The Duterte administration has prioritized the implementation of the Reproductive Health Law. Its legislative agenda includes proposals promoting and protecting women’s rights. However, support for gender equality in government is neutralized by the President’s demeaning language about women and members of the LGBT group. Legislative gains for gender equality are also undermined by the legitimization of sexual denigration and gender-based violence.
Updated as of July 31, 2018
CATHOLIC SOCIAL PRINCIPLE:
Integral Development Based on Human Dignity and Solidarity
Public policy and government programs must promote development that not only fulfills the material needs of citizens, but also affirms human dignity and freedom, integrity in governance, national sovereignty, and the spiritual dimension of human beings.
During the President’s second State of the Nation Address, he reiterated his commitment to implement the RP-RH Law, but framing it in the context of “giving… the freedom to a Filipino family” to determine their desired family size, rather than as the promotion of birth control or abortion. This reframing gives the correct emphasis to the implementation of the law. While the Roman Catholic Church objects to the law’s promotion of artificial contraception, the RP-RH Law has provisions which can improve the lives of women through information, capacity-building, and access to reproductive health services for the management of their reproductive health and fertility.
Executive Order No. 12 was signed by the President on January 2017 to direct government agencies to allot funds for family planning in their 2018 and 2019 budget.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded in November 2017 that the 51 contraceptive products held under a Supreme Court temporary restraining order (TRO) are not abortifacient. This conclusion have automatically lifted the TRO of the Supreme Court, thus potentially giving couples access to more family planning choices.
The government’s economic managers recommended the drafting of an executive order to mandate all LGUs to fully implement the RP-RH Law. National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Ernesto Pernia said that fully implementing the RP-RH Law will help decrease poverty rates to 9% by 2022.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed on third and final reading proposed measures to scale up nutrition for the first 1,000 days of life through a strengthened integrated strategy for maternal, neonatal, child health and nutrition. The House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 5777 or the “Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act” on October 2, 2017, and the Senate approved Senate Bill No. 1537 or the “Healthy Nanay and Bulilit Act” on March 5, 2018. A bicameral committee conference will be held to reconcile differences in the two bills before the measure can be finally enacted into law.
The President makes public statements that seem to trivialize or even condone violence against women.
- On May 26, 2017, in the context of assuring soldiers that he would back them for whatever they did in the performance of their duties under martial law, he told them that if they committed rape, he would take responsibility. This joke was one of the reasons for the protest resignation from the Bangsamoro Transition Commission of one of its female members, Samira Gutoc-Tomawis.
“‘Pag naka-rape ka ng tatlo, aminin ko na akin iyon. (If you had raped three, I will admit it, that’s on me.)”
President Duterte, May 26, 2017
- On July 14, 2017, in the context of a defense of his violent campaign against crime, he joked that while he could not abide the rape of children, it would be more acceptable to rape “Miss Universe,” and even a matter for congratulations in the context of the rapist’s knowing he was “going to die.” The cryptic ending to the remark may refer to the President’s leaping in his imagination to a future in which one of his legislative priorities, the restoration of the death penalty, would make rape a capital crime.
“What I don’t like are kids [being raped]. You can mess with, maybe Miss Universe. Maybe I will even congratulate you for having the balls to rape somebody when you know you are going to die.”
President Duterte, July 14, 2017
- On February 7, 2018, the President told government troops to shoot female rebels in the vagina to render them useless. The “order” raised a storm of criticism from women’s groups and human rights groups who alleged that it implied that women were only useful as sex instruments, that it encouraged violence against women, and that it violated international humanitarian law. The President later clarified that he was merely being sarcastic and that what he really meant was that the military should neutralize rebel women as instruments of reproduction. The real targets of his sarcasm, he explained, were women who joined the rebels and then bore children whom they could not take care of. This clarification did not appear to assuage anyone offended by the original interpretation. Presidential spokesman Herminio Harry L. Roque dismissed the reactions of women’s groups to the President’s remarks as “OA” (overacting). He advised feminists to laugh instead, observing that the President’s statements about women which they found so offensive were actually funny, and endearing to many Filipinos who identified with his sense of humor.
“Tell the soldiers, ‘There’s a new order coming from Mayor. We won’t kill you. We will just shoot your vagina so that…if there are no vagina, it would be useless.'”
