Does gov’t understand women’s daily challenges?

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma was reported as saying, “Women hold up half the sky” (“P-Noy makes pitch for gender equality,” Front Page, 3/9/14).

I was astounded to hear a spokesperson of President Aquino borrowing the famous Mao Zedong quote. Mao was a communist and, as far as I can tell, communists are not well-loved by this administration nor were they by the previous ones. I can only hope that this was not an

attempt to appropriate a beautiful line for hollow sloganeering. I pray that this is an indication of a genuine move by government to fulfill more purposively its responsibility to provide services to women, who indeed hold up half the sky.

Last March 8, we celebrated International Women’s Day. The yearly celebration is not merely about gender equality. It is also about ensuring the welfare of women (especially poor women), providing for their socioeconomic needs, opening more opportunities for their political participation, and empowering their life aspirations. For it is the product of the long struggle of poor women, most particularly female industrial workers, who stood boldly for justice in the face of state-sanctioned repression and exploitation of working-class women. A century ago, women dared to challenge what was supposedly the normal working-class experience—long hours, low wages, and indecent working conditions.

Recall that in 1910, during the worldwide socialist party congress, German socialist Clara Zetkin proposed March 8 as International Women’s Day. This specific date draws our memory to March 8, 1857, when garment workers in New York City picketed and marched to demand better and humane working conditions and were brutally beaten by the police. It was only in 1975 that the United Nations declared International Women’s Day.

What is the value of looking back? Today, the majority of Filipino women—the poor, the peasants and the workers—belong to those who are suffering most, just like the women in the late 1800s who fought for better working conditions, the women who fought for “bread and roses.”

Today, women, most especially mothers, are heavily burdened with the increasing prices of basic commodities. The Center for Women’s Resources reported that the price of a kilo of rice increased by P2 to P8 from January to

December 2013. This would mean P238 in additional expenses per month for a family of five—an amount that could be spent for other needed food like vegetables.

Likewise, we are all too aware that water and electricity rates are increasing and always threaten to skyrocket. In contrast, the ordinary workers’ wages have had no substantial increase for a long time—none that could

support a family’s decent survival.

The government’s National Women’s Month theme this year, “Juana, ang Tatag Mo ay Tatag Natin sa Pagbangon at Pagsulong,” actually expresses another expected burden on women. It is as if a woman’s “tatag” (strength) will determine the “tatag” for rising and moving forward. At this point when so many women are suffering, especially after the storms, wouldn’t it be better to honor each Filipino woman by ensuring her

access to basic social services and to provisions for her economic needs? Most importantly, a “matatag” government is one that opens the way to the best social services and economic opportunities, so that as women hold up half the sky, they are truly empowered to reach for the stars!

—NORMA P. DOLLAGA,

Kasimbayan Women’s Collective,

[email protected]