From the News! – Your Daily News

by Joel dela Torre
from People’s Journal

MARKING the United Nations Day for Women and International Peace today, the Commission on Human Rights called on government to improve protection and programs for the rights of women.

The CHR said that women and girls as human beings are entitled  along with men and boys to civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, thus the need for the quick passage into law of the Magna Carta for Women aside from strengthening the application of the law on violence against women and children.

Because there are certain issues that are more problematic for women than men, they need stronger protection, CHR chairperson Leila de Lima said.

The main issues that threaten the rights of women in the Philippines include domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment, extrajudicial killings, unequal job opportunities, internal displacement due to armed conflict, health care including reproductive health, education and literacy, and proper treatment in the criminal justice system.

“Equality and non-discrimination are not achieved by having gender-neutral laws per se, or by having laws that are ‘equally applicable to men and women, instead, equality and non-discrimination are fulfilled by having laws that, in their implementation allow both genders to live their lives in dignity and in full enjoyment of their human rights,” De Lima said.

The CHR chief urged President Macapagal-Arroyo to sign into law at the soonest possible time the Magna Carta for Women, which covers a wide range of matters pertaining to women which make up about half of the national population.

The Senate passed the bill on the Magna Carta just before International Women’s Day.

Manuel L. Quezon III
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines – We are living in days when the Catholic Church has set out to basically nullify the Philippine Revolution, by making government the instrument for the propagation of the Faith. In all things related to sexuality, the hierarchy wants a return to innocence.

But when were we ever so? Take prostitution.

Prostitution is everywhere in our land, and this has been so since time immemorial. In the 1970s Nick Joaquin even wrote a short history of prostitution combined with a travelogue of the best places to find female flesh, circa pre-martial law Manila (he called it “Manila: Sin City?”). No success has been met in eliminating it. Perhaps the option left is to put women in control—not only of their bodies, but of the fruits of their labor should they decide that sex is to be their trade.

Samuel Johnson wrote that “In all countries there has been fornication, as in all countries there has been theft; but there may be more or less of the one, as well as of the other, in proportion to the force of law. All men will naturally commit fornication, as all men will naturally steal. And, Sir, it is very absurd to argue, as has been often done, that prostitutes are necessary to prevent violent effects of appetite from violating the decent order of life; nay, should be permitted in order to preserve the chastity of our wives and daughters. Depend upon it, severe laws, steadily enforced, would be sufficient against these evils, and would promote marriage.”

An obscure writer named William E. H. Lecky also wrote “Herself the supreme type of vice, she (the prostitute) is ultimately the most efficient guardian of virtue. But for her, the unchallenged purity of countless happy homes would be polluted, and not a few who, in the pride of their untempted chastity, think of her with an indignant shudder, would have known the agony of remorse and despair. On that one degraded and ignoble form are concentrated the passions that night have filled the world with shame. She remains, while creeds and civilizations rise and fall, the eternal priestess of humanity, blasted for the sins of the people.”

Now there is a commonly repeated and scurrilous piece of conventional wisdom that says a certain town in the Bicol region produces only two types of people: priests and prostitutes. This is, of course, not true, but it is useful to repeat it here because it calls attention to a disturbing duality in our country: we are famous for our Catholicism (in fact we seem to be held in special affection by Popes who see our nation as the cradle of a New Counter-Reformation) and our piety, and we are notorious for the plenitude of our prostitutes.

And, since this is the era of globalization, foreign prostitutes have been arriving in appreciable numbers, particularly Russians in the Ramos years, said to be much sought after by the Chinese community: one Russian prostitute in Davao did so well that she retired and set up a beauty parlor from which derived a prosperous—and impeccably honest—living. South Americans from Colombia and Brazil have made it to our shores, as have gigolos from the Middle East, reportedly favored by matrons.

Some might echo the philosopher Schopenhauer, who wrote that “Prostitutes are human sacrifices on the altar of monogamy,” and rightly so: in our local experience alone, most men find themselves in bed with a prostitute as part of an essential rite of passage subsidized by uncles and godfathers (again, a strange mixture of the sacred and the profane, what with sexual initiation probably farthest from the mind of the Church when it considers godparents), so as to prepare them for the rigors of the marriage bed.

