Press Release
March 8, 2017

SPEECH OF AKBAYAN SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS
Women Defend Democracy: A Forum on International Women's Day
Miriam College, Quezon City

#EverywomanResist

Ngayong araw ng kababaihan, kahit tayo ay nasa gitna ng isang madilim, mapanghamon at marahas na panahon, mayroon tayong dapat ipagbunyi at ipagpasalamat.

Nito lamang Lunes, sa boto ng 22-0, pinasa ng Senado ang ating batas na naglalayon na dagdagan ang paid maternity leave ng mga manggagawang kababaihan. Sa ilalim ng Expanded Maternity Leave Law, mula 60 days, ang mga kababaihan ay makakakuha na ng 120 days of paid maternity leave. Ang mga solo mothers naman ay may 150 days. Maaari din ipasa ang 30 days sa mga tatay o alternative caregivers gaya nina lolo, lola at mga kapatid.

Atin ding ipinagmamalaki ang walo sa sampung topnotchers ng graduating class ng Philippine Military Academy (PMA) na mula sa hanay ng kababaihan. Sa pangunguna ni valedictorian Cadet 1st Class Rovi Mairel Valino Martinez, ipinakita niya na walang hadlang o limitasyon sa maaaring gawin nating mga babae.

Isang malaking tagumpay din ang pagsama-sama natin sa araw na ito. Bagama't tayo ay inuusig at tinatakot, buong tapang tayong nagtipon-tipon upang manindigan para sa dignidad ng bawat kababaihan at ipagtanggol ang demokrasya ng bansa, kasama ng ating mga karapatang pantao.

Tunay nga na may mga dapat ipagdiwang at ipagpasalamat. Yet, despite our hard-fought gains, there is still a pervasive culture of sexism, misogyny and gender bias that is prevalent in our society. And this has been encouraged and strengthened by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte himself. By reducing people, particularly women to body parts, making jokes about participating in gang rape, catcalling female members of the press and saying that they should be flattered because of the attention, and using the might of the state to persecute one of the leading voices of dissent through a relentless campaign of misogyny and baseless accusations, President Duterte has driven to unparalleled extremes male chauvinism, misogyny and sexism.

Worse, this rabid anti-women culture dangerously mixes with the current climate of killing and impunity which has engulfed the entire country. Hindi na mabilang ang mga kababaihang nabiyuda, mga nanay na nawalan ng anak, mga babaeng inagawan ng mga mahal sa buhay at kababaihang napaslang dahil sa extrajudicial killings. Sa panahong ito, hindi lang binabastos, hinaharas at minamaliit ang mga kababaihan, pinapatay pa.

Kahapon, ipinasa ng Kongreso ang panukalang batas para ibalik ang parusang kamatayan. Nakakalungkot, sa bisperas ng pagdiriwang ng araw ng mga kababaihan, mga kababaihang nagbibigay buhay, nagpasa ng batas ang ating mga kongresista na kumikitil ng buhay. Ibabalik ang parusang kamatayan pero si Peter Lim ay ligtas na nakakabisita sa Malacanang. Ibabalik ang parusang kamatayan pero ang mga katulad ni Jack Lam ay kayang magtangkang suhulan ang ating matataas ng pampublikong opisyales. Ipapatupad ang parusang bitay sa isang sistema na kayang bilhin ng mayaman at makapangyarihan ang katarungan.

Hindi na nakuntento at nabagabag ang gobyerno sa extrajudicial killings, sasamahan pa ito ng state-sanctioned killings. Kung sabagay, kung tatanungin mo ang maraming tao, tila wala na itong pinagkaiba. Dahil sa kawalan ng aksyon at resolusyon sa panig ng gobyerno upang resolbahin ang libo-libong extrajudicial killings, at dahil na rin sa pang-eenganyo ng mismong pangulo ng bansa na pumatay, tila pinahihintulutan ng gobyerno maganap ang araw-araw na pamamaslang. Extrajudicial killings will not stop. It will just become judicial. Worse, it will exist side by side.

Fellow women, friends and advocates, this is the kind of atmosphere we, Filipino women, are contending with right now. We live in a period where the culture of death, rape, sexual harassment and male sexual violence is prevalent, made worse by the dishonorable behavior of many of our elected national leaders who lend their voices in the gross, blatant objectification of our women. We live in a time when democracy and human rights are grossly violated and disrespected.

We cannot allow this atmosphere to continue any longer. We must resist. We must fight. More than ever, we must fight for the rights and welfare of our fellow women, the poor and marginalized, and for those whose voices have been silenced simply because they have expressed their dissent. We must continue to offer our voice amid the violence and the deaths, the persistence of lies, the proliferation of "alternative facts" and fake news, the perversion of fact and truth, and the blatant disregard for democracy and human rights.

There are moments in history when lines are drawn, stiches in the curtain of time when we say, "here, and no further." Today is that moment. Today we draw our place in the sand and plant our feet firmly on the side of principle. Today we begin the national resistance of #everywoman against the culture of killing, misogyny and impunity.

Today we stand our ground. Today, we resist.

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