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| History | Filipino women have a long struggle against oppression, foreign control
and male domination. They fought for better jobs and the rights to vote and
go to school. One of them led a regional revolt against Spanish colonizers.
She was Gabriela Silang. Primed by the anti-dictatorship campaign and the drive for economic and political change in the Marcos years, women's organizations established the national women's coalition, GABRIELA the General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action. Starting from 42 when we organized in April 1984, we are today a center of over a hundred women organizations, institutes, desks, and programs. Our ranks include women workers, peasants, urban poor, housewives, professionals, religious and students across the country. We believe that the freedom women seek will be brought about by the resolution of the problems of foreign domination, landlessness and political repression and in the changing of patriarchal value systems and structures in Philippine society. We focus on issues that affect women: the effects of militarization and women's landlessness; the International Monetary Fund-World Bank and the debt crisis; denial of women's reproductive rights and gross neglect of health care for women; violence on children, wife abuse and family life; development aid; prostitution and trafficking of women. |
| GABRIELA TASKS & PRINCIPLES |
| arouse, mobilize and organize the greatest number of women for
genuine liberation promote and conduct information and education activities to initiate socio-cultural transformation promote and create programs and projects to uplift the condition of women promote organized action to eliminate unjust and discriminatory practices, unequal and oppressive structures that deter the full development of Filipinas as persons form networks along local and international women's organizations to foster understanding and solidarity towards the resolution of common problems explore areas of cooperation and collaboration with other agencies and organizations to promote equal opportunities for women and their development |
| DECLARATION
OF PRINCIPLES | We seek to forge women's unity within and among classes and
constituencies to wage a struggle for the liberation of women and
the rest of the Filipino people. This force will work for genuine national sovereignty in Philippine socio-cultural, economic and political life and freedom from all foreign intervention especially that of the United States; a democratic government, representative of and participated in by grassroot women and women from all sectors and classes of society, that recognizes the cultural communities struggle for self-determination and preservation of their cultural life and traditions; a government that provides support systems for women, initiates programs and policies in consultation with women and promotes equality between women and men; an armed forces that truly protect the people, serve their interests and respect the supremacy of the civilian government; an end to militarization that has intensified the sufferings of the Filipino people, especially the women; a fair, just and independent legal and judicial system that does not discriminate against women and which upholds their rights and welfare; genuine land reform, recognition of women's participation in agricultural production, recognition of land rights of cultural minorities; a self-reliant economy that is geared primarily towards domestic consumption and nationalist industrialization, gives equal value to the participation of women in production and responds to specific needs of women at work; a quality educational system that is nationalist, pro-people, non-sexist and liberating; a socio-cultural system that does not demean women; the development of basic sciences and technology that serve Filipinos and considers the particular needs of women; and, the strengthening of solidarity with women's groups in other countries against sexism, imperialism and militarism in the world. |
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Postal
Address: P.O. Box 4386, Manila
2800, Philippines |