And it can lead to a lifelong addiction. Wrote Simone de Beauvoir: “Marriage … is directly related to prostitution, which, it has been said, follows humanity from ancient to modern times like a dark shadow over the family.” As with forbidden drugs, is society best served by punishing prostitutes, their customers, or the pimps? With the same regularity as the passing of the Church’s liturgical calendar, politicians file bills in Congress to punish prostitution, or at least the pimps; policemen raid nightclubs when they’re not busy taking in protection money; and once in a while a person of note is hauled in to jail after having been accused of trying to solicit sex by offering women money.

Some police officials previously took up the cudgels for rehabilitation and not punishment as the official line. This was in the Ramos years when officialdom wasn’t as terrified of the clergy as they are now. A Western Police District officer was recorded as having grumbled to the papers that the perpetual roundup of prostitutes was achieving nothing because, unless they were caught in the act, prostitutes could only be charged with vagrancy under our antique Revised Penal Code—a charge that only results in a small fine and instant release of the offender.

The solution seems to be, as most successful solutions are, a pragmatic one. Questions of morality put aside, some (not all) women’s groups have proposed that prostitution be legalized so that women engaged in the profession at least have the full protection of the law and access to insurance and health benefits, and can operate in an atmosphere less likely to foster victimization and brutality. This is, naturally, a highly controversial proposal, but not one that hasn’t worked more or less successfully in places like Holland. A great deal of the abuse and tragedy that surrounds prostitutes and prostitution stems from the fact that so many people—policemen, pimps—make themselves indispensable for a prostitute to scrounge a living; remove these people and at the very least the prostitute could reap the benefits of her earnings.

Johanna M. Sampan
Manila Times

PLAN—an international, humanitarian, child-centered development organization without religious, political or governmental affiliation or leanings started operating in Pilar Island, a part of the Camotes Group of Islands in Cebu City in 2000.

Besides promoting the welfare of children, Plan Philippines together with the local government of Pilar and Lihok Pilipina, Inc. (LPI)—a Cebu based NGO recently took the task of educating the island’s residents on the issue of domestic violence. The project was coined Bantay Banay (literally means “family watch”).

Besides educating communities on the issue of domestic violence, Bantay Banay as a watch group actually responds to actual cases of abuse. To help victims, the group provides medical and medico-legal assistance, counseling, legal advice, temporary shelter and livelihood referral.

The volunteer workers of the organization are composed of professionals sympathetic to victims of beatings, rape, incest and other forms of violence. They are trained to provide intervention to the cycle of abuse through family dialogues and mediation on the barangay level.

“We would like to shatter the misconception that “family quarrel is a private matter,” Dr. Eugenia Maratas, M.D., vice chairman of Bantay Banay relates, adding, “We want the family members especially the wives to be truthful and open about it, to notify us if there’s really a case of violence within the family.”

Bantay Banay is currently working on safeguard measures to ensure the continuity of the project in case of change of leadership in the barangays.

Dolita Dales, chairman of Bantay Banay, envisions that through the project, the sanctity of the family would be safeguarded. She’s also keen on empowering the women of Pilar too. “For women, we hope to help them more in building their confidence by allowing them in greater participation in decision making within the households and community,” she concludes. For details, visit www.plan-international.org.

by Candice Choi, Associated Press Writer
from The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) – Women may not earn as much as men or fly up the corporate ladder as quickly, but they get the last laugh since they live longer. Right?

As it turns out, women probably aren’t saving enough to bankroll those extra years in style. They invest more conservatively, start saving later and are more likely to be in and out of the work force, according to a study released Wednesday by Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm.

Suddenly, retirement isn’t looking so rosy.

Women live an average of 22 years after retirement versus 19 years for men and medical costs are rising, so women will need to save 2 percent more than men every year over 30 years to maintain their standard of living upon retirement, the study found.

