In the Philippines, as in most countries in the Asian region, poverty has a woman's face.

Josie, in her thirties and a single mother with two kids, used to work as a trimmer for a Korean garments company in Cavite. She was laid off after the business starting losing money.

Struggling to keep herself and her children fed and clothed, she now works as a waitress at a KTV nightclub, earning a thousand a month aside from the measly tips she occasionally receives from customers.

Nora, a mother of five, worked as a secretary in a rent-a-car firm before the peso collapsed in 1997.

Today, jobless and recently widowed, she walks in and out of office blocks selling biscuits, earning P150 per package. Her market is limited to large offices with people who can afford a little luxury. Sometimes she does clerical work to make ends meet. She hopes that one day, she might get a stable job to support her family.

Like Josie and Nora, thousands of Filipino women are struggling to keep their families alive amid discrimination and oppression.

Last June, Committee on Women chair Josefina Joson, along with other legislators proposed another pro-women bill.

The bill, known as the "Women Empowerment Act of 2002," aims to provide a number of appointive positions in the national and local government to qualified women.

It proposes to reserve for women at least one-third of positions in the Cabinet, in government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC's) and financing institutions, state colleges and universities, and local government units.

One-third of government undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, ambassadors, prosecutors, directors, and division chiefs should also be women.

Download Full Article | bills.doc | 28 KB

Back