The Ladies of the House

Women legislators were on the cushioned hot seat during the celebration of Women’s Day at the Bulong Pulungan lunch forum at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza last Tuesday. They were led by Pangasinan Rep. Gina de Venecia, wife of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and president of the Association of Lady Legislators.

There are 64 women legislators in Congress now, a record number. Also, it is a powerhouse group because it includes a former President (Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) and a former First Lady (Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos). It is also a photogenic group, with the likes of Leyte Rep. Lucy Torres Gomez and Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado Revilla on its roster.

“This is an organization composed of all the congresswomen in the House of Representatives. This group doesn’t look at political parties and affiliations, and specifically works for the advancement of the women’s agenda in the House,” says Manay Gina of the association, which was organized by former Rep. Cynthia Villar of Las Piñas during the 12th Congress in 2001.

The group doesn’t really vote as a bloc on certain contentious issues like the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez or the controversial RH Bill. But the group has agreed “to have a common stand on important issues concerning the protection of women and children.”

Astute as a witch and with the people skills of the movie producer’s daughter that she is, Manay Gina was the uncontested choice for president of the association. She also has this gift for reconciliation, for rising above past hurts.

The first thing Pangasinan Rep. Rachel Arenas told me when she saw me at the forum, “Manay Gina and I are friends again now!” The two were once estranged after JDV’s falling out with the Arroyo administration, of which Rachel was a staunch supporter. Manay Gina and Rachel are two of the four congresswomen from Pangasinan (only two districts are represented by men).

“Life is too short,” Manay Gina explains her conciliatory nature. “I would rather focus on what unites us, rather than what divides us.”

Also with Manay Gina and Rachel during the forum at Sofitel were Reps. Lani Revilla, Aliah Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte, Bernadette Herrera Dy of Bagong Henerasyon party-list, Nancy Catamco of North Cotabato, Josie Joson of Nueva Ecija, Mitos Magsaysay of Zambales and Juliet Cortuna of A-Teacher party-list.

Bernadette Herrera Dy was principled and spoke like she did her homework well. At the time of the forum, she knew exactly the status of the House Justice Committee’s decision on the Merci impeachment case, and was very forthright in her stand and the action she was going to take — she was supporting it.

Aliah Dimaporo was not only beautiful in person — she was driven by a sense of mission. Granddaughter of former political kingpin Ali Dimaporo, she is the daughter of a Muslim father and a Catholic mother. She revealed that when her parents married, inter-religious riots in their community stopped because the couple showed that religious tolerance and respect were possible in this day and age.

Aliah was working with an NGO in the US when she heard of the Maguindanao massacre. Right then and then, she decided she wanted to make a difference in Mindanao politics, made arrangements to fly home and arrived in the Philippines on the last day of the filing of candidacy for the May 2010 elections.

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The women legislators, mostly mothers, did not have a unified stand on the RH Bill. Manay Gina, for one, is against it.

“Teaching mothers and teenage girls about birth control methods, if properly guided, may yield the results the bill is seeking. However, without proper guidance, this may foster promiscuity among teenage girls, safe in the thought that they have control over what happens to their body.”

The women legislators, however, are unified in their decision to support the “anti-corporal punishment bill,” which protects children from unwarranted harm in the name of discipline. A survey in 2005 conducted by Save the Children-Philippines showed that 85 percent of Filipino children were reported being punished in their homes.

All women legislators will actively support the Women’s and Children’s Desk in every barangay.

Manay Gina personally commits to work on and introduce a bill that addresses suicide, “which has become common among the young people and the OFWs and their families.”

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One of the most depressing news I read yesterday was the sentencing to life imprisonment of three sons of Flor Contemplacion, who was hanged in Singapore in 1995 for the murder of her fellow OFW Delia Maga and the latter’s ward, for drug-related crimes. The decision was handed down by a Regional Trial Court and therefore could still be appealed.

Contemplacion’s death changed the way the government and the nation looked at OFWs, bringing their sacrifices and contributions to the country to the fore. We knew Flor worked abroad to give her family a better life. She even died in the process… and now this? Even Flor’s husband and his live-in partner are in jail for drug-related offenses.

I won’t pass judgment on the RTC’s decision and will not even begin to cry justice for the Contemplacion brothers. I am simply sad, very sad, because I thought Flor’s death would consequently redeem her children from the hard life they all once had, and by opening many eyes to the plight of OFWs, her death would usher in reforms that would mitigate the costs to the society of absentee parents.

According to newspaper reports, the Contemplacion family once got P2 million for the rights to Flor’s life story, and that two of the sons received P100,000 each for playing themselves in a movie about their mother.

The temptations of instant gratification probably stole the future away from the Contemplacion brothers, who probably didn’t know how to handle P2 million, a jackpot then as it still is now, or the value of planning for the future.

It is a good thing Manay Gina sent their only sister Russell Contemplacion to school and recommended to JDV her employment in the House, where she is a contractual employee up to now. She is the only living Contemplacion who is not languishing in jail.

Working overseas should be less and less an option for mothers, who risk the very future of their children with the means by which they hope to save them.

(You may e-mail me at [email protected])