Women's Rights Movement
in the Philippines
WOMEN IN THE PHILIPPINES
The role of women in the Philippines is explained based on the context of Filipino culture, standards, and mindsets. The Philippines is described to be a nation of strong women, who directly and indirectly run the family unit, businesses, government agencies and haciendas.
Although they generally define themselves in the milieu of a male-dominated post-colonial society, Filipino women live in a culture that is focused on the community, with the family as the main unit of society, but not always according to this stereotype. It is in this framework of Philippine hierarchical structure, class differences, religious justifications, and living in a globally developing nation wherein Filipino women struggle for respect. Compared to other parts of Southeast Asia, women in Philippine society have always enjoyed a greater share of equality.
HISTORY CONTEMPORARY ROLES
(Source: wikipedia.org)
The role of women in the Philippines is explained based on the context of Filipino culture, standards, and mindsets. The Philippines is described to be a nation of strong women, who directly and indirectly run the family unit, businesses, government agencies and haciendas.
Although they generally define themselves in the milieu of a male-dominated post-colonial society, Filipino women live in a culture that is focused on the community, with the family as the main unit of society, but not always according to this stereotype. It is in this framework of Philippine hierarchical structure, class differences, religious justifications, and living in a globally developing nation wherein Filipino women struggle for respect. Compared to other parts of Southeast Asia, women in Philippine society have always enjoyed a greater share of equality.
HISTORY CONTEMPORARY ROLES
(Source: wikipedia.org)
EARLY FEMINISM IN THE PHILIPPINES
By Athena Lydia Casambre and Steven Rood
(Source: asiafoundation.org)
The Philippines has been noted as having one of the smallest gender disparities in the world. The gender gap has been closed in both health and education; the country has had two female presidents (Corazon Aquino from 1986-1992 and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2001-2010); and had its first woman Supreme Court justice (Cecilia Muñoz Palma in 1973) before the United States had one (Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981). These achievements reflect a long history of efforts by women to involve themselves equally in governance as well as in society.
The struggle for women’s right to vote was the site for early feminism in the Philippines. It spanned three decades, culminating in September 1937 with the ratification by the Commonwealth government National Assembly after a plebiscite vote by women voters on April 30, 1937. With 447,725 “Yes” votes, a number well above the 300,000 quota stipulated by the 1935 Constitution, finally “the Filipina got the vote.”
Salient Points:
By Athena Lydia Casambre and Steven Rood
(Source: asiafoundation.org)
The Philippines has been noted as having one of the smallest gender disparities in the world. The gender gap has been closed in both health and education; the country has had two female presidents (Corazon Aquino from 1986-1992 and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2001-2010); and had its first woman Supreme Court justice (Cecilia Muñoz Palma in 1973) before the United States had one (Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981). These achievements reflect a long history of efforts by women to involve themselves equally in governance as well as in society.
The struggle for women’s right to vote was the site for early feminism in the Philippines. It spanned three decades, culminating in September 1937 with the ratification by the Commonwealth government National Assembly after a plebiscite vote by women voters on April 30, 1937. With 447,725 “Yes” votes, a number well above the 300,000 quota stipulated by the 1935 Constitution, finally “the Filipina got the vote.”
Salient Points:
- 1905 - The women’s organizations primarily responsible for suffrage mobilization had begun as socio-civic organizations early in the 20th century. The Asociacion Femenista Filipina organized in July 1905 under the leadership of Dona Concepcion Felix (later married to Felipe Calderon), and shortly after, Pura Villanueva (later married to Teodoro M. Kalaw) responded to the call to organize women nationwide by organizing the Asociacion Femenista Ilonga.
- 1907 - Woman's suffrage bill was presented by Cebu Congressman Filemon Sotto at the First Philippine Assembly for the first time. From there on, various suffrage bills were sponsored by a number of prominent men in society including; Assemblyman Melecio Severino of Negros Occidental in 1912, Mariano Cuenco of Cebu in 1916, and various assemblymen from Bulacan, Laguna and Tomas Luna in 1918.[6] None of these bills succeeded.
