Philippines

Would increasing women participation in politics improve Philippine governance?

Some lawmakers and women's rights advocates believe it would.

In line with Women’s Month, lawmakers and women's rights advocate organized a Legislator’s forum last March 27 at the Sulo Riviera Hotel, addressing a bill that aims to promote women participation in governance.

At the heart of Manila’s main thoroughfare, right at the People Power monument, a large group of Muslim women gathered one Sunday (Oct. 14, 2012), in pink hijabs no less, to send an important message to the rest of the Filipino nation as the historic framework agreement on the Bangsamoro was about to be signed: “Religious understanding now, Bangsamoro for peace, yes to national unity.”

As many believe that Boholano women are more empowered, Women in New Growth and Services (WINGS) Director and lawyer Myrna Pagsuberon believes otherwise.
For more information, please visit Philippine News Agency's Website

The National Federation of Women's Clubs Foundation (NFWCF) is spearheading the Women's National Electoral Assembly in celebration of seventy years of emancipation for Filipino women in a two-day conference on September 14 and 15 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila. The assembly marks the beginning of the Diamond Jubilee of the Filipino Women's Right to Vote, first granted in 1937 during the Commonwealth period of then President Ramon Magsaysay.

Women leaders in the Asia-Pacific region who joined the International Women's Peace and Solidarity Mission to Basilan condemned the Philippine government's move to send thousand of troops to the province and neighboring Sulu.
To read the full article, please visit the Sun Star's Website.

The chair of the Gabriela Network USA, a Philippine-US women's rights solidarity organization, was prevented from leaving the Philippines last week after allegedly being placed on a watch list. Dr. Annalisa Enrile, also a University of Southern California professor, was barred by the Philippine Bureau of Immigrations on August 5 from boarding a flight from the Philippines back to her home in Los Angeles.
To read the full article, please visit the Feminist Daily's Website.