House bill protects women in politics
House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal party list Rep. Leila de Lima, along with 41 other lawmakers and women’s organizations, filed a bill seeking to define and penalize violence against women in politics (VAWP).
De Lima, Iloilo Rep. Julienne Baronda, Manila Rep. Joel Chua, and Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V were present for the filing of House Bill No. 8393 on Tuesday.
“Under this bill, we aim to define and criminalize violence against women, establish protection and reporting mechanisms, require political parties to adopt safeguards against gender-based political violence, and hold digital platforms accountable for addressing coordinated online abuse and gender disinformation targeting women leaders,” De Lima said in an ambush interview after the filing.
The lawmaker noted that current laws, such as the Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act No. 9710), do not cover VAWP, which is especially prevalent during elections and while campaigning.
“You know that during election and campaign periods, targeting of female candidates, women joining campaigns and women in party staff is rampant—coordinated harassment, trolling, gender disinformation, threats of violence, sexual harassment and intimidation designed to silence women or push them out of politics,” De Lima said.
“Most of the time, the attacks are so shocking that we can only shake our heads. We can cite examples like, ‘Because you are a woman, may you or your children be raped.’ This should never be normalized or tolerated,” she added.
Underrepresented
Apart from the Magna Carta of Women, the bill’s explanatory note also noted that, despite constitutional guarantees of equality and the country’s commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Beijing Platform for Action, women remain underrepresented in politics.
It further disclosed that “in 2022, only 24 percent of elected positions in the country were held by women, a notable decrease from 30 percent in 2017.”
Asked what prompted the filing, De Lima said they had been working on the measure for months, and the recent attacks against women further reinforced its urgency.
She did not mention a specific incident, but Quezon City Rep. Bong Suntay recently faced criticism for making controversial and lewd remarks about actress Anne Curtis during a House hearing on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Still under attack
“I am one of the examples. All attacks on my personal life and credibility continue to be hurled at me to this day. There are also people like [former] Vice President and [Naga City] Mayor Leni [Robredo], and Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who have also been victims of violence against women, especially psychological violence,” De Lima added.
Aside from defining and criminalizing VAWP, the bill also pushed for the following:
Establish accountability for perpetrators, including individuals, political actors and digital platforms that enable or facilitate VAWP;
Mandate the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to monitor political parties and campaign organizations for compliance with gender-sensitive internal codes of conduct, grievance mechanisms and measures that promote women’s political participation;
Institutionalize gender-responsive monitoring systems, including the collection and maintenance of centralized, gender-disaggregated data by Comelec, the Commission on Human Rights and other relevant agencies;
Strengthen local government support systems, designating local government units as front-line responders responsible for providing structural support and safe spaces for women candidates and elected officials; and
Provide dedicated funding mechanisms through the Department of Budget and Management to ensure the sustainability of monitoring systems, institutional support and capacity-building programs.
