GEE2-Module-8 Womens-Movement-in-the-Philippines PDF

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FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev. 0 10-July-2020 Study Guide in Gender and Society

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Module No.8

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. 8 CHAPTER VIII: Women’s Movement in the Philippines MODULE OVERVIEW

The history of women in our society should be examined in order to understand the unique situation of women in the Philippines. The Philippine situation is unique as it is rooted in the colonial history of the country. The actual condition of pre-Spanish women in the Philippines can be reflected from the practices of the indigenous peoples and the testimonies of Spanish chronicles. These sources indicate that there was a genuine measure of women during the pre-Spanish period. MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Describe how the role of Filipino women in society evolved; 2. State at least three kinds of responses of Filipino women to oppression; and 3. Explain how oppression emerged in the Philippine society. LEARNING CONTENTS

Pre-Colonial Philippines Prior to Hispanic colonization, it can be said that there was no discrimination between sons and daughters. Parents took pride of their children equally, even to the point of deriving nicknames from their children. Male and female children did not experience any form of inequality regarding division of inheritance. Male and female children were also educated equally and each took an active role in society when they grew up. Marriages were arranged and a dowry was paid by the groom to the wife’s family. The women kept her name, and if she was particularly meritorious, the husband took her name. because each spouse kept his or her relationship with the other spouse’s family, each family member was also viewed an equal partner in marriage. Even then, women ran the household and were mainly or equally responsible for all major decisions regarding the running of the household. They also took part in the negotiation of contracts with their spouses. Women played an important role in the economic life of the people. They were involved in actual planting and harvesting, wove, made pottery, and engaged in trading. Women held a substantial amount of the family’s capital and even managed the family’s land holdings. Women were not alien to the public realm and some were able to rise and lead their clans. Historian Luis Dery noted that women also fought alongside men in battle, and many communities were led by them either as direct rulers, caretakers for the young datus, or just as influential people who could build alliances or negotiate the outcomes of battles. Even in today’s Filipino community, there is some measure of equality among men and women especially when women are involved in, or are even mainly responsible for, the family’s income. It is only when a society is structured on the production of surplus and accumulation of wealth that class and hierarchy emerged as necessary, and that women’s PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

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oppression and inequality become an issue. Women thinkers in the Philippines generally agree that inequality between men and women developed in colonial times. Before colonialism, women were leaders in the community. Philippine Women in the Hispanic Period In claiming the Philippine islands, the Spaniards also colonized the settlers of the land. These settlers, now called Filipinos, had to follow a foreign moral and cultural code to be morally acceptable in their own communities. Women were no exception to these incidents. The Spanish clergy saw early Filipinas as too sensuous and free with their behavior, but were appreciated for being intelligent, strong-willed, and practical. Spanish friars admonished women to remain pure and obedient, and exploited the latter’s influential position in traditional communities to spread the new religion. It was important for the Spaniards that the Filipino woman be completely subjugated to her husband or her father and to the Catholic Church. In order to remold women into the alien notion of an ideal woman, they were taught to avoid sin by keeping chaste, not being vain, dressing modestly, keeping busy at home, and being self-sacrificing. The colonizers created a woman who was only active at home and withdrawn from the public sphere. If they were allowed to seek education, women were placed in schools that forced in them the values and character of the new Filipina woman. The Filipina was reduced to an instrument for propagating the colonial system and producing the next generation that would ensure its survival. Chastity, purity, and forbearance were thus promoted simply to subdue early Filipinas to their new role and constrict their creative participation in society. This kind of woman was ironically portrayed by Rizal through the character of Maria Clara who was “sweet, docile, obedient, self-sacrificing” and who “never had the courage to share the fate of her beloved. She was forced into an engagement with a Spaniard, chose to enter the convent to flee from a loveless marriage, and made a more permanent escape from the vicissitudes of life into insanity”. Filipinas were victims of the Spanish patriarchal system and its version of Catholicism. Because wealth accumulation defined the whole existence of the state and power relations were established by this accumulation, women no longer gained active roles in the public sphere, and lost power in the wider spectrum of the society. Their diminished roles in the communal sphere and in the systems of production confined women to supporting roles such as status display and maintenance (organizing parties and keeping appearances), reproduction, and child-rearing. Outside the home, they devoted their creative action to the Church. Thus, when the propaganda movement gained prominence, one of their causes for dismay was the role women played in society. The Propaganda Movement, however, began to recognize the crucial roles women can assume especially in campaigns against Spain, although still limited. While the Propaganda Movement itself was a very male enterprise, it sought to raise the status of women. Women participation in uprisings by the Katipunan and the millenarians suggest that Filipinas played major roles in times of conflicts as leaders, soldiers, healers, and heads of logistic operations. Women in the 1890s organized a masonic lodge called Logia de Adopcion which gathered many intellectual women with anti-Spanish sentiments. Many PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

