A Women's Day message
by Kat Ulrike
This note wishes all working women in the nation and around the world a very happy International Working Women's Day. Let this note honor the accomplishments and remember the bravery of working women who defied socially enforced gender norms and assumed roles alongside the toiling masses in the fight for equality, national liberation, and social justice.
Given the rapidly deteriorating situation, which is marked by a precipitous decline in living standards, it is critical that women join forces with the labouring masses to protect welfare and interests, promote gender equality, and oppose policies that exacerbate oppression. The situation still affects women today, just as it did under previous regimes, exacerbating their experience with unemployment, unequal pay, and unfavourable work conditions.
The current US-Marcos regime, like its predecessor, relies on big business, despotic landlords, the military, and corrupt bureaucrats to enact onerous policies. One such policy is the recent charter change, which includes a "all out" economic liberalisation programme designed to attract new foreign investment at the expense of working people, including women. This venture, like all other attempts to denationalise the economy, is motivated by the belief that the world market, not the people, should dictate the national economy, and thus the country should be opened to the whims of profiteers with promises of "investments" in exchange for fewer regulations, particularly those governing labour, the community, and the environment. This line implied further exploitation of the Filipina as a worker, as the rising cost of living, exacerbated by profiteering and rising taxes, took away her earnings.
Contractualisation, with longer and more burdensome working days, and unjust conditions in the workplaces, brought dangers while gradually removing state protections. The exploiting capitalist, in collusion with the corrupt bureaucrat, demands higher profits, trampling every woman as a worker in order to compete in the market while pretending to be "for the people" or "for the Filipina" with empty rhetorics; worse, the order's attack dogs enforce the "law" through warrantless arrests and detention, or extrajudicial means such as involuntary disappearances.
With this situation, one could argue that the exploitation, injustice, and terror brought about by the current order have caused the Filipina to rise up and fight for national and social justice, equality, and to inspire many others to assert their rights as they have in the past. Despite its contributions, this struggle has evolved into more than just a debate about gender relations or how society should perceive women. This occasion is more than just a celebration of accomplishments, with women frequently receiving flowers and gifts, but also a reminder that women, who once held half of the sky, are also colleagues and comrades in the forefront of national and social struggle.