The importance of saving didn’t dawn on Jerre Laughlin until she was in her 40s and started working in human resources.

“I was looking at pensions all day and was seeing what happens to employees who don’t save. That’s when reality set in,” said Laughlin, now 63 and a resident of Kansas City, Kan. She’s been playing catch-up since and doesn’t plan to retire until she’s 67.

Laughlin isn’t the only one who’s learning her lesson the hard way. The Hewitt study found women today still do worse by every measure: they start saving later (by two to four years), invest less (7.3 percent versus 8.1 percent) and are in and out of the work force more often for family reasons – gaps that can result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in missed earnings, raises and benefits.

The study looked at the projected retirement levels of nearly 2 million current workers of varying ages at 72 large U.S. companies and used actual employee balances.

“Women tend to be a little more risk averse, more fearful of losing money,” said Alison Borland, an author of the study.

Women’s saving habits haven’t improved significantly over the past several years, either, Borland said.

The study also found a quarter of women didn’t contribute at a high enough level to take advantage of the company match, which is typically 50 cents for every dollar up to 6 percent of pay. On average, women earned $57,000 versus $84,000 for men.

Yet women will have longer retirements than men by an average of three years. Socking away more now can improve the quality of those extra years.

If a woman who earns $57,000 a year boosts her contribution from 2 percent to 4 percent – an extra $95 a month – she can save an extra $81,000 by the time she retires, according to the study. That doesn’t include her employer’s matching contribution.

Delaying retirement can have a big impact too; every additional year is more time earning and less time sapping savings.

One of the biggest missteps people make is cashing out plans when switching jobs; that wipes out 30 percent or more of the account’s value in taxes and penalties.

Not surprisingly, the study states 90 percent of women were unsure about managing their finances. It also found that more companies are offering investment guidance, however.

Overall, four out of five men and women aren’t saving enough to keep up the same lifestyle after they stop working. Because of inflation and rising medical costs, Hewitt estimates workers will need to replace 126 percent of their salary after retirement to maintain their lifestyle. Both men and women are on track to replace an average of just 67 percent of that amount.

But with a longer retirement stretching before them, women may want to think about closing the savings gap fast.

Manila Times

There is a need to disaggregate data concerning men and women in the Philippines for a better implementation and design of development programs and projects for women.

Making a call in a Advocacy Forum on Gender Statistics held recently in Makati City, government and civil society representatives said this need becomes more pressing as statisticians and specialists uncovered certain aspects of economic activities in which women’s contributions are not well monitored and recorded, such as their unpaid work in the households, farms and home-based industries.

Also missing in many government statistics are the extent by which women partake of economic and other services, such as their participation and their availment of support measures in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, among others.

Ironically, women are the recipients of many development funds, and their welfare and well being have to be monitored to find out if all these interventions are making an impact in women’s lives and in the national development, in general.

Jessamyn Encarnacion, a division chief of the National Statistical Coordination Board, said that if the government makes an adjustment of gross domestic production (GDP) figures at current prices, it will have to adjust the GDP by at least 66.19 percent on account of the non-recording of women’s economic activities, many of which are unpaid.

Methods used in the valuation of unpaid work are estimations of the opportunity cost and market price of the services rendered by women. The statistical board’s adjusted estimate included the total time spent in community services, since Filipinas, on the average, are expected to perform community service.

With proper adjustment, women’s share in the GDP has increased by 8 percentage points from 2000 to 2006, Encarnacion said.

Yet, women are not paid for many hours spent in serving their families and communities, and their services account for 59.6 percent of unpaid work in the Philippines. Women not in the labor force also account for half of the total value of unpaid work of women, Encarnacion added.

Women contributed 46.2 percent of the adjusted gross national product from 38.0 percent when unpaid work was not included.

The study by the statistical board also indicated that women accounted for only 27.4 percent of net factor income from abroad, even if male-female labor migration has shifted, and women now comprise almost half of all migrant workers.

– Nora O. Gamolo

Manila Times

BAMBANG, Nueva Vizcaya: A Catholic school teacher here has been the subject of numerous complaints of alleged sexual harassments reportedly committed against some of his pupils of prominent families.

