CHAPTER VIII

Women's Movement in The Philippines

The history of women in our society should be examined in order to
understand the unique situation of women in the Philippines.

BY : Group I
Objectives
1. Describe how the role of Filipino women in society evolved
2. State at least three kinds of responses of Filipino women to oppression;
and
3. Explain how oppression emerged in the Philippine society.
 INTRODUCTION

The Philippine situation is unique as it is rooted in the

colonial history of the country. The actual condition
of pre-Spanish women in the Philippines can be
reflected from the practices of the indigenous
peoples and the testimonies of Spanish
chronicles.
Pre-Colonial Philippines

Male and female children did not experience any form of inequality regarding division of in
heritance.
Male and female children were also educated equally and each took an active role in
society when they grew up.
The women kepther name, and if she was particularly meritorious, the husband took her
name.
because each spouse kept his or her relationship with the other spouses̀ family, each family
memberwas also viewed an equal partner in marriage.
Historian Luis Dery noted that “women also fought along side men in battle, and
many communities were led by them either as direct rulers, caretakers for the
young datus, or just as influential people who could build alliances or negotiate
the outcomes of battles.”
Even in todays̀ Filipino community, there is some measure of equality among men
and women especially when women are involved in, or are even mainly
responsible for, the familys̀ income. Women thinkers in the Philippines generally
agree that inequality between men and women developed in colonial times.
Before colonialism, women were leaders in the community.
Philippine Women in the Hispanic Period
These settlers, now called Filipinos, had to follow a foreign moral and cultural
code tobe morally acceptable in their own communities.
Spanish friars admonished women to remain pure and obedient, and exploited
the latters̀ influential position in traditional communities to spread the new
religion. It was important for the Spaniards that the Filipino woman be
completely subjugated to her husband or her father and to the Catholic Church.

In order to remold women into the alien notion of an ideal woman, they were
taught to avoid sin by keeping chaste, not being vain, dressing modestly,
keeping busy at home, and being self-sacrificing. If they were allowed to seek
education, women were placed in schools that forced in them the values and
character of the new Filipina woman.
Chastity, purity, and for bearance were thus promoted simply to subdue early
Filipinas to their new role and constrict their creative participation in society. This
kind of woman was ironically 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.

Because wealth accumulation defined the whole existence of the state and power
relations were established by this accumulation, women no longer gained active
roles in the public sphere, and lost power in the wider spectrum of the society.
Thus, when the propaganda movement gained prominence, one of their causes for
dismay was the role women played in society.
The Propaganda Movement,
however, began to recognize the crucial
roles womencan assume especially in
campaigns against Spain, although still
limited. While thePropaganda Movement
itself was a very male enterprise, it sought
to raise the status of women.

Despite 300 years of misogynistic reorientation, women

could still find their placeamong men in the fight for
Philippine liberation. Other women have also taken on
similar positions within the Katipunan.
Adopcion which gathered many
intellectual women with anti-Spanish
sentiments.
Filipino Women in the American Era

After the struggles for independence from Spain, women

continued their dynamic role in the Philippine society.
Aida Maranan documented the development of various women
associations and leagues during the American Period in the
Philippines.
 Development of Women Groups in the
Philippines (Aida Maranan)

Associacion de Damas The Philippines saw

dela Cruz Roja
(Women's Red Cross
Association) was formed
to help in the Philippine
war effort.
1899
1902
Liga Femenina dela Paz
or Philippine Women's
League of Peace was set
up to assist in the US
pacification of the
Philippine Island.
its own suffrage
Associacion Femenista Ilongga was
movement.
created. It fough for women's
suffrage. La Gota de Leche was
1921-1937
formed to assist women in maternal
and infant care.
1906-1907
1912
The first women's club, called
the Society for the
1905 Advancement of Women was
founded.
Associacion Femenista Filipina - an
organization that gathered volunteers to
reform the Philippine society- was created to
promote social change through prison
reforms, education reforms, improvement of
women's condition in factories, and the
inclusion of women in certain local governing
bodies.

complete detail:
https://www.scribd.com/presentation/456677027/Women-in-the-Philippines
Three insights about women’s movements from the
American period until Martial Law activism are
relevant:

