A video taken from a BBM-Sara rally is currently being shared in various social media platforms. The video features a scantily clad woman dancing provocatively as some form of entertainment during the official campaign activity.
We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this flagrant objectification of women, on the very stage where this election’s frontrunners presented themselves as candidates for the two highest positions to the electorate. We wish to remind candidates Bongbong Marcos and Mayor Sara Duterte that such act, which was undoubtedly staged with their knowledge and consent, violates the Magna Carta of Women’s provision on the non-discriminatory and non-derogatory portrayal of women.
Women remain vulnerable to all forms of abuses because our patriarchal society has been conditioned to see women as sexual objects, as peddled commodities, as inferior beings with no power even over their own bodies. The UniTeam’s act does not, in any way, help in raising the public’s consciousness to recognize the dignity of women. On the contrary, it reflects a state of moral corruption on the part of these candidates, or a lack of sensitivity to the plight of women at the very least. If this is the way they see and treat women while they are candidates, we fear how women’s issues and concerns will be heard and handled when they are in power.
We call on all candidates and parties running for office to raise the standards of treating, presenting and portraying women in campaign exercises. We enjoin oversight agencies to ensure that women’s human rights and dignity are respected and promoted in the course of this electoral process. Finally, we encourage the public to reflect on candidates’ actions, to remain vigilant and exacting, and to fiercely call out acts that disrespect the rights and dignity of women and other vulnerable sectors.
Signed by:
Atty. Allen Liberato-Espino, Member, National GAD Resource Pool
Jean Enriquez, Member, National GAD Resource Pool
Mel Reyes, Member, National GAD Resource Pool
Atty. Gettie Sandoval, National GAD Resource Pool Member
Janica Rosales, Education Officer, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Josua Mata, Secretary General, Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO)
Joanna Bernice Coronacion, Deputy SecGen, SENTRO
Myles Paraiso Sanchez Paredes, President, Empowered Women Survivors’ Collective (EWSC)
Melot Balisalisa, Member, National GAD Resource Pool
Mari Enriquez, CPAGuinevere Dy Agra, MD
Joanne Garcia Feliciano – Cabiguen, RN – Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Cecilia Iguiron Fantastico, Member, National GAD Resource Pool
Gabrielle Vicente, Research Officer, Coalition against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Atty. Simonette Sibal-Pulido, Member, UP Sigma Alpha Nuans for Leni-KikoMaria
Helen F. Dayo, Member National GAD Resource Pool
Ives Barroma-Degala, Member UP Sigma Alpha Nuans for Leni-Kiko
Libertine Rastrullo-Avila, Member, UP Sigma Alpha Nuans for Leni-Kiko
Judy Afan Pasimio, Overall Coordinator, LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights)
Sharlaine M. Balagtas, Media and Communications Staff, LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights)
Katrina Marie Magtoto, Project Coordinator, LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights)
Cheryl Polutan, Programs Coordinator, LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights)
Foundation for Media Alternatives, Inc.
Abigail Dupale, Program Staff, LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights) Women and Gender Institute (WAGI)
Shenina Badua, Technical Assistant, Women and Gender Institute (WAGI)
Raymond Ngan, Media and Documentation, Team Leni Robredo, City of Manila
Amparo Miciano, Secretary General, Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK)
Atty. Patricia Ibarra-Tejada, Member UP Sigma Alpha Nuans for Leni-Kiko
Vichel Juguilon-Pangan, Member, National GAD Resource Pool
Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau – WLB
World March of Women – Pilipinas
Retired PCOL SUSAN R JALLA, Member, National GAD Resource Pool
Armilee Sastrillo, Member UP Sigma Alpha Nian for Leni-Kiko
Dominique Macapagal, Member UP Sigma Alpha Nuans for Leni-Kiko
Wilma Flor Famoso, Member UP Sigma Alpha Nuans for Leni-Kiko
Jonathan & Thelma Nambu, Samaritana Transformation Ministries, Inc.
Maria Daryl Leyesa, Member, National GAD Resource Pool39. Louie T. Parungao
Aurora Aran Nunez, Member, UP Sigma Alpha Nuan for Leni-Kiko
Ana Maria R. Nemenzo, National Coordinator, WomanHealth Philippines
Fe Manapat, Program Officer, WomanHealth Philippine
Filipina Lactao, WomanHealth Philippines
Azucena Pestano, WomanHealth Iloilo
Maisie Faith J Dagapioso, WomanHealth Zamboanga
Richelle Verdeprado Mangga, Sowing Legacy Movement, Inc.
Charles Mangga, SLMI
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