- 1912 - A visit to Manila by two suffragettes, Dr. Aletta Jacobs from Holland and Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt from the United States, turned the focus of women’s organization to suffrage. The meeting of Filipino women leaders with the foreign visitors resulted in the organization of the Society for the Advancement of Women (later changed to Women’s Club of Manila).
- 1919 - Senate approved the bill initially but it went through several defeats (Governors-General Francis B. Harrison, Leonard Wood, and Frank B. Murphy endorsed woman suffrage to assemblies between 1918 and 1933.)
- 1921 - 1928 - Throughout this period of legislative struggle, women continued to organize and mobilize support: the Women’s Club of Manila organized the National Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1921, the Liga Nacional de Damas Filipinas was organized in 1922, and the Women’s Citizens League in 1928.
- 1933 - Gov. Gen. Frank Murphy affixed his signature to the Woman's Suffrage Bill in December 1933, giving the suffragists an early victory.
- 1935 - The 1935 Constitution presented yet another hurdle for woman's suffrage. The provision on suffrage stipulated that the right of suffrage shall be extended to women if “not less than three hundred thousand women” vote affirmatively in a plebiscite. Women’s organizations did not back down from the challenge, and mobilized to get more women registered and to actually come out on voting day
- 1936 - President Manuel L. Quezon declared his favour towards the suffragette movement in a speech delivered at Malacanang Palace in Manila on September 30, 1936. President Quezon, having signed the Woman's Suffrage Plebiscite Bill, held that, “…it is essential and even imperative that the right to vote be granted to Filipino women if they are not to be treated as mere slaves” and that, for women, it was “…their opportunity to wield a very important weapon to defend their right to secure for themselves and those to follow them their well-being and happiness.” Under the 1934 Constitution of the Philippines, Article V held that women were to gain suffrage provided 300,000 women would affirm the same desire at the ballot.
- 1937 April - Twenty-nine percent of eligible women voters registered to vote from April 10-17, 1937; of these, about 86 percent eventually voted on April 30, 1937. Filipinas voted 10 to 1 in the affirmative, handing a victory to the suffragists that exceeded the constitutional quota. Tthe required threshold for the plebiscite of 300,000 was surpassed. 447,725 women affirmed their aspiration to vote, against 33,307 no votes. Thus, the women got the vote.
- 1937 September - Women's suffrage was legalized in the Philippines. The Philippines was one of the first Asian countries to allow this right for women.
Women's Suffrage: How the Filipina Won the Right to Vote
The fight for women's right to vote lasted over three decades.
By Justin Umali | May 5, 2021
Source: ESQUIREMAG.PH
The fight for women's right to vote lasted over three decades.
By Justin Umali | May 5, 2021
Source: ESQUIREMAG.PH
ILLUSTRATOR WARREN ESPEJO (From www.esquiremag.ph Feature: Women's Suffrage: How the Filipina Won the Right to Vote)
Today Filipino women make up a significant sector in Philippine democracy. Two years after winning the right to vote, Geronima Pecson was the first woman to become Senator. Since then, women have continued the fight for rights and equality.
During the Marcos years, women took to the streets once more to demand their rights. Figures like beauty queen Maita Gomez and Lorena Barros would form the Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA) and protest inequality and sexism in Philippine society. During martial law, MAKIBAKA was forced to go underground, but it never gave up the banner of women’s liberation.
In 1984, Filipina nuns, mothers, and women from all sectors convened the General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action and were one of the decisive forces during the EDSA People Power Revolt of 1986. Today, GABRIELA continues to push for women’s rights against abuse and other forms of inequality.
It seems hard to imagine a time when women didn’t enjoy the rights that exist today, but we must remember that the rights and freedoms that we have now were built on the sweat and efforts of thousands of women from generations before. Today, the fight is far from over, and women all over the country still face oppression and inequality in many forms. But just like Pura Kalaw and Concepcion Felix Roque, we must be determined to struggle if we are to succeed.