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outstanding Filipino women such as Gabriela Silang and Gregoria de Jesus were active participants in the war against Spain. Despite 300 years of misogynistic reorientation, women could still find their place among men in the fight for Philippine liberation. Women enlisted in Emilio Aguinaldo’s army to fight against the American regime. Aguenda Iniquinto Cahabagan even rose to the rank of Heneral Brigada in 1899 and led a military unit under Aguinaldo’s army. Other women have also taken on similar positions within the Katipunan. These historical facts indicate that women during the Spanish era were key factors in the Philippine revolution, yet their exploits during this time have yet to be widely recognized. Filipino Women in the American Era After the struggles for independence from Spain, women continued their dynamic role in the Philippine society. From the 1900s to 1920s, most women’s groups furthered the presence of women in the public sphere by focusing on charity work and social services. These groups were formed to keep the elite women busy working with orphans and assisting prisoners, among others. Aida Maranan documented the development of various women associations and leagues during the American Period in the Philippines. Her findings are outlined in the table below. Date

Notable Event

1899

1906

The Associacion de Damas de la Cruz Roja (or the “Women’s Red Cross Association”) was formed to help in the Philippine war effort. The Liga Femenina de la Paz or “Philippine Women’s League of Peace” was set up to assist in the US pacification of the Philippine Islands. The Associacion Femenista Filipina – an organization that gathered volunteers to reform the Philippine society – was created. It promoted social change through prison reforms, education reforms (which included further education of women), the improvement of women’s conditions in factories, and the inclusion of women in certain local governing bodies. The Assosacion Femenista Filipina Ilonga was created. It fought for women’s suffrage.

1907

La Gota de Leche was formed to assist women in maternal and infant care.

1909 1912

A magazine devoted to women’s issues came out to foster the struggle for women’s rights and improvement. The first women’s club, called the “Society for Advancement of Women”, was founded.

1921-1937

The Philippines saw its own suffragette movement.

1922

The Liga Nacional de Damas Filipinas (National League of Filipina Women) was organized with the aim of Philippine independence and better working conditions for factory women. The suffragette movement was enhanced by the creation of the Women’s Citizen League.

1902 1905

1928 1929

1937

The first women’s convention was organized by the Philippine Women’s Suffragette Movement, wherein the suffrage rights of women was agreed for. The fight for maternity leave with pay was also brought to the table. Act No. 2711 granted women the right to vote, thus the creation of the General Council of Women to make sure that this right would be exercised by 1937. Filipina women realized their right to vote.

1939

The League of Women’s Voters was organized for voter’s education.

1950

Women organized the Civic Assembly of the Philippines to engage in policymaking, but “reinforced the belief that the primary concern of women was the home”.

1935

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1951

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The first National Political Party of Women was set up but did not last because of the dominance of established parties.

Three insights about women’s movements from the American period until Martial Law activism are relevant: 1. These movements were begun and dominated by men. Even the suffrage movement was said to have been encouraged by the Americans to distract people from the independence movement. 2. Women’s involvement in these movements gave them liberties and roles that were traditionally denied them. At the very least, it gave them the institutional framework for participating in the outside world. From women concerned with domestic issues, they became women engaged in social issues and policymaking. 3. Goals and objectives of these movements were valid for and important to a smaller or greater section of Filipino women. Not everyone cared about the same issues and thus, support for women’s movements was not strong enough to transform the patriarchal system. Therefore, even if these movements allowed women to participate in the public sphere and contribute to nation-building, women were still confined to play supporting riles to the projects of men – to the realm of care which is akin to domestic work – and ended up supporting and perpetuating patriarchy. Another insight is that most of the movements involved welfare work led by a group of upper-class women that only addressed the latter’s issues. It was not until the late 1960s and 1970s that they discovered a more radical action that would question patriarchy and the social order that defined the world of women. Most women groups in the Philippines were keen on establishing and furthering the development agenda of the West and the social classes that benefitted from Western development. They supported the expansion of Western education and softened the adverse effects of the imposed market economy by providing social safety nets for marginalized and displaced people. They likewise supported the work of men by enhancing their roles as housewives through women’s clubs that discussed the issues and needs of women like the training of house help, child-rearing, and charity work. All of these activities were extensions of their domestic roles. Women groups during the American Period furthered the interests of the ruling classes and Western countries. These groups needed the Philippines for its strategic military location in Asia, cheap labor and natural resources. However, there exists a counteractive opinion that if marginalized people were treated well, then there would be less social unrest resulting from this defective social and economic system. Immersing with marginalized people kept women groups so busy that they felt involved in the society and had no time to question their subordinate role to men. Meanwhile, the furthering of national development I the export sector at that time caused great poverty. Workers’ wages were kept low by an oppressive government, preventing workers from earning a decent income that would have allowed them to be housed, their children to be educated, and their nutritional needs to be met. Displacement in the countryside was triggered by land takeovers or social and military unrests brought about by the exploitation of natural PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

