Women and the Democracy

Project

Prof. Lourdes Veneracion-Rallonza, PhD

Department of Political Science

Ateneo de Manila University

Points of Inquiry

recurring patterns/practices of Philippine politics and how these have neglected women from the narrative of the country’s political history;

political participation of women both in the realms of formal and informal power within the context of the experience of democracy in the Philippines; and

feminist inferences on the connection between the democracy project in the Philippines and women’s political participation

Discursive Significance

mitigate politics of exclusion

feminist re-reading of the Philippine democracy to include all arenas where women are located and have contributed

- traditional (i.e. involvement in the revolutionary/anti-colonial struggle, suffragist movement, civil society actions, electoral politics)

- non-traditional political domain (i.e. exercising gendered roles daughters, wives, mothers)

weaving women’s stories along with the depiction of institutional structures, the societal practices and norms

Patterns in Philippine Politics

The Philippine political system, though democratic, is characterized as largely elitist.

It operates on a clientelist tradition where the patron-client system figures prominently.

The breeding ground and the strongest root of this clientelism is the family – more specifically, the political families reigning in dynastic continuity and clustered into clans.

Political families largely form the elite base of Philippine politics and their major instruments are both political and economic power

(Veneracion-Rallonza 2003)

Interestingly, it is the very practice

of elite democracy, familial/kinship

politics, and patron-client system

that enabled women to struggle and

negotiate space for their inclusion in

the practice of politics, both through

the use of informal and formal

power.

(Veneracion-Rallonza 2008)

Formal Politics/Power: Contesting

the State

Suffragist Movement

National Political Party of Women

Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan(MAKIBAKA)

Association of Women in Theology (AWIT)

Kapisanan ng mga Madre sa Kamaynilaan

Women in Media Now (WOMEN)

Samahan ng Kababaihang Manggagawa saPilipinas

Kilusang Manggagawang Kababaihan

Alliance of Women for Action towards Reconciliation (AWARE)

Samahan ng Malayang Kababaihan

GABRIELA

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Electoral Politics)

VOTERS TURNOUT RATES BY SEX 1947-1992

-

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

100.00

1947

1949

1951

1953

1955

1957

1959

1961

1963

1965

1967

1969

1970

1971

1978

1980

1981

1982

1984

1986

1987

1988

1992

1995

1998

2001

YEAR

%

Men (%)

Women (%)

Figure 9.1 (p.224)

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Electoral Politics)

Table 9.1 (p.225)

Position Number of Women Elected Number of Positions to be Filled

Election Year

1946 Congresswoman 1 8

1947 Senator 1 8

1949 Congresswoman 1 100

1953 Congresswoman 1 102

1955 Senator 1 8

1957 Congresswoman 1 102

1961 Senator 1 8

Congresswoman 2 104

1963 Senator 1 8

1965 Senator 1 8

Congresswoman 6 104

1967 Senator 2 8

1967 Senator 0 8

Congresswoman 3 109

1971 Senator 1 8

1978 IBP Member 9 165

1984 Mambabatas Pambansa 10 181

1987 Senator 2 23

Total 63 1284

Number of Women in the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives

from 1946 to 1987

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Electoral Politics)

1987-1992 1992-1998 1998-2004 2004-2010

Woman Man Woman Man Woman Man Woman Man

President 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0

Vice President 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0

Women Elected to Public Office Executive Branch: National

Women Elected into Public Office, Legislative Branch: National

8th Congress 1987-

1992

9th Congress 1992-

1995

10th Congress

1995-1998

11th Congress 1998-

2001

12th Congress 2001-

2004

13th Congress 2004-

2007

W M W M W M W M W M W M

Senators 2 22 4 20 4 20 4 20 3 19 4 19

Representatives 19 195 23 192 23 192 27 193 36 175 37 200

TOTAL21 217 27 212 27 212 31 213 39 194 41 219

% 9% 91% 11% 89% 11% 89% 13% 87% 17% 83% 16% 84%

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Electoral Politics)

Women Elected into Public Office: Executive at the Local Government

Level

8th Congress

1987-1992

9th Congress

1992-1995

10th Congress

1995-1998

11th Congress

1998-2001

12th Congress

2001-2004

13th Congress[1]

2004-2007

EXECUTIVE W M W M W M W M W M W M

Governor 4 69 5 68 9 67 13 62 15 59 15 64

Vice Governor 8 66 No Data No Data 13 89 9 69 10 67 6 73

Mayor 118 1460 101 1459 129 1469 233 1374 241 1394 293 1366

Vice Mayor 96 1495 No Data No Data 132 1465 179 1428 192 1356 232 1377

Sub Total 226 3090 106 1527 283 3090 434 2933 458 2876 546 2880

% 7% 93% 6% 94% 8% 92% 13% 87% 14% 86% 16% 84%

[1] Data based on the COMELEC tally as of March 2005. To date, there are still some areas where the final count has not been declared.

