PRE-COLONIAL PHILIPPINES….
 Prior to Hispanic colonization, there was no
discrimination between sons and daughters
 Parents took pride in their children equally,
even to the point of deriving nicknames
from their children
 Children had an equal division of
inheritance
 They were educated equally
 They took an active role in society when
they grew up
ON THE FIRST SPANISH CONTACT
 The majority of the natives could write
using their own orthography
 Sexual inhibitions regarding virginity in
marriage were not universally valued
 Sex education was prescribed as a duty of a
mother to her daughter
 Marriages were arranged and a dowry was
paid by the groom to the wife’s family
 The woman kept her name and if she was
particularly meritorious, the husband took
her name
 Each family member was viewed as an
equal partner in marriage
 Women ran the household and were
equally responsible for all major decisions
regarding the running of the household
 They took part in the negotiation with their
spouses
 Women were free to exercise their
decisions concerning reproduction, with
abortion as an option Divorce was available
to both husband and wife and both had
equal rights to property and children
“Women were independent because they had
equal access and control of production
resources” – AIDA SANTOS MARANAN
“Whenever women are involved in the
production of food, there is some measure of
equality in a society” – ESTELLE FREEDMAN
Before colonialism, women were leaders in the
community
 Alongside with the datu (chieftain) and
panday (smith), a babaylan held a
central place in society
 Babaylan refers to individuals who hold
special knowledge or can converse with
spirits
 During precolonial times, the Babaylan
was a woman, or a man who took on
the persona of a woman chosen
supposedly by the spirits and given
special powers to engage the unseen
beings of nature
 Babaylan was recognized for possessing
special knowledge about nature,
religious rituals and cultural practices
Philippine Women in the Hispanic Period
The Spanish clergy saw early Filipinas as too
sensuous and free with their behavior, but were
appreciated for being intelligent, strong-willed
and practical
Spanish friars admonished (warned) women to
remain pure and obedient and exploited the
latter’s influential position in traditional
communities to spread the new religion
It was important for the Spaniards the Filipina
be completely subjugated (bring under control)
to her husband or her father and to the Catholic
Church
PHILIPPINE WOMEN IN THE HISPANIC PERIOD
 Keeping chaste
 not being vain
 Dressing modestly
 keeping busy at home
 Being self-sacrificing
 Chastity, purity and forbearance were
promoted to subdue early Filipinas to their
 new role and constrict their creative
participation in the society
 This kind of woman was portrayed by Rizal
through the character of Maria Clara who
was sweet, docile, obedient, self-sacrificing
and who never had the courage to share
the fate of her beloved
 Women in the 1890s organized a masonic
lodge called Logia de Adopcion which
gathered many intellectual women with
anti-Spanish sentiments.
 Gabriella Silang and Gregoria de Jesus were
active participants in the war against Spain
 Women enlisted in Emilio Aguinaldo’s army
to fight against the American regime
 Agueda Iniquinto Cahabagan rose to the
rank of Heneral Brigada in 1899 and led a
military unit under Aguinaldo’s army
Filipino Women in the American Era
From the 1900s to 1920s most women groups
furthered the presence of women in public
sphere by focusing on charity work and social
services These groups were formed to keep the
elite women busy working with orphans and
assisting prisoners among others.
Aida Maranan observed that women groups
were bearers and implementers of social
reforms within institutions initially established
by men
Development of Women Groups in the
Philippines
There are the insights about women’s
movements:
1. These movements were begun and
dominated by men
2. That women’s involvement in these
movements gave them liberties and roles
that were traditionally denied them
3. That goals and objectives of these
movements were valid for and important to
a smaller of greater section of Filipino
women
4. Most of the movements involved welfare
work led by a group of upper-class women
that only addressed the latter’s issues
The Birth of the Militant Groups with a
Feminist Agenda
 The nationalist and militant women’s
movement, as they called themselves,
believed that the only way to achieve
equality in the society was to liberate the
nation from the exploitation of the elite and
the US
 The iconic Malayang Kilusa ng Bagong
Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA), a radical women’s
group led by student activists, showed that
the root of women’s problem lay in
feudalism, capitalism and colonialism
 The Kilusan ng Kababaihang Pilipina
(PILIPINA) and the Katipunan ng Kababaihan
Para sa Kalayaan (KALAYAAN) were groups
formed in the 1980s that challenged the
potentially anti-women ways of the
Communist Party’s leadership
 PILIPINA focused on mainstreaming
women’s concerns in the transformation of
society. It promoted the welfare of women
through social development work. Like
establishing cooperatives.
 KALAYAAN worked within the national
liberation agenda to ensure that the
women’s liberation issues were not made
secondary in the movement
The Birth of the Militant Groups with a
Feminist Agenda
 National Organization of Women (NOW)
 Alliance of Women for Action Towards
Reconciliation (AWARE)
 Women for the Ouster of Marcos and
Boycott (WOMB)
 Association of Women in Theology (AWIT)
 Kapisanan ng mga Madre sa Maynila
 Church Women United
 Samahang Makabayan ng Kabataang
Kababaihan
 Atenista Women of Ateneo de Manila
THE BIRTH OF THE MILITANT GROUPS WITH A
FEMINIST AGENDA
On October 28, 1983 about 9000 women took
part in the largest women’s march that
protested human rights abuses and the abuses
of the military. This movement was dubbed as
the Women’s Protest Day
 These three groups used their government
positions to:
 Increase public awareness on issues
affecting women
 Push for the implementation of government
projects in ways that would benefit women
 Help channel funds to women’s project and
organizations
 Provided trainings and education
 Network grassroots organizations