In their complaint before the children and women’s desk of the police office here, the eight Grade 5 and Grade 6 pupils of the Catholic Church-run Saint Catherine’s School here said that their teacher, Angelito Alipio, have made direct and indirect sexual advances against them by repeatedly stretching the straps of their underwear as well as fondling their shoulders and arms.

Accompanied by their parents and local social welfare personnel, the young complainants also claimed the suspect repeatedly uttered sexual remarks during their class.

SPO4 Revelita Marzan of the children and women’s desk at the police department said the alleged victims of sexual harassment, along with their parents, have alleged incidents officially recorded at their office in preparation of their formal filing of appropriate cases against the suspect before the court this week.

School officials, including the principal, Deanne Aduca, declined to issue any statement, saying investigations have been ongoing. They also denied they already terminated the services of the suspect so as to spare the school from embarrassment.

Earlier, unconfirmed reports said that school officials had allegedly already terminated the employment of the suspect as a result of the sexual harassment complaints.

– Francis C. Hidalgo Jr.

Jomar Canlas
Manila Times

IN giving more support and protection for battered wo­men and children, the Supreme Court gave due course for the prayer exempting battered women and children from payment of increased filing fees.

The local government of Quezon City made the said request after their passage of Resolution SP 3756, Series of 2007 exempting battered wo­men from payment of docket fees hike.

Eugenio Y. Jurilla, city secretary of Quezon City, sent the letter to the Court and the copy of their resolution was attached.

The plea was made to the Court since the requirement of exorbitant court fees defeats the good intention of Republic Act 9262, the Law on Violence of Against Women and Children.

A one-page resolution was immediately issued by the Court en banc taking note of the prayer made by the City Council which shall be subjected to future deliberations and justices’ consideration.

The increase of the docket fees for litigants was implemented during the tenure of then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. to augment the expenditures for the judiciary.

The Supreme Court ordered all lower courts in the country to fully implement the exemption from payment of docket and other fees of all Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) litigants and clients.

The Court made its immediate response to the letter of Persida Rueda-Acosta, PAO chief, dated April 24, 2007, in view of the implementation of Republic Act 9406, the Act Reorganizing and Strengthening the Public Attorney’s Office.

The said amendment to the PAO charter must be disseminated to all courts nationwide by mandating the Office of the Court Administrator, the Office of the Clerk of Court and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. The PAO specifically cited Section 16-D of the said law for the exemption from fees and costs of the suit.

Luige A. del Puerto
Inquirer

SOME 16 percent of women police officers have been physically abused by their partners at one time or another during the last 10 years, according to a study by the Philippine National Police’s Family, Juvenile, and Gender Sensitivity Division (FJGSD).

When asked, “Have you experienced being physically battered by your husband or partner?” some 16 percent of 2,637 women said “yes,” while 84 percent said “no.”

The survey also showed that 20 female officers put up with physical abuse for 10 years; 34 women put up with it for five years; 36, for two years, and 55, for a year. But the actual figures of physically abused women officers could be higher, the survey said.

“These are women police officers expected to uphold the law. It’s ironic, but I think this reflects our society, our culture,” FJGSD head Supt. Ildebrandi Usana told the Inquirer Friday.

Violence against women “crosses boundaries,” Usana said, and women who are law enforcers or who carry guns were not necessarily immune to physical abuse.

The survey was conducted in September 2005 with 3,500 respondents with 15 percent from the national headquarters and the rest from regional police offices and national support units. Questionnaires had been sent to female officers, most of whom were assigned to the women’s and children’s concern desks (WCCDs).

The results were presented on Friday during the start of the “16-Day Campaign to Eliminate VAW (Violence Against Women)” in Camp Crame.

Some 7.7 percent of the 115,000-strong Philippine National Police are women. But none of them occupy senior posts in the force and many are confined to desk jobs and medical work.

When the female officers were asked if they knew of any male officer committing domestic violence against his wife or female partner, 35 percent of respondents said “yes.”

