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Jeanette Ampog, executive director of non-governmental organization Talikala (davaotoday.com file photo)DAVAO CITY, Philippines – In time for International Women’s Month, women rights advocates in Davao urge candidates of the midterm and local elections to set platforms for women’s rights given the issues of abuse that is still prevalent in the city.
Speaking at the Kapehan sa Dabaw presscon, advocates noted that economic abuse remains the top cause of violence against women and children. Data provided by the city government’s Integrated Gender and Development Division (IGDD) recorded 976 economic abuse cases, 851 psychological/economic abuse cases, 469 physical abuse cases, and 90 sexual abuse cases, totaling 2,386 cases.
IGDD head Lorna Mandin explained that economic abuse consists of women who have stopped working, remained unemployed or being hampered to seek employment by their partner or family.
“Women are mostly out of work, many of them have been laid off, so that translates to (abuse), but we can’t accept that excuse,” Mandin said
There were more cases of economic abuse reported to the IGGD in 2023 with 1,439 cases of economic abuse, along with 755 cases of psychological/emotional abuse, 463 cases of physical abuse, and 50 cases of sexual abuse, totaling 2,707 cases.
But women advocates said the numbers indicate there are incidents that have been underreported especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jeanette Ampog, executive director of the NGO Talikala, urged more action from the local government especially on cases of gender-related violence.
“More women are reportedly being vulnerable to sexual abuse, incest, and domestic violence from their boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, or even immediate family members that need more action from implementors of the law,” Ampog said.
Another concern raised by Ampog is the increasing number of prostituted women is worsening due to online sexual abuse or exploitation of children, which she said is rampant and victimizes community and school children.
“We have laws, complete set of laws, but you can see the victims are increasing and are getting younger. We need to ask how do we address these concerns?” asked Ampog.
Davao City has landmark local laws including the Women’s Development Code ensuring women’s social, economic and political rights. But Ampog said what is needed is for local leaders from the city council to agencies handling gender-related issues to see to it that the laws are truly implemented.
“We have these laws that protect the women, but what we need now is its full implementation. This will happen if those who direct and enforce these laws will look at women’s rights is also human rights,” she stressed.
Women and election
Of the Davao City Council’s 21 member, one-third or seven are women. In this coming local election in May, nearly a third of the candidates or 30 are women.
Some Davaoeños talked to Davao today discussing priority concerns for women that they hope the candidates can address.
Nelia Alcontin, 46, pointed out her family’s burden of finding money to spend for the high cost of commodities as she and her husband are daily wage earners.
“Unta mafeel din namin yung alibyo sa mahal na gastosin kasi nagmamahal na talaga tanan. As a mother, puzzled ka talaga every day pano mo ibudget yung pera for a month sa dami ng gastosin (I hope we can feel relief from the high prices of commodities. As a mother, it’s puzzling every day to budget your money for a month with so many expenses),” Alcontin said.
Students Merlfie, 17, and Glennivieve, 19, pointed out that candidates need to present concrete platforms to address the traffic situation in the city as they are feeling stressed from commuting back and forth to school.
Merlfie, who resides in Matina Pangi, describes her daily commute as “stressful,” as it takes almost an hour or sometimes more to commute to her school, the University of Mindanao, which is around 6 to 8 kilometers of travel distance.
Glennivieve said that the stress of travel especially during rush hours leave them little time to rest and study.
“Stressful kaayo sya every day, like kailangan gyud mi mumata early mag take og longer period para maghulat og jeep and ang travel … additional burden gyud sya sa amoa (It’s stressful every day, like you wake up early as it takes a longer period to wait for a jeep and then the travel time…),” Glennivieve said.
The national government and City Government pushed for the jeepney phaseout during the pandemic to give way to modernized jeepneys which has experienced delays. Many jeepney drivers have not had their franchises renewed or have given up due to high costs. (davaotoday.com)
davao city, Women's Month