The following year, the women who took part in

this protest formed the General Assembly
Binding Women for Reforms, integrity, Equality,
Leadership and Action (GABRIELA)

GABRIELA protested against the policies and

projects of the Marcos regime that were
harmful to the people’s interests

GABRIELLA transformed itself into a political

party and brought together people’s
organizations and other women affiliated with
the National Democratic left groups

Pushed for laws and continued to bring to the

public discourse particular problems of women

Abanse! Pinay, the more centrist and middle-

center groups.

As party-list representative, Abanse Pinay was

able to push for the passage of the:

 Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000

 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003
 Anti-Violence Against Women and their
Children Act of 2004

Akbayan supported the:

 Reproductive Health Law

 Magna Carta of Women
 Gender Balance Bill
 TEN FILIPINAS WHO ADVANCED MODERN
FEMINISM IN THE COUNTRY
Leticia Ramos-Shahani
 She was a former senator, chair of the
National Commission on the Role of Filipina
Women
 Country representative to the first
Commission on the Status of Women in
Mexico
 UN assistant secretary general for Social
Development and Humanitarian Affairs
 Spearheaded and solely drafted Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
during the height of the international
recognition of Women’s Human Rights in
1967
 She formed the National Commission on the
role of Filipino Women in 1975 together
with Helena Benitez, Cecilia Munos Palma
and Irene Corte
Patricia Benitez-Licuanan
 Served as the chairperson of the
Commission on Higher Education
 Chairwoman of the then National
Commission on the Role of Filipina Women
 Chairperson of the Commission on the
Status of Women
 Chairperson of the Main Committee fourth
World Conference on Women
 Co-founder of the Asia Pacific women’s
Watch
 Convenor of the Asia-Pacific NGO Forum in
Beijing
Teresita Quintos-Deles
 She is a peace advocate
 Former chair and co-founder of Coalition for
Peace, National Peace Conference
 Presidential adviser on the Peace process
during the Aquino administration
 Appointed lead convenor of the National
Anti-Poverty Commission from 2001 to
2003
 She represented a civil society in key
governance partnerships, including the
Social Reform Council of the Ramos
administration that laid the groundwork for
landmark reform policy such as:
 Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act
 Indigenous People’s Rights Act
 Anti-Rape Law
Sister Mary John Manazan, OSB
 She is feminist activist, former GABRIELLA
chairperson, former president of St.
Scholastica’s college and prioress of the
Missionary of Benedictine Sisters of the
Manila Priory
 Named as one of the top 100 Inspiring
People in the
 World during her time as director of the
Institute of Women’s Studies of St.
Scholastica in 2011
 Cited for being instrumental in developing a
feminist Third World theology within the
Catholic Church and introducing feminist
activism
 She led many women-centered programs
and organizations like: Women Crisis Center
and Women’s Ecology and Wholeness Farm
Sister Christine Tan
 She was the first Filipina to head the
Philippine Province of the Religious of the
Good Shepherd
 A former chairperson of the executive
board of the Association of Major Religious
Superiors of Women in the Philippines
 Founder of Alay Kapwa Christian
Community
 She was a member of the 1986
Constitutional convention to give the urban
poor a voice in the revision of the
constitution of the Philippines
 A comfort woman at the age of 16 who joined
the Hukbalahap and served as messenger
Joi Barrios

 Her works includes a collection of poetry

entitled To Be A Woman is to Live at A Time
of War published by the Institute of
Women’s Studies in St. Scholastica’s College
in 1990
 She was among the one hundred women
chosen as Weavers of History for the
Philippines Centennial Celebration
 An awardee of the Ten Outstanding Women
in the Nation’s Service in 2004

Lorena Barros

She was one of the well-known heroes during

the dictatorship struggle who founded the
Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan or
MAKIBAKA

Raissa Jajurie

 A Moro program coordinator of the

Alternative Legal Assistance Center
 An advocate of Muslim women’s rights, she
believes in justice for Muslim women in
accordance with Islamic teachings and
human rights standards
 She founded Nisa Ul-Haqq fi Bangsamoro
(Women for Justice in the Bangsamoro), an
organization for Muslim women that
conducts trainings, community dialogues,
researches and policy advocacy.
 She was appointed to join the MILF Peace
Panel in 2014

Roselle Ambubuyog

The first visually- impaired Filipina to be

awarded summa cum laude Graduated with a
Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics at Ateneo de
Manila University with all the possible awards
for student excellence and service

Rosa Henson