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Electoral Politics)

Women Elected into Public Office: Legislative at the Local Government

Level

8th Congress

1987-1992

9th Congress

1992-1995

10th Congress

1995-1998

11th Congress

1998-2001

12th Congress

2001-2004

13th Congress[1]

2004-2007

LEGISLATIVE W M W M W M W M W M W M

Provincial Board62 564 68 579 76 601 93 629 120 607 102 514

City/Municipal

Council 1305 11101 1644 11408 1840 11423 2141 10570 2198 10457 1718 8283

Sub Total 1367 11665 1712 11987 1916 12024 2234 11199 2318 11064 1820 8797

% 10% 90% 12% 88% 14% 86% 17% 83% 17% 83% 17% 83%

TOTAL 1593 14755 1818 13514 2199 15114 2668 14132 2776 13940 2366 11677

% 10% 90% 12% 88% 13% 87% 16% 84% 17% 83% 17% 83%

[1] Data based on the COMELEC tally as of March 2005. To date, there are still some areas where the final count has not been declared.

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Electoral Politics)

Trending of Women Elected into Public Office: Executive and

Legislative at the National and Local Levels

90%

88%

87%

84%

83%

83%

10%

12%

13%

16%

17%

17%

8th Congress 1987-1992

9th Congress 1992-1995

10th Congress 1995-1998

11th Congress 1998-2001

12th Congress 2001-2004

13th Congress 2004-2007

TO

TA

L N

AT

ION

AL

& L

OC

AL

Women

Men

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Electoral Politics)

Party-list system

-1998, six groups under category of ‘women sector’ (Woman Power, Abanse Pinay!, Ang Bagong Pilipina, Babayi, National Councl of Women in the Philippines, & Gloria’s League of Women) participated; only Abanse Pinay! won a seat in Congress

- 2001, women as party-list representatives did not come from a women’s political party (Akbayan and Bayan Muna)

- 2004, two groups ran under the banner of women’s concerns (Gabriela Women’s Party & Abanse Pinay!); Gabriela ranked 7th while AbansePinay ranked 33rd

Dividing rather than consolidating the ‘women’s vote’

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Politics of Law-

Making)Women-Related Bills Filed in the Bicameral Legislature:

Comparison of the 11th and 12th Congresses

11th Congress[1] 12th Congress[2]

Senate 101 or 6.2% (out of 1627) 197 or 6.7% (out of 2957)

House of Representatives 108 or 1.4% (out of 7706) 168 or 2.3% (out of 7389)

TOTAL 209 or 2.2% 365 or 3.5%

[1] The bills reflected here are those that were filed during the 1st regular session of the 11th Congress covering 1 July 1998 to 3 June 1999. For

this period, a total of 9,333 bills were filed from the Senate and the House of Representatives.

[2] The bills listed here are those filed for the whole duration of the 12th Congress or from 2001 to 2004. A total of 10,346 bills were filed in the

bicameral legislature.

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Politics of Law-

Making)

Tabulation of Women-Related Legislations Passed into

Law: From the 8th to the 12th Congress: By Categories

8th Congress

1987-1992

9th Congress

1992-1995

10th Congress

1995-1998

11th Congress

1998-2001

12th Congress

2001-2004

Total per

Category

Education/Training 2 2 - - - 4

Girl-Child - 1 - - 1 2

Health 3 5 - - 1 9

Human Rights 2 - 2 2 3 9

Institutional Mechanisms 2 - - - - 2

Media - - 2 - - 2

Violence Against Women 2 2 2 1 1 8

Women in Armed Conflict - - - - - -

Women in Poverty/Economy/Work 6 5 4 - 1 16

Women in Power and Decision-

Making

1 1 - 1 3

Total per Congress 18 16 10 3 8 55

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Interface of

Electoral Politics and Law-Making)

Women in National Legislature vis a vis Pro-Women Laws:

From the 8th to the 12th Congress

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

8th Congress 1987-

1992

9th Congress 1992-

1995

10th Congress 1995-

1998

11th Congress 1998-

2001

12th Congress 2001-

2004

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Women in NationalLegislature

Pro-Women Laws

Formal Politics/Power: Political Space and

Dynamics within the State (Politics of Critical

Engagement)

Women’s groups/organizations

- socio-civic oriented (Francisco 1998)

- activist oriented (Francisco 1998)

- sector, issue, ideology, and research/resource organizations (Reyes 1992)

Challenge of diversity

Informal Politics/Power: Political

Participation thru Women’s ‘Traditional’

Role

Ceremonial ‘duties’ of wives

Standing by ‘my man’

Heir of the ‘political torch’

Anti-thesis to male dictator

Some Feminist Reflections

nominal participation of women in the electoral exercise;

women in power is not equivalent to empowerment of women in society;

men are trapped in women’s bodies; and

women’s organizations have not escaped the sorry state of Philippine politics