1. Even the suffrage movement was said to have been encouraged by the Americans to
distract people from the independence movement.
2. Womens̀ involvement in these movements gave them liberties and roles that
were traditionally denied them. At the very least, it gave them the institutional
frame work for participating in the outside world. From women concerned with
domestic issues, they became women engaged in social issues and policy
making.
3. Goals and objectives of these movements were valid for and important to a
small error greater section of Filipino women. Not everyone cared about the
same issues and thus, support for womens̀ movements was not strong enough
to transform the patriarchal system.
Most women groups in the Philippines were keen on establishing and furthering the
development agenda of the West and the social classes that benefitted from Western
development.
They supported the expansion of Western education and softened the adverse effects of
the imposed market economy by providing social safety nets for marginalized and
displaced people.
These groups needed the Philippines for its strategic military location in Asia, cheap labor
and natural resources.
Immersing with marginalized people kept women groups so busy that they felt involved in
the society and had no time to question their subordinate role to men.
THE BIRTH OF MILITANT GROUPS WITH A FEMINIST AGENDA
Women who worked with the underground and above ground components of the
Communist Party, and the other socialist groups that rivalled it, realized that the agenda
for liberation can also serve women's quest for equality.

Many of the problems women face were a result of abusive structures that kept them poor
and exposed to various kinds of exploitations.

The nationalist and militant women's movement believed that the only way to achieve
equality in the society was to liberate the nation from the exploitation of the elite and the
U.S.

Women issues on equality were considered secondary within the communist and socialist
movement.
MAKIBAKA (Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan) - a radical
women's group led by student activists showed that the root of
women's problems lay in "feudalism, capitalism and colonialism".

They took part in organizing and educating women peasants and

laborers and in establishing day care centers.

It became inactive because its leaders were imprisoned or driven into

hiding during the Martial Law.

PILIPINA (Kilusan ng Kababaihang Pilipina) and KALAYAAN (Katipunan ng

Kababaihan para sa Kalayaan) - formed in the 1980's that challenged the
potentially anti-women ways of the Communist Party's leadership.
Several Groups came out after the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr. These were led by
middle and upper class "politically inclined matrons who sought for justice, freedom, and
democracy through peaceful means".

NOW (National Organization of Women) - oriented toward the sociopolitical formation of

women and the campaign for clean elections.

Other organizations which came out for the intensification of conscientization and honest
governance are AWARE (Alliance of Women for Action towards Reconciliation) and
WOMB (Women for the Ouster of Marcos and Boycott).

AWIT (Association of Women in Theology), Kapisanan ng mga Madre sa Maynila, and

Church Women United are groups composed of pastors, Church nuns and deacons.

Student groups like UP SAMAKA-Kababaihan (Samahang Makabayan ng Kabataang

Kababaihan), Atenista Women and Katipuneros were established.
Women's Protest Day

October 28, 1983

About 9,000 women

Largest women's march that protested human rights abuses and the abuses of the
military

GABRIELA (General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality,

Leadership and Action)

Since 1986, women's movements in the country shifted "from a broad coalition to small
tactical and issue-or project-based alliances."
WOMEN'S GROUPS IN THE PARTY-LIST SYSTEM

GABRIELA - transformed into a political party having people's organizations,

NGOS and other women affiliated with the National Democratic Groups as
members.

Abanse! Pinay - more centrist and middle-center groups

Akbayan - adopted women's agenda alongside its other issues.

Women's party-list groups made valuable contributions to women's liberation,

including the agenda of the poor and marginalized women as a national interest.

This allowed for effective government projects can be implemented with proper
consultation and participatory processes.
Practical Feminism in the Philippines

A feminism that has evolved to take radical positions rooted in the oretical debates
about the foundation and meaning of the oppression of women, Philippine feminism
has worked strategically with the state or with political and civil society movements to
further the welfare of women. Thus, if one desires to understand the concerns of
Philippine women, one needs to examine the concrete issues that be set these women.
Feminist issues are also important in academic and artistic circles.
Much of academic feminist thought is centered on reflection about the
position of women in the Philippine society, articulating the roots and
ground of the repression, probing the real lives of women and their real
needs, and finally exploring womens̀ contribution to development.
Thus, we can say that Philippine feminism in general is more grounded in
the concrete concerns of women as defined by the exploitation and
marginalization in the developing world.

These feminist movements have a strong grassroots base usually

organized by non-governmental organizations concerned with women-
oriented development.
 MEMBERS

VIRAY, CLAUDINE
GARINGARAO, JESAH
CELINO, MARYNELL
SANTOS, VINCE NEIL
ORIS, JAYSON
BRAGA, YVONNE
MELICAN, JACKIELYN
CABURNAY, JEMALYN
II BTVTED-ET/GFD/FSM

BY : Group I
THANK YOU
 REFERENCES

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoldteacollective.com%2F10-filipinas-who-made-history-p1%2F&psig=AOvVaw3uaBQsV2xLok-
vDNjuh3Q8&ust=1673166128899000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA4QjhxqFwoTCODWoduDtfwCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

https://www.scribd.com/document/530876216/GEE2-Module-8-Womens-Movement-in-the-Philippines