Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Women in The Philippines
Women in The Philippines
Women in the Philippines have traditionally controlled the family fiances. In traditional societies they
have been responsible for planting and household chores and child care although men have
participated some in these duties. Women have traditionally been expected to be involved in
nurturing tasks like education and service, while men were supposed to be leaders in politics.
Filipino women are usually called Filipina. Their role of a woman in many ways is defined by
Catholicism. Women generally don't smoke or drink or eat alone. These are things associated with
prostitutes. On one hand in the Philippines, girls are twice as likely to suffer from malnutrition as
boys. On the other hand women are often invited to dinner and evening outing unlike other Asian
countries when night out are often men only affairs.
The Philippines has a matriarchal society. Women occupy a high place in society, politics and the
professions. They enjoy equal social and political rights with men. The present-day Filipina is now
more assertive (compared to their ancestors during the Spanish era). There is a growing women’s
right movement. Gabriella is an organization which holds a progressive platform which fights against
sexual aggression, discrimination, and oppression. [Source: Canadian Center for Intercultural
Learning+++]
According to livinginthephilippines.com: “The Filipina enjoys equality with men in many areas,
notably in professional, business and career areas. To understand the Filipina, one must look at the
different roles she takes in society. As she goes through life, the Filipina may take he roles of
daughter, sister, dalaga or young woman, wife, mother, mistress, professional, employer, employee,
etc. The first few roles are more firmly entrenched in tradition and probably influence the more
modem roles that a Filipina faces. [Source: livinginthephilippines.com]
In pre-colonial times, among many ethnic groups, custom law gave women equal rights with men.
They could own and inherit property, engage in trade and industry, and succeed to chieftainship in
the absence of a male heir. They had exclusive right to educate and to name their children. They
were also the money keepers. During the Spanish times a woman continued the use of her maiden
name after marriage, or else merely appended her husband's surname to her own, and the children
assumed the hyphenated surname. Her husband may have built their house, the symbol of their
conjugal state, but she was the maybahay, literally the owner of the house.[Source: Alvina, C. & Sta.
Maria, F. 1987. Essays on Philippine Culture, kasal.com *^*]
See Separate Articles on Filipino Brides and Children in the Philippines; Birth Control and Abortion,
See Population; Working Women, See Labor
Women in Government
Under the Philippines consitution women are promised the same voting rights as men. Since
Marcos was ousted in 1986 the Philippines has had two women presidents: Cory Aquino and Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo. But even so women are still not very well represented in Philippine government.
In 2001, only 24 of the 216 memers of Congress were women. Arroyo had three women in her
cabinet.
Many of the women in Philippine politics—including Aquino, Arroyo, and Imelda Marcos and her
daughter—got to where they were riding on the coat tails of their husbands, fathers or other family
members.