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Cordillera regional summit declaration of unity

We are women peasants, workers, urban poor, migrant workers, professionals, lesbians, youth,students, religious and advocates of women’s rights in the Cordillera Region.

We are battered by the economic crisis plaguing our country today. The bankruptcy of the Philippine government has deprived us of a decent and prosperous life, imposing on us unwanted sacrifices and hardships. The fiscal crisis is not of our making. It is a result of the policies of the government that give priority to debt service, to foreign investors and international commitments over the welfare of its own people, in addition to the systemic graft and corruption that eats into the coffers of the nation.

Our livelihoods are threatened by agricultural liberalization, displacement from our land and resources, retrenchment and widespread unemployment, ‘ marginalization and criminalization of our traditional livelihoods such as vending, privatization and streamlining of government agencies, and competition by big business enterprises that have encroached into the region. Many of us are forced to seek employment abroad in order to survive, leaving behind our families and loved ones just to earn a living as domestic helpers, factory workers, entertainers or other menial jobs in strange and distant countries.

Our wages and earnings are whittled down by high prices and rising taxes. The real value of the peso has fallen to an all time low, while the minimum wage is frozen, making it impossible for us to keep up with the rising prices of fuel, basic commodities and services. Now, the proposed tax measures of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration, particularly the Value Added Tax, will further burden us with every shrinking peso we spend.

We and our children suffer the consequences of a meager education budget, which cannot even provide enough schools, classrooms, teachers, lextbooks and other facilities for a decent education. We are forced to pay higher school fees, or implement PTA projects, or go through a bridge program to make up for the lack of resources and government support for education.

We lack the most basic social services such as water, power and health. If ever these services are available in our communities, we are obliged to pay ever-increasing rates to ensure the profits of private companies and service providers. We lack the basic social necessities for childbearing and child- rearing, such as day care centers, or education on reproductive health and rights. Many of us who come to the city to escape the poverty in the countryside end up as squatters on public land, victims to the ever-present threat of demolition.

The economic crisis has increased the vulnerability of many of us, who fall victim to sexual harassment, abuse, battering, rape, prostitution, and other forms of violence against women and children. And yet, most of us are unable to report or speak freely about our own suffering because of the prevailing culture of silence, shame and stigma attached to victims of violence.

We have limited opportunity to speak out and be heard in political institutions in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Meanwhile, we continue to experience institutionalized discrimination as women, as indigenous people, or homophobia as lesbians.

We are aware that all these hardships find their root in the unjust system prevailing in the country today, where the poor and the weak are oppressed by the rich and powerful; and where women are looked at as “the weaker sex”, or as “commodities” to cater to the pleasure and needs of men and the society as a whole.

We believe that women must be given full rights and freedoms as citizens of the Republic. We know that women, who make up half of the population, can contribute our share to the struggle for a free and democratic state. We know that we must unite in solidarity with all other oppressed classes and sectors of our society and join the rest of the Filipino people in working together to achieve a better life for us, our families and our communities. #

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