Protest marks Int’l Women’s Day

MANILA, Philippines—Women workers marked the eve of the International Women’s Day Thursday with a protest action in Manila to raise their economic and labor demands.

The issues raised by the demonstrators, members of the Partido ng Manggagawa and Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea), included the lack of job opportunities for women, outsourcing and contractualization, and high prices of basic commodities and services like water and electricity.

“Filipino women’s Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) has remained within the 50 percent mark. This is not because women chose to remain at home as so-called ‘plain housewives’ but rather due to lack of opportunities,” said Partido ng Manggagawa secretary general Judy Ann Miranda.

She said that it is more difficult for women to make ends meet when they are unemployed.

The protesters, who gathered in front of the Department of Labor and Employment in Intramuros, Manila, carried makeshift chains and shared lunch of dried fish to dramatize their protest.—Tina G. Santos