Statements and Media Releases

24 July 2023

Contrary to his “Bangon Bayan Muli” campaign promise, more Filipino women are slumped into joblessness and landlessness a year into the Marcos Jr. administration, according to the Center for Women’s Resources’ report presentation entitled: Ambitious Promises and Agendas: The Status of Filipino Women in the First Year of the Marcos Jr. Administration.

“According to the Labor Force Survey in May 2023, more than 21.14 million women are “economically insecure” in the country,” shared Brenda Yasay, CWR Research Coordinator.

She explained that this number includes those who are unemployed (996,000); those who lack work and income or are underemployed (1.90 million); and those who are not in the labor force (18.25 million).

“This means that Filipino women are more vulnerable to hunger, poverty, and violence,” added Yasay. 

1 May 2023

On the occasion of International Workers’ Day, the Center for Women’s Resources pays tribute to all workers of the world – women and men, who create the world’s wealth, and yet are appropriated the least. 

In the Philippines, workers receive meager wages. The highest wage set in the Philippines is in NCR pegged at P570.00. With rising inflation, the real wage now only amounts to P483.00 (March 2023). In other regions, where the mandated minimum wage is even lower, the situation is worse, where inflation is even higher. In the Bicol region, the real wage is only P290.37 from the current nominal wage of P365. In Western Visayas, it is only P362.90 from its nominal wage of P450. In the Mimaropa region, where some municipalities are now reeling from the impacts of the oil spill, the real wage is P279.74 from the P355 nominal wage.  

On the other hand, the wealth of the few richest businesses in the Philippines continues to grow. According to Forbes Richest, the richest families had a “robust recovery” where their combined wealth grew by 30% from $60 billion to $79 billion (Php3.94 trillion) in 2021. The gap between the rich and the poor in the country continues to increase amidst declining income and livelihoods.

Women workers bear a disproportionate burden of exploitation and oppression under the current monopoly capitalist system. Women face systemic discrimination and are often relegated to low-wage jobs with little or no social protection and benefits, while also facing prevalent sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.   

Attacks against trade unionism and blatant violation of workers’ rights to freedom of expression and association are on the rise as the government enacts and implements policies that restrict workers’ right to organize and engage in collective bargaining, preventing them from pursuing better wages and working conditions.

Now more than ever, workers, along with the rest of society, must unite to fight for living wages, better working conditions, social protection policies, and the right to collective bargaining. It is only by fighting together and demanding these fundamental rights that we can ensure that every worker is able to work safely and with dignity.

Statement on International Working Women’s Day 2023

The Center for Women’s Resources joins all women worldwide in commemorating International Working Women’s Day this March 8.

Now, more than ever, women need to unite to fight for living wages, jobs, and rights amid the burgeoning economic crisis and repression brought by the continuous implementation of neoliberal policies that put capitalist profit over women’s human rights.

In the Philippines, women continue to suffer joblessness and lack of decent work and livelihood while Marcos Jr. and his cronies persistently and absurdly push to change the constitution. State repression coupled with systematic misinformation and disinformation prevails while women experience various forms of abuse and lack of access to basic social services.

The Center for Women’s Resources join rights groups in the call to investigate the abduction of Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dayoha, a teacher and health worker who went missing ten days before the International Labor Organization’s High-Level Tripartite Mission to the Philippines, this January 23, 2023.

The Center for Women’s Resources joins human rights groups and women’s and child rights organizations in condemning the Philippine military for violating the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) when they held hostage a 2-month-old infant and two pregnant women in a desperate attempt to force surrenderers among revolutionaries.
Baby Rhea, whose parents are both NPA (New People’s Army) fighters, was born while her mother was held captive by the AFP. Baby Rhea was eventually turned over to her grandmother after subsequent demands by different groups.