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Violence
Against Women (VAW)
The
statistics on VAW demystifies the myth that Filipino women have already
broken free from oppression and inequality.
Women are still victims of domestic violence, comprising 76.2% of
all reported cases.
In
2007:
□
one woman is battered every one hour and 50 minutes
□
one woman is raped every seven hours and 30 minutes
□
every 18 hours and 50 minutes, there is a woman victim of sexual
harassment
Violence
Against Children (VAC)
Alarmingly,
victims of violence are getting younger.
Every 42 minutes, a child is a victim of violence in 2007.
Domestic violence remains the most common form of violence
against children (VAC), which accounts for 48.32% of the 12,584 VAC
cases in 2007.
In
2007:
□
one child is battered every one hour and 26 minutes
□
one woman is raped every two hours
□
for every nine hours, there is a child victim of sexual harassment
State-sponsored
Violation
Women
and children have experienced violence committed by state authorities as
well. Since Arroyo assumed power in 2001 until October 2007, there were
4,969 incidents of state-sponsored human rights violations (HRVs).
There were 1,010 women and 303 children victims of HRVs.
As women become more assertive in fighting for their rights, they
are more vulnerable to violence.
From
January 2001 to October 2007, there have been:
□
98 woman victims of political killings
□
14 woman victims of torture
□
8 cases of military rape
Read more...
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March
2008
Let
the numbers speak, says Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She insists that the
people should focus on the promise of the result of 2007 showing a
high economic growth rather than politicking that could tear down the
nation.
Let
the numbers speak, indeed. This paper reveals how women are tightening
their belts in order to survive. This paper discusses the continuing
violence experience by women, which has been exacerbated by the
systematic poverty and organized plunder and corruption.
Let
the numbers speak, indeed. Let the expose of the $329 million ZTE-National
Broadband
Network
(NBN) deal by whistle-blower Rodolfo Lozada exemplify the
government’s action in addressing the gaps in social services that
women badly need.
GMA:
Denying truth and accountability
Arroyo
announced “2007 was the best year for the Philippine economy in over
30 years.” According to Arroyo, “the Philippines is defying
gravity, rising steadily” as the economy posted a 7.3 growth, the
stock market up, the peso at it’s highest level in many years,
unemployment and poverty are down.1
Foreign
investors and international credit rating agencies, such as Moody’s
Investors Service, believe that despite scandals of corruption that
are being hurled against the beleaguered government, it has done right
for the economy.2
But
for Filipino women, the reality is not as rosy as the statistics
paint. The much publicized economic growth is just but numbers that do
not necessarily translate to any concrete improvement of their
families’ living conditions. The hyped strong economy is not founded
upon a strong domestic economy but rather due to foreign investments,
debts, and cheap labor export.3
The
highest growth rates that contributed to the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) were registered in mining and quarrying and construction while
the real productive forces of the economy, i.e., agriculture and
manufacturing, had a sluggish growth.4
Though
having the highest growth rate, the mining sub-sector is smallest in
contribution to economy. Mining in the country is dominated by foreign
firms and are actually displacing indigenous people from their
ancestral domains. The growth reflects only how eagerly Arroyo put the
country’s natural resources for sale to foreign investors. (download full report
of ULAT LILA MARCH 2008)
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July
2007
The
Real State of the Nation
Women
Facing Greater
Challenges
Ahead
Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo declared last March 2007 that she intends to leave a
legacy that is focused on uplifting the economy during the last three
years of her term. This pronouncement has raised eyebrows, especially among the
political opposition, which dubbed the vision as unrealistic.
And
again in her State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 23, 2007, she
reiterated her vision of a Philippines on its way to joining the ranks
of industrialized countries and becoming a First World nation by 2027.
By then, she said, “poverty shall have been marginalized; and
the marginalized raised to a robust middle class.”
Indeed, such assertions are pleasing to the ears.
But how much of these declarations are really feasible, given the
present condition that the country is now in?
How much of these pronouncements are being felt by ordinary
women? (download full report
of ULAT LILA JULY 2007)
THE STATE OF THE FILIPINO WOMEN IN 2005 A
Center for Women’s Resources Survey* December 2005 Globalization has
been propped up by its proponents especially in the industrialized
countries as the universal remedy for the economic problem of poverty.
Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been the fervent endorser of
globalization in the country. When she was still senator in 1995, she
initiated the bill on opening the country to liberal economy through
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Now that she is the
head of state, her government has produced more reforms and policies
in line with the agreement for WTO. After ten years,
poverty in the Philippines has further intensified. The gap between
the rich and the poor has severely widened. There is a continuing
onslaught on any gains that the working class has achieved before,
even eroding relentlessly any of their efforts for enhancement. Being
a country that is import-dependent, exportoriented, and basically
agricultural, the policies designed by the government has further
pushed the country’s economic position and even political
sovereignty to global first world pressures.
(download full report of ULAT
LILA December 2005) VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN
From January - December 2004, there is an average of:
- 1 woman beaten up every two hours and 40 minutes
- 1 woman raped every eight hours
- almost two women exposed to lascivious acts everyday
- 1 child sexually abused every two hours and 40 minutes
- 1 child beaten up almost every three hours
- 1 child neglected every three hours and 25 minutes
- 1 child abandoned around every eight hours
Source:
DIDM, Philippine National Police
WOMEN AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
- Of the 14 human rights workers killed under the Arroyo administration, six are women.
- There are 236 political prisoners across the country. Of these, nine are women and 12 are minors. Despite a release order issued by the Arroyo administration, 15 prisoners remain incarcerated.
Source:
KARAPATAN
Sixty percent of Filipino families fail
to live in decent conditions, according to the Center for Women's
Resources (CWR). Quoting the data from the 2003 Family and Income
Expenditure Survey (FIES), CWR deputy executive director Mary Joan
Guan said that 60% of Filipino families, or 3 for every five fail to
earn sufficient amount to be able to live decently.
Everytime 36-year-old Charito Wenceslao
goes to the market to buy food for her family's dinner, she sees
fewer and fewer food items in her basket. Charito earns her living
from washing clothes, massaging, and cleaning several houses. She
earns around P1,800 a week, or an average of P257 per day, which is
barely enough to feed her eight children. Her husband, Naldo, holds
an irregular job as a carpenter. Charito fears that she would barely
have any earning this coming June because two of her foreign
employers will be leaving the country. And with the continuous rise
in the prices of commodities, Charito can only hope that she will
find new employers before June comes.
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