And between the male and female gender, it is the latter that, on top of the basic senses, was given an extra sense called a "woman’s intuition." And yet the female has been identified as a member of the "disadvantaged" sector. Why is it that the female is known as belonging to the underprivileged species? And worst still, as belonging to the "weaker gender." Weaker...when there is a known global statistic that there are more widows than widowers. In the Philippines, the ratio is even more stark. In my family alone, out of a father, a mother, and five children, there are four widows: my mother, two sisters, and myself. And yet, Shakespeare enunciated, circa 16th century, the most chauvinistic statement of all time: "Frailty, thy name is woman!" The villain of the Garden of Eden story, tradition tells us, is Eve. Weak and sinful, she eats the forbidden fruit and humanity is headed downhill from there on. This is supposed to symbolize the "evil in all women." Eve’s portrayal has probably done more to destroy women’s positive self-image than any other factor in tradition or mythology. Elizabeth Stanton, as early as the late 19th century in the book she authored, Woman’s Bible, tried to interpret the story of Eve in a feminist context. "It is amazing," she wrote, "that any set of men ever claimed that the dogma of the inferiority of woman is accepted, because the conduct of Eve from the beginning to the end is so superior to that of Adam." Patriarchal interpreters claim that woman is inferior because she was created last, but they never argue that humans are inferior to animals because they were created later. Why can’t we speculate that the serpent questioned Eve because she was the more intelligent of the two? An Australian female rabbi argues on this wave length and postulates: "It could demonstrate woman’s superior intellectual capacity. After all, Eve had the first theological discussion, not Adam."
Within the Philippine context, have we Filipino women really come into our own? Is the Filipino woman clinging to her Filipino macho male, doing so in order to draw strength from him, or is she doing so to sap the strength from him with a devious agenda in mind, consummate in her mastery of the fact that by clinging, she vanquishes and overpowers.
The women are tough, no doubt about that. The Ameurfina Herreras and Haydee Yoracs have multiplied by leaps and bounds. I have heard only a couple of women in politics say that they have a problem with the "toughness" issue. Female leadership today requires an archetype of the tough woman who grows beyond motherhood, who reintegrates with her source of being, who has the courage of her convictions – one who judges herself powerful, competent, loving and beautiful, who is prepared to meet men on her own terms, as colleagues, competitors or lovers.
Have we gone a long way in furthering and pushing the gender issues beyond the new Family Code and the Gender and Development (GAD) effort, the latter having been given its required place of honor on September 8, 1995, by former President Fidel V. Ramos through Executive Order No. 273, "Approving And Adopting The Philippine Plan For Gender-Responsive Development, 1995 to 2025?" This gave life to Sec. 14 Art. II of the Philippine Constitution which provide that, "The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men." Pursuant to this, every agency of government had a specific task to undertake in the formulation of key result areas for GAD, after institutionalizing the efforts mandated for their respective agencies, incorporating GAD concerns in their planning, programming, and budgeting processes. Monitoring was a joint responsibility of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
I know that in the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), its head of administration, who later retired as the Undersecretary for administration, Carina S. Valera, a career executive service official (CESO), with expert knowledge of gender issues, did such admirable work on this assignment, fervently pushing concrete reforms in all the agencies attached to the DOTC and under its supervision, from the installation of diaper-changing tables in women’s restrooms to equality of opportunity issues between men and women within the agencies. But how have the other agencies responded to the GAD mandate?
Today, we find Las Piñas Representative Cynthia Villar fighting for funds for GAD and women-related activities in Congress, because under the law, five percent of the total annual budget for every government agency has to be utilized for GAD. The House of Representatives has a P150-million GAD fund out of the P3- billion budget for this year and Villar is asking for only P25 million. She was quoted as saying, "This is the first step in the implementation of the law on gender development." This, eight years after the Ramos EO? It’s about time.
The snail’s pace it takes to tackle female issues is an eye-opener to the postulate that the Filipino woman is now self-sufficient and can take care of herself. True? Most likely one reason for this perspective goes back about eight years ago when the effort, which I shall call "The Gentle Revolution" commenced. It sprang from the imperative need to bring imagination, human compassion, social justice, tenderness in areas where the Filipino woman had suffered injustice, inequity and harm. The Gentle Revolution, found fruition and fulfillment in the successful handling of every critical issue that hurt the soul, the dignity, and the empowerment of the Filipino woman. Only one man can take credit for this, one man who now cherishes the gift bestowed on him by one of the largest aggregations of Filipino women, who got together to give Raul S. Roco the title of "Honorary Woman." This is the female constituency that could spark the evolution of what could be a "Women’s Vote" for him in the 2004 presidential elections. This could well be the reason why quite a great number of women are saying: "Let a million flowers bloom!"
The following laws were authored by Roco and successfully passed:
1. The Anti-Sexual Harassment Act – R.A. 7877
Raul Roco authored successfully R.A. 7877, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, which prohibits all forms of sexual harassment in the employment, education, or training environment. This law defines sexual harassment as an act committed by a person, who, having authority, influence or moral ascendancy over another, in a work, education or training-related environment, demands, requests, or otherwise requires any sexual favor from another person (usually a woman), regardless of whether the demand, request or requirement for submission is accepted by the object of said act. By the way, the law recognizes that the males may also be victims of sexual harassment.
2. The Anti-Rape Law – R.A. 8353
Roco also authored this law, which reclassifies rape from a crime against chastity to a crime against persons. Even if an offended party therefore withdraws the complaint, government prosecutors can still prosecute the offender. The Act broadens the definition of rape to include sexual assault: insertion of the penis into another person’s mouth, or any instrument into the genital or anal opening of another person. The new definition includes new aggravating circumstances of rape, like fraudulent machinations (where a victim can do nothing but give in) and grave abuse of authority (beyond threats or intimidation, especially in the case of incest). It implicitly recognizes marital rape. Even though there is no term "marital rape" used in the law itself, the law says that if the offender is the legal husband, forgiveness by the wife extinguishes the criminal action or penalty. (to be continued)