President Duterte, February 7, 2018
- On April 29, the President said that the statue commemorating comfort women erected along Roxas Boulevard near the Japanese embassy, should be placed somewhere else, preferably in a private property, so as not to insult Japan. GABRIELA, a women’s group with party-list representation, condemned the President’s statement and said that the statue serves as a reminder to address the historical injustices against comfort women and to resist the historical revisionism.
- On June 4, 2018, the President kissed a married Filipina migrant worker on the lips during his meeting with the Filipino community in South Korea. The gesture drew public criticism and was perceived as a despicable display of sexism and grave abuse of authority. However, Malacañang said that it was just “light moment” and a “playful act.” Reacting to his critics, the President said that he will resign if enough women are insulted and sign a petition calling for him to step down. Moreover, not seeing anything wrong with what he had done, he even bragged that during his campaign as mayor of Davao, he kissed the lips of every woman in the city. Women’s rights advocates recently launched an online campaign, #BabaeAko, to protest and fight back against the President’s sexist and mysogynistic behavior.
“During the campaign in my mayorship days, I kiss every woman there, lips to lips… The problem is you don’t know me.”
President Duterte, June 5, 2018
There has been a significant increase in the number of women arrested for low-level, drug-related offense which has resulted in mothers not being able to take care of and supervise their children.
Women who have lost the fathers of their children to the “war on drugs” are left with the burden of raising their children. The National Union of Peoples Lawyer chair said that, “For every tokhang victim, there is a woman wailing beside.” Aside from economic burden of raising their family on their own, women were also stigmatized in their communities when people learn that their partners were “natokhang”.
According to the Trafficking in Persons Report 2018, the Philippines retained its Tier 1 status in combating trafficking in the country. This means that the country has fully complied with the minimum standards of the US’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).
The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), “the government authority that champions women’s empowerment and gender equality,” protested against sexism in the legislature by expressing “grave concern” over Senator Vicente Sotto’s sexist joke about former DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo’s status as a single parent at a hearing of the Commission on Appointments in May 2017. The PCW called the remark “a mockery” of women’s circumstances as solo parents and a distraction from the review of Taguiwalo’s professional qualifications, which should have been the hearing’s focus.
The President frequently makes public statements that trivialize and demean women, sending a powerful message about his estimation of women’s worth. Some statements violate the spirit of the Magna Carta of Women and the Sexual Harassment Act. He remarked on the length of the vice-President’s skirt and admitted to ogling her knees. He also asked an executive of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to “close your legs” because she was distracting him.
He has made several statements that seem to condone violence against women (see “Peace and active nonviolence,” under “Shadow”). These statements of overt sexism showed by the President himself debases women and legitimizes the objectification, denigration, discrimination, and harassment of women by others in government, political society, and civil society. A female senator advocating for women’s rights cited that the President deliberately said offensive words to women at least 23 times or at least one sexist remark per month. She expressed concern that this could “instigate unprecedented levels of violence” against women such as rape and sexual harassment. VeraFiles released a compilation video of the President’s offensive statements in March and May 2018. Several women’s group such as #BabaeAko, EveryWoman, and Enough launched protest actions against the President’s remarks.
The President’s statements also show double standard on sexual morality for men and women dismissing as non-issue the alleged numerous mistresses of the House Speaker while remarking that a female senator is “immoral” for having an affair with a married man.
Statements of the President also demonstrate objectification of women, such as his remark in India that he would like to emulate Islamic state extremists by offering 42 virgins to tourists visiting the country. EveryWoman, a coalition of women advocating women’s rights, criticized the remark as a reduction of women to sex objects and a denial of their dignity, consistent with his attacks on strong and independent-minded women in government.
In choosing the next Ombudsman to replace Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales who will be retiring in July 2018, the President said that he will pick someone with integrity and who is definitely not a woman. EveryWoman decried the statement and reminded the President that the Magna Carta of Women protects women from discrimination.
“I want someone whose integrity people believe in. Of course, it could not be a politician, especially not a woman.”
President Duterte, May 16, 2018
In August 2016, the President appointed an openly gay actress, Aiza Seguerra, to chair the National Youth Commission. The appointment sends a message, especially to the youth, that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) is not considered an obstacle to serve in his administration. (In April 2018, Seguerra resigned, citing personal reasons.)
