Thank you for covering the mobilizations in the recently concluded international women's day. As one who has been with civil society and on many occasions, begged for media coverage, I truly appreciate it.
However, as a feminist who try as much as I can to be open to and learn from the whole spectrum of Philippine civil society and women's groups, I am disappointed to read an article about a rally where only one group is mentioned. From what I know, there were two groups of women who marched to Mendiola, both numbering into thousands. And there was another rally where people numbered more than 4,000, heading to Congress, urging legislators to pass the much needed RH bill.
Which leads me to my second point: While I understand that this is a news article which could be a mere description of what one saw, I do hope that you would further ground the stories on the contexts which prompted these rallies.
Women did not go out just because it was the International Women's Day and wanted to show how many people we could mobilize on the streets. We went out because of more specific issues based on the realities for women in the Philippines. We went out because we wanted the Visiting Forces to be scrapped, for women migrant workers, especially domestic workers to be secured in the "private spheres" where they work, for women workers to be protected from unemployment and discrimination in the work place, we are apprehensive of the public-private partnerships, particularly of its impact on women workers --- just like what happened in some special economic zones and many more.
Please take some time to know the people who are marching on the streets and listen to their stories. It would even be great if you could interview women who came all the way from communities in the provinces rather than rely on already familiar faces and voices. After all, most of the latter are just based here in Metro Manila.
Finally, we can only have the centenary of the international women's day once. Please give it the attention it truly deserves.
Thank you,
Nina Somera
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