President Duterte’s archaic notions about women again surfaced in response to the online campaign against sexism and misogyny #BabaeAko. In characteristic Duterte fashion, he said that women cannot stand threats and intimidation which makes them unfit for some jobs.
From the campaign period up to now, women have been at the receiving end of Duterte’s misogynistic remarks and actions. From kissing and grabbing women supporters during the campaign; to publicly catcalling a woman reporter; to his ‘dapat nauna si mayor’ remark about the rape of a foreign missionary; to calling women public officials name; to cracking ‘rape jokes;’ to shaming women for their appearance, age, or even smell; to inappropriate remarks about Vice President Leni Robredo’s knees; to outright boasting about his many ‘wives;’ to 42 virgins to boost tourism; to his infamous ‘shoot women fighters in the vagina’ statement to our armed forces.
There have been too many incidents when the highest official of the land disrespected and demeaned women. There is no question that President Duterte does not care about women’s human rights and regards women as inferior to men. The problem is he is head of this government tasked to protect the rights and welfare of the country’s more than 106-million population half of which are women. As chief executive, he is responsible for the implementation of laws that promote and protect women’s rights, yet he leads in directly assaulting these rights.
No wonder, those around him do the same. They disregard human rights in full contravention of national laws and international treaties on women to which the country is a signatory of. Remember how members of the House of Representatives tried to destroy Senator Leila de Lima’s reputation by publicly humiliating her using her former relationship and alleging the existence of a sex video? These same legislators were however quick to defend their own extramarital affairs saying that it is but normal for men to have such? This kind of double standard has no place in a modern society.
Those in the Palace are feeling the strong backlash caused by Duterte’s most recent attack on women. Presidential Assistant Bong Go, in a statement tried to portray Duterte as a champion for women’s rights by virtue of local ordinances passed in Davao City during his time as mayor. Go conveniently missed the fact that having good policies on women and gender in Davao is also credited to the work done by women’s groups there, and there are many. Go also fails to comprehend that Duterte is no longer a mayor. He is the president of an entire country. He not only must act accordingly, his constituency is the entire Philippine population and therefore, must protect every citizen’s rights.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque justifies Duterte’s remarks as “play on words” and made out of frustration because of his critics especially those coming from the Chief Justice they ousted from office, Maria Lourdes Sereno. Roque is mistaken if he thinks that the presidential pronouncements are justifiable. He can “play on words” as much as he wants but he cannot treat human rights as trivial. Frustration also cannot be an acceptable reason because as president, Duterte should learn to act and speak as one. He must cease to be the thug mayor from Davao.
Duterte himself, in the past have told people to “not take his words seriously and focus on more important things.” As expected, Duterte and his apologists try to defend their boss by rationalizing his words and actions as jokes and trivialities.
What these men do not understand is, addressing sexism is anything but trivial. It cannot be a joking matter.
To begin with, ours is already a patriarchal society. We do not need a president to further reinforce this. What we need is a leader who promotes equality, equity, and justice. The women’s movements in the Philippines have achieved some advancement in relation with women’s rights but there is a lot more to do. We are also aware that many men now understand what we fight for and have become our allies in advancing a society that recognizes the equal worth of its citizens. We do not need a president who destroys women’s gains.
I know how difficult it is to fight for women’s rights. More than 30 years of my life have been used for the struggle for women’s empowerment in relationships, family, law, and other social institutions. We are out against a sexist culture that has been there for centuries. We go against norms, beliefs, and values that discriminate based on sex and gender. Mindsets are difficult to change. Slowly, we are achieving change, one person, one family, one law, one institution at a time.
In the course of our work, many women activists have been called names, criticized harshly and unjustly, faced and continue to face threats and intimidation. Some of us, including myself, have even been sued by a very powerful politician in the course of our advocacy for laws that protect women from abuse and violence. Yet, we continue to struggle.
Other women, especially those in fields previously dominated by men, have their own struggle. They face threats and intimidation simply because they are women in what others still consider as men’s domains. Even ordinary women face threats of abuse and violence of many forms in relationships, in the family, on the streets, at schools and workplaces. But women go on. We do not stop because we are women, equal to anyone else.
We are breaking boxes and shattering ceilings. Many women have proven their capabilities to be equal, some even better, than men in their chosen fields.
Thus, Duterte’s assertion that women cannot handle threats and intimidation is untrue and demeaning of women’s capacities.
I think that Duterte and his minions may, in reality, be sacred of strong, smart, and capable women who are critical of this administration. Look at what these macho men did to Senator Leila de Lima. They put her in jail where she still remains using trumped up charges with convicted criminals as witnesses. They also ousted former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno with the help of Duterte’s allies in the Supreme Court using a questionable quo warranto petition filed by Duterte’s Solicitor General. Vice President Leni Robredo is also under attack with the electoral protest filed by former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Other women critics like Maria Ressa and Pia Ranada of Rappler are not spared from harassment. Add to these are Duterte’s attacks against his critics in general.
It seems that Duterte and his men cannot stand strong women because they know that these women can do better than them given the same opportunities they, as men, have.
Such misogyny must stop and it is the women and their male allies who will continuously struggle so these public servants know better than to violate women and their rights. #BabaeAko at lalaban ako.
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