But just like the other battered women, the female officers refused to come out in the open.

According to the survey, battered women did not report their abusive partners because they were afraid of being humiliated, they believed their partners would no longer hurt them, and they wanted to avoid problems in the family if a case were filed in court.

Women were abused for a variety of reasons, with the survey naming jealousy, arguments over the husbands’ vices, and infidelity.

Various studies report on a cycle of violence: After the battery, the male partner apologizes, pursues the female partner, and everything is OK until the next battery and the cycle continues.

Civil Service Commission Chair Karina David, a women’s rights advocate, told the crowd of mostly women that the problem of VAW was “cultural.”

At a very young age, boys and girls are conditioned to think that they are not equal and this is the root of the problem, according to David. Women are brought up to believe they are subordinate to their husbands, and that husbands have the right to hurt their wives.

Even seating arrangements at a rectangular dinner table indicate inequality as men are seated at the head of the table, the wife and children to his left or right. David suggested that families use a round table instead.

“Many kinds of abuses stem from the belief that someone is lower in status than you,” David said in Filipino.

She challenged the men to “first understand why there is inequality.” Once the problem was understood, the manifestations, such as remarks or jokes which degrade women, could be identified.

“When you hear a joke [which is derogatory to women], challenge it,” David said, adding that men should be encouraged to discuss the issue.

“Try to get other people to join you in doing something about it,” she said. “The bottom line is no one — whether man, woman, child or elderly — has the right to hurt anyone.”

David also urged officers, especially those handling cases involving women and children, to try to put themselves in the shoes of the victims and not to blame them if they withdraw charges.

A woman could drop a case against an abusive partner for many reasons, David said, chief of which was fear — of reprisal, of not being able to support the children, of being cut off from the family.

Others who spoke at the kickoff rights were: Dr. Victorino Lantion of Men’s Responsibility in Gender and Development, based in Davao City, and Roderic Rama Poca of Men’s Movement Opposed to Violence Against Women and Children, based in Cebu City.

The 16-day campaign to eliminate VAW is conducted by the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW). This year’s theme is “Men Speak Out,” with organizers encouraging men to take a more active role in the campaign against VAW.

Luige del Puerto
Inquirer

THE CASES of violence against women (VAW) such as wife battery and sexual abuse have decreased in the last three years, according to police statistics.
VAW incidents reported to the police during the first three quarters of 2005 numbered 5,146, lower by 7.6 percent compared to the same period in 2004, and lower by 20.2 percent compared to the same period in 2003.

“There is a need to determine the real causes for this decline. During the last 10 to 12 years, from 1991 to 2003, the number of VAW cases rose,” said Superintendent Ildebrandi Usana, head of the Philippine National Police-Juvenile and Gender Sensitivity Division.

Usana said the number of abused women could be higher but they were unreported. Studies showed that women preferred to keep quiet about their ordeal because of the humiliation and the belief that this would cause more problems for the family.

The officer listed down three reasons that could explain the recent statistics:

* The passage of Republic Act No. 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act last year;

* The aggressive campaign by government and private groups to raise awareness about VAW and to educate women about their rights and what they could do to protect themselves.

* The unwillingness of victims to report their abusive partners because victims don’t want their partners to end up in jail.

“Based on our experience, many women just want to give their partners a lesson,” Usana said. “This could be why they do not want to report. Remember, the intention of the law is to provide heavier penalties so that VAW does not happen.”

Victims also didn’t want their partners locked up for a long period because of its possible effects on the family, the children in particular, Usana added.

Police statistics showed that of the 5,146 cases reported during the first nine months of 2005, 35.64 percent involved physical injuries or wife battery and 16.40 percent involved cases of rape and attempted rape.

One in every 13 cases involved acts of lasciviousness. Less than one percent accounted for sexual harassment, according to statistics.

There were 5,563 VAW cases reported to the police in 2004 and 6,447 cases in 2003, the same statistics showed.

Last week, the FJGSD presented a study showing that up to 16 percent of women police officers had been physically abused by their partners at one time or another during the last 10 years.

