Katipunera
Lessons learned
Julia Maaño
I grew up in a country where women are the soft to men’s sturdy, the ilaw to the haligi; where women are either the homemaking mother Mary worrying over their children, or the sexy Mary Magdalene selling any number of luxury items. I grew up, in short, in a country where the patriarchy, subtly and blatantly, rules.
And yet, in that country, former senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago existed.
Her existence was validation: it is possible to be a smart, strong, successful woman. At the forefront of national politics was a woman who was unafraid to speak her mind, who was not humbly modest about her accomplishments. Her very existence empowered.
She was a mother, a wife, and a smart, strong, successful woman. She proved that none of these were mutually exclusive. Growing up a girl in a country where the Iron Lady of Asia led—it was like being told, You are allowed to be all that you can be.
What is the patriarchy to a generation of girls looking up to someone like that?
And truth be told, the statistics reflect this optimistic story. The Philippines is number one in Asia for “gender equality”, and seventh in the world. We have had two female presidents, unlike our former colonizer the United States of America. Girls can read, write, are free to go to school—more girls finish basic education than boys, and get more college degrees as well (of course, given their families can pay tuition. But that’s a different article entirely).
Yet despite all this, gaps in gender equality still exist.
Despite Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s fantastic track record (she authored the most laws and bills in all of Philippine history), she was still criticized for her outspokenness, in a manner that she would not have been subjected to if she were a male. One of the most enduring jokes was her being “Brenda”, or brain-damaged, in reference to her infamous temper. The idea is that women are supposed to be gentle and non-confrontational -- Miriam Defensor-Santiago shattered that norm.
There is still a lack of role models for little girls who wish to grow up to be the country’s top lawmakers. Out of 316 occupied seats in the 17th Congress, 223 male lawmakers sit, while only 93 women have the power to make laws. And if we narrow that down to the Senate, men outnumber women three to one--18 males to six females.
Of these six females, only one is consistently in the news, and thus exposed to the public eye: Sen. Leila de Lima.
Unfortunately, her media coverage, in terms of feminism, is not positive. Not positive at all.
Far from centering the criticisms of her on the legal issues she is embroiled in, her character is being massacred on national television. Men have grouped up against her and shamed her for her sexual and relationship choices--none of which are relevant to the issues at hand.
De Lima’s relationship with her married driver/bodyguard Ronnie Dayan proves nothing about the Bilibid drug trade, so does the infamous sex tape. If it had been a CCTV video of Dayan carrying out his bagman duties (perhaps with a real bag, with plastics of cocaine peeking out tantalizingly) in Bilibid, it might have been more useful.
The sex tape is irrelevant to the issues at hand, and it was in bad taste for it to be brought up at all. It is in equally bad taste for male Buhay Partylist representative Cong. Lito Atienza (of Maynila fame) to describe the tape as a “horror story”. It is clearly part of a demolition job on De Lima: a demolition job that targets her in the most sexist of ways.
The recent House hearings with Dayan have just added to the growing pile of evidence of how much the male-dominated Congress enjoys demolishing de Lima. Instead of questioning Dayan on his alleged bagman duties, congressmen asked Dayan sexually-charged questions regarding his relationship with de Lima.
There were questions such as, “When did you climax...the intensity of your feelings for each other?” When Dayana’s daughter explained that de Lima’s name in her cellphone was “TL” for “Tita Lei”, there were quips that “TL” also stood for “tulo-laway”, a salacious allusion to de Lima’s sex appeal.
Leila de Lima, despite being the same position as Miriam Defensor-Santiago--the most prominent female senator of the Philippines--is not being per-
Photo by Shernielyn Dela Cruz
mitted to become the new role model for young girls growing up and becoming aware of the world. Instead, she is being shamed for daring to speak her mind. For becoming a political nemesis to an all-too-powerful, all-too-macho man.
We must remember that this man, President Duterte, has openly commented numerous times about his activities with women. We cannot and will not forget how he said he should have been the first to rape a beautiful foreign missionary, or how he had two wives and two girlfriends. Yet instead of the country being furious at him about his “immorality”, as his administration would have us be against de Lima, he is instead applauded for his virility.
What lesson are we teaching our girls, then? Not to speak out against a man? Not to aspire to high office, because of the horrors it can bring upon them? To watch, silently, as half the population is praised to high heavens for actions that the other half would be cast in hell for?
Growing up, former senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago--note the hyphen, note how she refused to let her pre-marriage identity be erased entirely--empowered like nothing else. She was like a living reminder: it is possible to be a smart, strong, proud, capable woman.
What are girls growing up in 2016 learning?