Apart from the “endo,” Brosas also lamented various issues affecting women, such as gender-based violence and economic issues such as the lifting of tariffs on imported rice and the water supply crisis.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — “Sunbathing girls” and “smelly girlfriend” are hardly how Filipino women these days should be depicted by no less than President Duterte during his fourth State of the Nation, a progressive woman lawmaker said today, July 29.
Instead, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas pointed out that Filipino women workers were betrayed by Duterte’s veto of the Security of Tenure Bill that will supposedly put an end to contractualization or “endo.”
“Women are a huge part of the contractual workers betrayed by the President when he vetoed the already watered-down Security of Tenure bill at the pleasure of big businesses and foreign investors,” said Brosas in a privilege speech before the House of Representatives.
Brosas said labor participation of women, who make up half of the country’s labor force, has declined through the years from 49.3 percent in 2016 to 46.2 in 2017.
“The number of employed women also decreased by almost one million during the same period. The economic opportunities for women for gainful employment have drastically worsened,” she added.
As such, Brosas added that to survive, women workers endure harsh working conditions, where they are also vulnerable to abuses, as in the case of Sumifru in Mindanao and Pepmaco in Laguna.
Apart from the “endo,” Brosas also lamented various issues affecting women, such as gender-based violence and economic issues such as the lifting of tariffs on imported rice and the water supply crisis.
She also assailed the diminishing political space accorded to Filipino women, most especially those who dare to dissent and fight for their rights.
Gabriela, for one, has long been targeted in the red-tagging, along with fellow progressive lawmakers belonging to the Makabayan bloc.
Brosas highlighted Gabriela’s legislative record of pushing for laws that benefit the people.
She added, “in the midst of being the target of calibrated attacks on virtually every front, we fight. Babae kami, lumalaban.”
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