in the bogus and failed CARP to delay and obstruct the redistribution of land.

We stand in solidarity with peasant women fighting for genuine land reform. Their demand for land is an assertion of economic survival, dignity, and life. Their courage in the face of oppression is a testament to their strength. By dismantling the system of political dynasties , we can ensure the peasantry’s rightful access and control over land and resources, and create a future where justice and life thrives. #

On the World Day for Decent Work, we condemn the ongoing attacks against trade unionists and labor organizers. The Philippines remains a perilous environment for those advocating for workers’ rights, where killings, abductions, and harassment continue unabated, including women labor leaders and organizers.

According to the 2024 Global Rights Index of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the threat of violence persists against Filipino workers and unions, where there is “no guarantee of rights” and are “exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices”.

The red-tagging and intimidation faced by the leaders of the Nexperia workers’ union illustrate this situation. For years, union leaders have been subjected to relentless surveillance and harassment, with union president Mary Ann Castillo among those targeted. Nexperia workers union has been organizing workers and fighting against unfair labor practices, and union-busting.

In 2021, Teresa Dioquino, a cultural worker and labor advocate, was illegally arrested, and is currently imprisoned. Dioquino is a staunch activist and has long served as International Officer of the Kilusang Mayo Uno, fighting for global workers’ rights. On May 3, 2022, Loi Magbanua, a labor organizer and women’s rights activist, was abducted and remains missing, presumed taken by state forces.

These forms of persecution demonstrate a concerted effort to stifle dissent and suppress workers’ rights. The enactment of the Anti-Terror Law and continuing funding of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has made it all worse.

As we mark this day, we stand together in solidarity to protect and defend those who fight for decent work – against exploitative practices, for living wages and labor rights. We enjoin all Filipinos in the collective fight to ensure that every worker can speak out without fear and threat of violence. No decent work without freedom of association and the right to organize!

The Center for Women’s Resources condemns the government’s attempt to artificially lower unemployment numbers by considering Filipinos work one per ‘reference period’ as employed – an insult to 20 million economically insecure women.

CWR reiterates the importance of using grounded and accurate data when formulating policies related to employment and poverty. The recent statement from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) during the Senate committee hearing and budget deliberations suggesting that a Filipino working just one hour a day qualifies as employed is a concerning simplification that obscures the real extent of the employment crisis in the Philippines.

In a recent survey conducted by CWR in June 2024, it was noted that the job crisis remains one of the top concerns of women. This indicates that unemployment, loss of livelihood, and its resulting poverty and hunger is a serious problem — a violation of women’s rights. Amidst an escalating economic crisis and widespread human suffering, it is of utmost importance to surface concrete, ground-level data that accurately depicts the conditions people face.

Despite the obvious attempt to give false sense of economic development, no amount of convenient redefinitions can mask the lived experiences of Filipinos. Blurring the lines between employment and unemployment through such convenient definitions does not address these issues. Similar to NEDA’s statement claiming PhP64.00 pesos to suffice for daily food cost, it fails to reflect the severity of economic hardship experienced by many, particularly women. It refrains the implementation of meaningful solutions that will ensure long-term, sustainable growth and people-centered development.

CWR reiterates that grounded data and evidence should serve as a basis for crafting economic policies that serve the most marginalized. Doing otherwise would only serve the interests of a few rich in the country. CWR urges all Filipinos to resist accepting such misinformation and to continue voicing their real conditions and demands. ###

Bumungad sa mga residente ng NCR at mga rehiyon ng CALABARZON, Central Luzon, Cordillera, MIMAROPA, Bicol, Central at Western Visayas, hanggang Northern Mindanao ang walang-tigil na pag-ulan noong Hulyo 24, 2024 dulot ng habagat na pinalakas ng Super Typhoon Carina.

Umaga pa lamang ay nagsimula na ang rescue operations sa mga bahaing komunidad sa Metro Manila at iba pang lugar dahil sa mabilis na pagtaas ng tubig. Sa datos ng PNP, umabot na sa 34 ang naitalang nasawi, mayorya ay dahil sa pagkalunod, landslide, at iba pang pinsala dulot ng pagbaha.

