Women’s rights

In a country that’s on its second female president, women tend to take their rights for granted.

I never knew that April 30 is Woman Suffrage Day in the Philippines, and that today is its 70th anniversary. I must’ve been absent when this was taught in history class. All along I thought that as soon as Filipinos participated in elections, women had always enjoyed the power of the vote.

One of our editors, Alma Anonas, told me that her grandmother Concepcion chained herself to the gates of the Philippine Assembly together with other suffragettes in 1935. The suffragettes were pressuring Congress and delegates to the Constitutional Convention, among them Concepcion’s husband, Zambales Assemblyman Gregorio Anonas Sr., to approve women’s suffrage.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal recalls that those who opposed the proposal said women’s suffrage would disrupt family unity and embroil women in the "quagmire" of politics.

The male chauvinists would not yield that easily. They subjected the proposal to a plebiscite, scheduled two years later, requiring the approval of at least 300,000 women voters.

Of course the suffragettes mustered the required number. That vote on April 30, 1937 is what women are celebrating today.

To them I owe my right of suffrage, including the option to boycott the May elections.

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It takes a man to remind us of a momentous day for women. I see the irony, but I also suspect it’s a memorable day for men because that day in 1937 was a traumatic day for the macho Pinoy.

Filipino men like to joke that ours is a matriarchal society where men should demand equal rights. And in some respects they’re right.

Women’s Month (March) and International Women’s Day passed with me barely taking notice. Whether at home, in school or the workplace, I’ve had no personal experience with gender discrimination. I am in a profession where the male-female ratio among employees is, I think, close to the gender ratio in the general population. I grew up feeling no need to become a feminist.

But I do know that millions of Filipino women continue to suffer from gender discrimination. They can vote, which should be cause for celebration today, but they are deprived of many other rights, and many suffer from physical and sexual abuse.

Despite having a woman for the second time at the nation’s helm, and despite all the jokes about the Pinoy ander di saya (literally, under the skirt) or henpecked husband, it’s still a male-dominated society.

It’s not unusual to run into an amiable guy who ranks himself among the "takusa" (takot sa asawa or scared of the wife) but has a mistress or two and thinks a working wife is an affront to his machismo.

Neither is it unusual to run into a self-proclaimed "takusa" who beats his wife when he’s drunk or when she says no to sex.

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Playing an influential role in gender issues is the Roman Catholic Church where male chauvinism still reigns, though with a benevolent smile.

The Church is appreciated for its numerous charities for abused women and children and for its teachings about family values and the inherent goodness of people.

But it’s also a faith that sees virtue in turning the other cheek, in hurling bread at the one who hits you with a rock. It preaches that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the meek and the downtrodden. It hails martyrdom.

All of which make sense spiritually, but can be confusing for a battered woman, especially one who is trying to get out of a marriage gone sour.

We have some of the toughest laws promoting women’s rights. A new law protecting women and children from battery by a husband, including a common-law husband, has provisions so tough I’m surprised men did not rise up in arms to oppose the law. But many women are unaware of the law. And those aware of it might hesitate to invoke it.

Catholic marriage vows bind a woman to live with a husband until death, for better or worse. How does a devout woman reconcile her faith with her need to save herself from spousal battery? She is taught to forgive and to have faith in man’s capacity to change for the better. The problem is worse for women who are economically dependent on men.

This problem is not confined to women who are poor or who lack education. I know highly educated, financially independent women who are battered. Like their poor counterparts, these women are often too humiliated and scared to admit the abuse and seek help.

The Filipino woman has enough problems reconciling her faith with the assertion of her reproductive rights. She wants the pill or condoms for her husband, but she is taught that this is tantamount to abortion and she could go to Hell.

The ideal in this Catholic country is to promote natural family planning methods. The reality is that the burden of birth control in this country is placed mostly on the woman, and she risks a beating when she tells her man she can’t have sex because it’s not safe.

Neither is the Church the best place to complain about gender discrimination in the workplace. The refusal of the Vatican to ordain female priests has driven some women in other countries to leave the Church.

Condemned to live with an abusive or philandering husband, many Filipino women make the most of a bad situation. They see to it that they and their children are well provided for. In the case of public officials’ spouses, the typical ground rule is that mistresses never show up at public functions with the man.

We see many of these wives around, grinning beside their husbands – politicians who describe themselves as ander di saya but at the same time take pride in their philandering.

Today we celebrate women’s suffrage. There’s still some way to go in promoting women’s rights.