Cielito Habito
Inquirer

WHEN OUR FAMILY GOES OUT FOR DINNER, when I bring our dirty clothes to the corner laundry to be washed, or when their teachers teach my children their lessons in school, these activities add to the nation’s reported gross national product (GNP).

When my wife cooks our family dinner, does the laundry, or helps the children with their homework, none of her efforts ever gets valued nor enters any economic accounts. Outside our own household, her true worth to the economy will never be fully appreciated.

Women contribute to the economy far more than what most people are aware of and what are recorded in the economic accounts. Perhaps as a consequence of this, their status in economic life has always been lower than that of men.

The evolution of the modern economy appears to be changing all this. Key trends shaping the nature of the economy at the global, national and local levels have impacts on the economic role and status of women in both positive and negative ways. These major economic trends include globalization, the rise of the Knowledge Economy, and resurgence of small enterprises.

Globalization trends
Globalization is reshaping the relative roles of women and men in economic life. The globalization process provides greater mobility for workers and expanded employment opportunities overseas. But this trend is accompanied by a growing proportion of women in non-standard work such as temporary, casual, multiple, contract and home-based employment. Thus, while globalization is raising the quantity of women’s recognized contributions to economic life through the labor force, the quality of their participation still needs to be seriously considered and addressed.

Women also now dominate labor migration, with nurses, caregivers, and especially domestic workers making up a substantial portion of such labor movement coming from Asia, particularly the Philippines. This has also led to changes in the host countries, where household work has been restructured from traditionally unremunerated work by housewives to a more formal economic activity undertaken by foreign domestic workers. This has in turn increased the labor force participation by women in general. While this may be seen as a positive trend especially from the point of view of the host economy, it comes at the cost of fracturing the families of the women migrant workers, along with the often tremendous social costs this entails.

Knowledge advantage
The second major economic trend is the dominance of information and communication technology (ICT) in the “New Economy” that has emerged in the 21st century. The basis for wealth creation in the modern economy is changing from the traditional “bricks and mortar” to “clicks and portals”. The more successful firms in the Knowledge Economy are those who have better access to information and knowledge, and no longer those who are in possession of greater fixed capital including real estate. This could be a positive factor for women, inasmuch as they now dominate tertiary education, as statistics in European and Asian countries would show. In the Philippines, 53.2 percent of college and university students are female. Thus, for as long as there is no gender gap in access to ICT, women seem to have the advantage in numbers to cash in on the knowledge-based economy.

SME resurgence
The third economic trend, which has to a large extent been facilitated by the second, is the resurgence in importance of small enterprises. With rapid developments in ICT, modern societies have seen a widespread return to small enterprises including home-based ones, even as globalization has also increased the number of transnational corporations (TNCs). Small firms that provide products ranging from services to manufactured goods are proliferating world wide. This has become possible because ICT and electronic commerce permits them virtually equal access to the global markets vis-…-vis their much larger counterparts, with savings in overhead costs compensating for their lack of economies of scale.

This trend has created wider opportunities for integrating formal economic activities with unremunerated domestic work, whether for men or women, but especially for the latter. Having to devote time for rearing children and managing the household need not deprive women anymore of the opportunity to become entrepreneurs. It’s not a one-sided situation either. The same trend also implies that men are increasingly able to participate more equitably in child rearing and home management, while still engaged in gainful enterprise.

Cultural biases
What needs to be overcome are the traditional cultural biases against women taking a more active role in formal economic life, and men taking a more active role in home and family management. Steps must also be taken to avoid a “gender divide” in ICT. And in the case of women employed in the “old economy,” whether as workers or managers, there is a need to eliminate the unfair wage differentials between men and women that still persist.

My wife runs a non-profit school and some community outreach projects along with it, balancing all that with managing our home, seeing to our five children’s welfare, and responding to my sometimes unfair demands as a husband. She earns just a fraction of what I make. Given what she contributes to our economy and society, I often feel it should be the other way around.

Comments are welcome at chabito@ateneo.edu