Gabriela holds big rally Monday
MILITANT group Gabriela will hold a big rally on Monday in commemoration of the 100 years of the declaration of International Women’s Day to air their grievances against the Arroyo administration.
Rina Amacio, Gabriela secretary general, said Friday the worsening economic and political crisis has affected so much the women and their families’ thus prompted the women to join the militant women’s group.
She said the rally will start in Lupit Church going to the Bacolod Public Plaza, with 3,000 women expected to join the rally.
Negros will join thousands of women all over the country as they take their day off from work, including households chores to take to the streets and protest the continuing crisis that burdens women and their families.
Amacio noted that a survey of the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR) reveals that 47 percent of the respondents said they are mostly affected by cost-cutting measures of families in their meals, either one or twice a day or buying cheaper but less nutritious food.
The survey also revealed that 77.61 percent of women respondents said that they take on additional jobs like vending food and other merchandise 28.36 percent or doing odd jobs such as laundry service or sub contracting work 18.9 percent to augment the family’s inadequate income.
Amacio stressed that here in Negros, it’s always the usual hanging situation, “if the price of sugar goes up, it has no concrete impact on the lives of the sugar worker. The wages are pegged at the lowest that could hardly make both ends meet even for a day meal.”
She said the burden on women and children is caused by economic woes resulting from the Arroyo government’s pro-globalization polices.
“This commemoration and protest actions will also demand for justice for women and children victims of the governments’ repressive measures including the Ampatuan massacre, where 15 of the victims are women, and the case of the 43 health workers illegally arrested and detained of which 26 are women, and which Arroyo knows no shame.”
Several victims of agrarian crisis in the province of Negros Occidental include Cecelia Lava, of Murcia, Marivic Araneta, Bago City, Jane Badayos, representative of Samahan ng mga Kababaihan Nagkakaisa (Samakana), Nenita Cherniguin, of 4th Nominee group, Rose Baulita, Cadiz, Bernadith Bebit, Bago, and Jessie Mesiorado, of Hacienda San Jose Cadiz, had aired their grievances against the landowners in their respective areas.
Mesiorado said that in Cadiz City, rampant harassment happens in their area, and some of them have pending of warrants of arrest, which is now among the big problems they encounter.
Gabriela also demanded that Governor Isidro Zayco make an appeal to the landowners to stop the criminalization.
As of 2008, Gabriela had 90 cases of harassment against women, and 113 cases in 2009, with most of the cases involving rape, and child abuse among others.