Ayon sa NDRRMC, umabot sa 1.3 milyon indibidwal o 299,344 pamilya ang apektado sa buong bansa (maliban sa Eastern Visayas), habang tinatayang ₱9.7 milyon ang halaga ng pinsala sa agrikultura, ₱6.6 milyon sa mga irigasyon, at ₱1.3 milyon sa imprastraktura. Matinding hagupit ito sa mahihirap na mamamayan, lalo na sa mga kababaihan at bata.

Sa katatapos na State of the Nation Address (SONA), ipinagmalaki ni Pang. Marcos Jr. ang 5,500 flood control projects na natapos sa ilalim ng kanyang administrasyon.

Umabot sa ₱12.13 bilyon ang inutang ng gobyerno sa World Bank noong 2017 upang isagawa ang Metro Manila Flood Management Project na layuning resolbahin ang pagbaha sa Metro Manila sa pamamagitan ng pag-modernisa sa drainage system at pagsasaayos ng waste collection at disposal system, ito raw ay pakikinabangan ng 3.5 milyong residente sa mga bahaing lugar sa Metro Manila.

Ang ₱255 bilyong badyet na inilaan para rito sa ilalim ng DPWH ay mas malaki pa sa badyet ng Department of Agriculture (₱167B), Department of Science and Technology (₱27B), Commission on Higher Education (₱31B), at State Universities and Colleges (₱106B).

Ngunit dalawang araw matapos ang SONA, nabunyag ang kapalpakan ng mga nasabing proyekto nang kinumpirma ng MMDA na hindi kinakaya ng kasalukuyang drainage system ang matinding pag-ulan dahil 30 mm/hr lang ang kayang i-proseso kumpara sa 74 mm/hr na buhos ng ulan.

Imbis na akuin ang pananagutan, ginamit ni Marcos Jr. ang usapin ng climate change at sinisi ang mga mamamayan na nagtatapon ng basura sa kanilang paligid bilang dahilan ng matinding pagbaha.

Patunay ito na walang malasakit at pagpapahalaga ang gobyernong Marcos Jr. sa mahihirap na pamilya na nalubog sa baha, walang makain, at nasiraan ng maraming kagamitan. Malinaw ang kanyang kapabayaan at pagtalikod sa responsibilidad sa panahon ng kalamidad.Kasalukuyang nakapailalim sa state of calamity ang buong Metro Manila, dapat kagyat na mabigay ang suporta at serbisyo sa mga biktima ng kalamidad.

Kailangang matiyak na ilalaan ang calamity funds sa emergency response katulad ng pagkain, tubig, medisina, maayos na sanitasyon, paglilinis sa komunidad, kasama ang dagliang paghahakot ng mga basura na nakatambak sa mga kalsada, at iba pa.Kailangan ang maagap na pagbibigay ng serbisyong pangkalusugan upang maiwasan ang pagkalat ng sakit lalo na ng diarrhea, leptospirosis, at mga sakit sa balat dulot ng pagkababad sa tubig-baha. Dapat ding matiyak na estable at walang manipulasyon ng presyo ng mga bilihin sa kalakhang Maynila.

Sa nalalapit na budget deliberations, mahalagang makialam ang mamamayan at ipanawagan na pagtuunan ng pansin ang mga programa at flood management interventions na angkop sa sitwasyon ng mga komunidad.

Marapat na matapat na iulat sa mamamayan kung saan at paano ginagamit ang bilyon-bilyong pondo mula sa kaban ng bayan. Kasabay nito, kailangang itigil ang mga mapaminsalang aktibidad ng quarrying, large-scale mining, at reclamation projects ng mga malalaking lokal at dayuhang korporasyon na patuloy na sumisira sa kalikasan at siyang sanhi ng malalang pagbaha.

Kailangang panagutin kapwa ang administrasyong Marcos Jr. at ang nakaraang administrasyong Duterte sa sistematikong kapabayaan at lantarang kawalan malasakit sa mamamayan!Mahigpit na magkaisa at tumindig para ipaglaban ang mga karapatan sa panahon ng krisis at kalamidad!