(Source: Esquire Philippines Feature: Women's Suffrage: How the Filipina Won the Right to Vote)
During the Marcos years, women took to the streets once more to demand their rights. Figures like beauty queen Maita Gomez and Lorena Barros would form the Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA) and protest inequality and sexism in Philippine society. During martial law, MAKIBAKA was forced to go underground, but it never gave up the banner of women’s liberation.
In 1984, Filipina nuns, mothers, and women from all sectors convened the General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action and were one of the decisive forces during the EDSA People Power Revolt of 1986. Today, GABRIELA continues to push for women’s rights against abuse and other forms of inequality.
It seems hard to imagine a time when women didn’t enjoy the rights that exist today, but we must remember that the rights and freedoms that we have now were built on the sweat and efforts of thousands of women from generations before. Today, the fight is far from over, and women all over the country still face oppression and inequality in many forms. But just like Pura Kalaw and Concepcion Felix Roque, we must be determined to struggle if we are to succeed.
(Source: Esquire Philippines Feature: Women's Suffrage: How the Filipina Won the Right to Vote)
A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO PHILIPPINE FEMINISM
Written by CNN Philippines Life Staff
Updated Apr 15, 2019 4:09:38 PM
Written by CNN Philippines Life Staff
Updated Apr 15, 2019 4:09:38 PM
Feminists Patricia Cunanan, Ging Deles, Sr. Mary John Mananzan, and Karina David talk about the nexus of feminism and social development work. In this video, they discuss the unequal treatment of men and women in development programs — how women do so much of the important things in various sectors and yet government programs do not necessarily support women’s issues and the importance of also making men understand gender issues and the system that enables their sense of entitlement and proprietorship over women.
Sister Mary John Mananzan, the co-founder of women’s organization Gabriela, was a political activist in the Philippines before she became a feminist.
It was only when she went to a women’s conference in Venice, Austria and heard discussions about incest and wife-beating that she felt the need to call herself a feminist. “It dawned on me, ‘My goodness these [abuses] are in the Philippines too,” she says. “[I realized] you cannot have a social transformation unless this gender question is resolved.”
Another known feminist, Ging Deles, who helped develop one of the first laws protecting women in the Philippines, got into feminism in the ‘80s. She says that she was working in the social development sector, but after meetings of bigger social development conferences, women began gathering together. Through these smaller get-togethers, it became clear how the issues of women were largely different from men, urging them to further push for women’s rights.
(See complete CNN Life feature HERE.)
Sister Mary John Mananzan, the co-founder of women’s organization Gabriela, was a political activist in the Philippines before she became a feminist.
It was only when she went to a women’s conference in Venice, Austria and heard discussions about incest and wife-beating that she felt the need to call herself a feminist. “It dawned on me, ‘My goodness these [abuses] are in the Philippines too,” she says. “[I realized] you cannot have a social transformation unless this gender question is resolved.”
Another known feminist, Ging Deles, who helped develop one of the first laws protecting women in the Philippines, got into feminism in the ‘80s. She says that she was working in the social development sector, but after meetings of bigger social development conferences, women began gathering together. Through these smaller get-togethers, it became clear how the issues of women were largely different from men, urging them to further push for women’s rights.
(See complete CNN Life feature HERE.)
THE WOMEN WHO HELPED SHAPE PHILIPPINE FEMINISM
Written by Nads Esteva
Updated Mar 14, 2019
Source: CNNPHILIPPINES.COM
Written by Nads Esteva
Updated Mar 14, 2019
Source: CNNPHILIPPINES.COM
A tribute to five Filipinas who helped organize one of the first women’s organizations in the country
(Go to complete CNN Life feature HERE.)
(Go to complete CNN Life feature HERE.)
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In creating this website, we emphasize that the utilization of certain web content does not equate to ownership, nor does it indicate any intention of copyright infringement. The incorporation of such materials is solely for the purpose of fostering awareness surrounding the critical issues of violence against women and the pursuit of gender equality. Every effort has been made to appropriately attribute and acknowledge the original sources of the content used. It is our fervent hope that through this platform, we can contribute meaningfully to the ongoing dialogue and advocacy aimed at addressing these pressing societal concerns with empathy, compassion, and a commitment to positive change.
