Beijing Platform of
Action
Ten Years
After: More Burdens than Triumphs
As
long as imperialists continue to run the lives of poor nations like the
Philippines, women shall never be free from the bondage of oppression and
exploitation. The only way for women to break the chain is to unite and
change the whole oppressive system into one that respects women and human
rights and upholds economic and political sovereignty.
BY
GABRIELA
Posted by Bulatlat
Today is the 10th
Anniversary of the Beijing Platform of Action for Women. On this day,
governments will again bask in self-glorification while reporting their
so-called successes in the implementation of the Beijing Platform of
Action. It is but fitting to remind them that such successes are made
possible mainly through the efforts of women’s organizations that
genuinely represent the interests of marginalized women.
In the Philippines,
GABRIELA has been in the forefront of the women’s movement for genuine
emancipation of women and society. In these 10 years, it has taken to the
streets and mounted campaigns to fight for women’s rights and welfare. It
has organized local women and mobilized them to achieve victories in their
struggles. And just recently, it has succeeded in bringing the voice of
women in the Philippine Congress through a women’s political party bearing
its name.
Sadly, the Macapagal-Arroyo
government can only ride on the efforts of women’s NGOs and people’s
organizations like GABRIELA because ten years after the Beijing Conference
on Women in 1995, Filipino women remain marginalized and “disempowered” by
poverty. Doomed from the start because of its myopic view on the problems
of women, the Beijing Platform of Action has failed on its agenda for
women’s empowerment.
In these 10 years,
the Philippines had gone through three leaderships, one of which is a
direct result of another People Power upheaval, but the situation of women
has improved very little. This is because each government after Beijing
had miserably plunged its people into further crisis due to its neglect of
basic social services and its priority on debt-service payments.
Last year, the
government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the country’s second
woman leader, declared a fiscal crisis. With unchecked corruption and
financial mismanagement of her government, this did not become a surprise
for millions of families who have long borne the brunt of government
bankruptcy.
Way below decent life
Today, six out of 10
Filipino families live in a hand-to-mouth existence, meaning their daily
income is way below the cost of living. This means families not eating
three meals a day. Results from a survey from July to September last year
indicate that about 12 million Filipinos (15 percent of the population)
experienced hunger at least once during the period of the survey. Women,
especially mothers, are the ones who usually give up their own share of
meals in favor of their husband and children, even if the daily diet of
the family consists only of noodles and other poor man’s alternative
foods.
Unfortunately, the
government’s solution to the economic crisis, upon the recommendation of
the IMF-WB, is to pass on more burdens to the people through taxes that do
not redound to their benefit.
In the Beijing
document, women’s reproductive health was one of the important highlights
in the agenda for empowerment. Sadly, Filipino mothers continue to suffer
from lack of defined reproductive health program, which includes sex
education and family planning. Babies given birth by young mothers (15 –
21 years old) account for 30 percent of the 1.8 million babies born every
year. In addition, everyday, there are 10 mothers (or 3,650 annually) who
die of complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Maternal mortality
remains at a relatively high 240 out of 100,000 live births. This is not
at all surprising considering that the health budget allotted for every
Filipino is a meager P3.20 (less than U.S.$0.6) a day.
Another basic need,
housing, remains to be one of the most neglected social services. There
are 1.48 million informal settlers in the country. This number would
inevitably increase with the planned demolition of urban and rural poor
communities to give way to so-called development projects such as railway
systems, road expansions, etc. As mainstays of their household, women
will particularly bear the burden of looking for ways and means to defend
their homes and eventually settle the family should demolition becomes
inevitable.
More female dropouts
As for education,
more women than men have enrolled, but the rate of female dropouts has
also increased. The main reasons are mostly economic especially with the
high cost of education even in public schools and state universities.
In a feudal and
patriarchal society like the
Philippines, men are given priority
over women in terms of completing education since women are usually
relegated to the homes as child-bearers and nurturers. According to the
1998 National Demographic and Health survey, 7 percent of teenage Filipino
women have begun child bearing while 38 percent of women age 20-24 have
already borne a child. Out of 10 pregnancies, four were unwanted at the
time.
For ten years, the
government, its organizations and pseudo-NGOs have claimed triumphs in
empowering Filipino women. But for GABRIELA, the Philippine government
has further marginalized women by its continuing subservience to
imperialist dictates that have plundered our resources and caused more
burdens to women.
Globalization, for
instance, has rendered more women vulnerable to economic exploitation.
The liberalization of trade has become a great threat to our food
security. The deregulation of basic industries such as the oil industry
has caused an unabated rise in prices of gasoline and petroleum products
and consequently of transport fares and prices of prime commodities. The
privatization of power and water industries has pushed electric and water
bills of ordinary households to unaffordable levels. In other words,
globalization has failed to result in economic development and instead
contributed to further pushing the populace into starvation.
The Filipino people
have long resisted globalization and imperialist plunder, whether in the
streets or in the countryside. However, the resistance is now the target
of the so-called anti-terrorism campaign of the government that serves to
punish not the real terrorists but those who disagree with the
government’s anti-people policies. Many women had been killed, many
others jailed. More were terrorized into silence but only up to a certain
point.
But the women of
GABRIELA choose to continue with their struggle. We believe that as long
as imperialists continue to run the lives of poor nations like the
Philippines, women shall never be free from the bondage of oppression and
exploitation. Women will continue to be seen as objects and commodities
that can be manipulated. The only way for women to break the chain is to
unite and change the whole oppressive system into one that respects women
and human rights and upholds economic and political sovereignty. Where
the Beijing Platform of Action failed, the progressive women’s movement
will continue to strive for the genuine emancipation of women and the
liberation of society as well. Posted by Bulatlat
February 2005
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