On June 29, 2017, the Department of Education (DepEd) released its Gender-Responsive Basic Education Policy 2017, which promotes non-discrimination, gender inclusivity, inclusive education, and the strengthening of monitoring and response to incidents of gender-based violence in schools, including those related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (SOGIE).
On September 20, 2017, the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading House Bill No. 4982, the proposed “Act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression (SOGIE) and providing penalties therefor.” The bill’s counterpart in the Senate, Senate Bill No. 1271, is pending second reading. A law against discrimination on the basis of SOGIE is consistent with the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, which, although it still views homosexuality as an “intrinsically disordered” state, also urges that “every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided, particularly any form of aggression and violence.” Although the Catholic Church supports anti-discrimination based on gender, including discrimination against LGBTs, it has reservations on other provisions on the bill such as those pertaining to choosing one’s gender.
In September 2017, the President, in his attempt to defend his “war on drugs”, used “gay people” in a derogatory sense, saying that the concern displayed by CHR Chair Chito Gascon over the killings of male teenagers by police made him suspect that Gascon was gay or a pedophile. The statement suggests there is something wrong with being gay and conflates homosexuality with pedophilia. There is no evidence that Gascon is either gay or a pedophile.
On September 14, 2017, the President appointed Luzviminda Ilagan, a member of the women’s rights group GABRIELA National Alliance of Women (GABRIELA) and a former representative of its party list group, as undersecretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). This raises hopes that the DSWD will continue to be sensitive to gender equality and the advancement of women’s rights.
Notwithstanding her credentials as a women’s rights activist, Ilagan is not consistent in her support for women’s rights vis-a-vis the President’s behavior toward women. In June 2016, a few weeks before he was installed, when he trivialized a female reporter’s question by whistling at her, Ilagan said that such behavior was “not sexual harassment.”
CATHOLIC SOCIAL PRINCIPLE:
Value of Human Work
Public policy and government programs must affirm human labor as the most important element of production, establish fair compensation that allows workers to raise families within a decent standard of living, protect the rights of workers to self-organization, and create opportunities for employment and livelihood with dignity.
On August 25, 2017, the Department of Labor and Employment released Department Order (DO) No. 178 on safety and health measures that, among other things, bans employers from requiring women employees to wear heels higher than one inch if they need to stand long hours at work. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III signed the DO following a call from a labor union protesting a dress code that puts at risk the occupational safety of working women by requiring them to wear high heels.
CATHOLIC SOCIAL PRINCIPLE:
People Empowerment
Public policy and government programs must enable people to become “active and responsible subjects of social life,” institutionalizing mechanisms for meaningful participation at all levels of governance and protecting the civil rights and freedoms which allow such participation. Public policy and government programs must nurture the development of strong civil society organizations and institutions and protect the autonomy of civil society from the state, recognizing the principle of subsidiarity which requires that decisions be made as much as possible at the level closest to the people.
As of February 19, 2018, 5 of 12 slots for NGO representatives on the PCW board have been filled. This is a 60% improvement over the situation as of July 8, 2017, when only 3 of the 12 slots had been filled. The filled slots are those for (1) education/the academe, (2) labor, (3) media and the arts, (4) peasant and fisherfolk, and (5) the urban poor. The representative for peasant and fisherfolk, Marina Canedo Arnacio, and the representative for labor, Emma Villegas-Ricaforte, and the representative for urban poor, Corazon M. Espinoza, come from a background of organizing and advocacy work with the sectors they represent.
As of December 6, 2017, 58% of the seats for NGO representatives on the PCW board remain vacant. Two earlier appointed representatives, for the elderly and disabled and for science and health, have disappeared from the rosters. Also vacant are the seats for business and industry, indigenous peoples, culture, and youth. The call for nominations on the PCW website is dated September 16, 2016, indicating that some seats have been vacant for more than a year. The slowness in the appointment of NGO representatives seems to suggest the administration’s lack of interest in the participation of civil society representatives in the government’s efforts to promote gender equality and belies the administration’s avowed prioritization of gender issues.
There is only one woman in the 20-member Consultative Committee appointed by the President to review the 1987 Constitution. The lone woman member is Susan Ubalde-Ordinario, a Catanduanes-based lawyer with 20 years of experience working with the government.