ON THE PHILIPPINE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT

Why is the women's movement very quiet on the May 10 elections? How come they are not putting up standards for electing officials, whether nationally or locally? Are there forces stopping the leaders from encouraging their members to be more active, to be more vocal? (Kindly inform me if any group has come up with any statement about this.) In the past elections, we always put up agenda that the candidates had had to promise to work on once they get elected and this has helped a lot in pushing forward our movement.

The women's movement has to be sustained through election and non-election periods. At this time, when we shall be choosing new leaders, it becomes more imperative for us to be heard, that we are in the know, that people know that we are into the political picture, that our voices and our votes are important as ever.

A ten-point agenda, short but concise would be a good way to inform the people that these are what we want from the candidates. We don't want just female faces gracing the various positions, we want active women - speaking out against human rights violations, investigating them and giving judgment that would give justice to the victims. We want women to stand up in the halls of Congress, whether House of Reps or the Senate and speaking out intelligently, critically and courageously. It is not enough for them to be sitting in powerful positions, but rather coming out as equal powers to all -- taking charge of what it takes to lead our country to that state of equality, development, peace and justice.