Filipino Women Face Ruthless Attacks Under Arroyo Government- Gabriela Solons

“The condition of the Filipino women has gotten from bad to worse eight years after President Arroyo took over in Malacañang. President Arroyo’s government has spawned widespread misery, poverty, unbridled corruption, and violence against Filipino women, with her contemptuous servility to foreign interests and flagrant perpetuation of herself in power.”

This is the statement of Gabriela Women’s Party Reps. Liza Maza and Luz Ilagan today as they joined thousands of women in the march and protest rally commemorating the International Women’s Day. Colorful hats donned by members of Gabriela depicted the anti-women policies of the Arroyo administration.

According to the Gabriela solons, the Filipino women are the ones hardest hit by the financial crisis with the spate of retrenchments, reduction of work hours and wages, and increased flexibilization of labor. Women comprise the majority of the 45,000 workers laid off in the past five months.

“The relief measures that she prescribed were merely windbags of promises that cannot address the impact of the global financial crisis and pressing needs of workers and their families. Worse, her government legitimizes labor contractualization and justifies the dirt-poor levels of wages and benefits,” Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza said.

“To add insult to injury, funds of the workers in the Social Security System (SSS) are being eyed for the economic stimulus package while depriving the members of much needed loans and other benefits when they are laid off,” she added.

Meanwhile, Rep. Luz Ilagan decried the Arroyo administration’s intensive labor export policy that resulted to a diaspora of Filipino women workers. The record shows that 3,722 Overseas Filipino workers were forced to leave the country per day in which 7 out of ten of these OFWs are women.

“Women bear the brunt of Arroyo’s one-way economic policies. Her labor export policy subjects women OFWs not only to unfair labor practices, but to different types of abuses and exploitation such as sexual and physical abuse in foreign lands as well. Despite overseas workers being the saving grace of the Philippine economy, Mrs. Arroyo hardly shows any concern for our so called modern day heroes as evident in the lack of concrete and immediate measures to alleviate their condition,” Ilagan stressed.

According to Ilagan, the involvement of President Arroyo and her own family in the infinite scandals, anomalous contracts, lies and bribes bespeaks of her interests in plundering the coffers of the Filipino people.

Maza also hit the bloody record of human rights violations of the current administration. Since 2001, there were 933 victims of extra-judicial killings recorded, 107 of which are women, while there were 1,707 victims of illegal detention, 271 of which were women and 85 victims were children.

“President Arroyo has placed the Philippines as the most dangerous place to live for women in all of Asia and even the whole world. What is more deplorable is the fact that not one of these cases was resolved up to this day and the number of victims continue to rise,” Maza lamented.

“Her rabid adherence to unequal US-RP agreements such as the Visiting Forces Agreement is further jeopardizing the Filipino women to all forms of abuse and exploitation, while undermining our national sovereignty. She has not only deprived justice from Nicole but more so denied every Filipina her right and dignity,” Maza said.

The Gabriela solons concluded that as all these miseries inflicted by US-Arroyo continue, more and more Filipino women will troop to the streets for a change in leadership and governance.