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resources by the elite and foreign nationals. Women victims of displacement suffered the double burden of surviving their conditions while providing for their family. Women were also victims of violence and harassment. Despite all these exploitations, the Philippine industry did not actually advance and extractive activities degraded the environment. The feminist groups that emerged from the communist and socialist movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s would react against this reality. The Birth of Militant Groups with a Feminist Agenda Revolutionary groups that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s were associated with the communist and socialist movements. These groups argued that the nation was suffering from underdevelopment because its economy served the interests of the US by providing cheap labor and free access to resources, as well as by serving as a dumping ground for US goods. The new economic model under the American and post-war period brought about various levels of poverty. Women who worked with the underground and aboveground components of the Communist Party, and the other socialist groups that rivalled it, realized that the agenda for liberation can also serve women’s quest for equality. Many of the problems women faced were a result of abusive structures that kept them poor and exposed to various kinds of exploitation. The nationalist and militant women’s movement, as they called themselves, believed that the only way to achieve equality in the society was to liberate the nation from the exploitation of the elite and the US. However, women issues on inequality were considered secondary within the communist and socialist movements, and that militant women had to gather themselves together under the socialist party to push for women agenda while struggling for national liberation. The iconic Malayang Kilusan ng Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA), a radical women’s group led by student activists, showed that the root of women’s problems lay in “feudalism, capitalism, and colonialism”. They also said that the role of women in the liberation movement should not be confined to “making sandwiches, raising funds, jotting down minutes to the meeting, and playing adjuncts to the male leaders who generally made the decisions. Eventually, they took part in organizing and educating women peasants and laborers, as well as in establishing day care centers for the latter (which was important for freeing women to engage the public sphere). MAKIBAKA became inactive because its leaders were imprisoned or driven into hiding during the Martial Law. This organization is an important part of history as it was the first group to emphasize the issues of women as integral and yet distinct from the general national liberation objectives of the party. The Kilusan ng Kababaihang Pilipina (PILIPINA) and the Katipunan ng Kababaihan Para sa Kalayaan (KALAYAAN) were groups form in the 1980s that challenged the potentially anti-women’s ways of the Communist Party’s leadership. PILIPINA focused on mainstreaming women’s concerns in the transformation of society. It promoted the welfare of women through social development work, particularly establishing cooperatives and providing training in women’s conerns. KALAYAAN, on the other hand, worked within the national liberation agenda to ensure that the women’s liberation issues were not made secondary in the movement. PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

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The assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. brought women’s groups into the limelight as they pushed for their own political agenda. These organizations were led by middle and upper-class “politically-inclined matrons who sought for justice, freedom, and democracy through peaceful means”. A prominent group was the National Organization of Women (NOW) which was the adjunct of the United Democratic Opposition party coalition. It was oriented toward the socio-political formation of women and the campaign for clean elections. During this time, the intensifying call for honest governance resulted in the foundation of other women groups like the Alliance of Women for Action towards Reconciliation (AWARE) and Women for the Ouster of Marcos and Boycott (WOMB). Women’s sections also sprung from existing groups like the Concerned Artists of the Philippines. Religious Women came together in alliances as well, like the Association of Women in Theology (AWIT) which brought together pastors, Catholic nuns, and deacons; the Katipunan ng mga Madre sa Maynila which was composed of religious women; and the Church Women United which was affiliated with the National Council of Churches in the Philippines. The students from the universities likewise established groups like the University of the Philippines’ Samahang Makabayan ng Kabataang Kababaihan (SAMAKAKababaihan). Exclusive schools formed their own groups as well like Ateneo de Manila’s Atenista Women and the then Maryknoll College’s Katipuneros. On October 28, 1983, about 9,000 women took part in the largest women’s march that protested human rights abuses and the abuses of the military. This movement was dubbed as the Women’s Protest Day. The following year, the women who took part in this protest formed the General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action (GABRIELA). GABRIELA consistently protested against the policies and projects of the Marcos regime that were inimical to the people’s interests. Eventually, however, the coalition disbanded because some members desired to participate in the 1986 snap elections. The more militant groups saw the snap elections as a ploy of the Marcos government to legitimize itself, or for the elite to regain their power. Since he 1986 turmoil, women’s movements in the Philippines shifted “from a broad coalition to small tactical and issue- or project-based alliances”. This observation remains true until today as present concerns of women’s movements are more issue-based, focusing on particular causes such as trafficking, domestic violence, maternal and reproductive health, and protection of domestic workers. They are also concerned with services that support women like the daycare or women’s health centers, training for the protection of women’s rights, livelihood projects, and cooperative formation. One area of coalition formation that did work in the turn of this century is the party-list sys...