Economic, structural violence against women highlighted in International Working Women’s Day commemoration
“The Filipino people are suffering while the cronies and allies of Marcoses enrich themselves.”
MANILA – Removal of value-added tax, addressing violence against women and children (VAWC), and solidarity with the striking workers of Nexperia Philippines — these are the main calls of action of women from various formations who joined the commemoration of International Working Women’s Day in Liwasang Bonifacio, March 8.
“The cases of violence against women and children (VAWC) worsen because of the worsening crisis that we are suffering from today: widespread hunger and poverty,” said Gabriela Party-list first nominee Sarah Elago, during the commemoration program. “Domestic, workplace, and even online spaces, there are approximately 36 women who experience all these forms of violence every day.”
More than 12,000 cases of violence against women were filed, according to the Philippine National Police Crime Information Reporting and Analysis System (PNP-CIRAS), which is also included in the 2025 Ulat Lila report of Center for Women’s Resources (CWR). However, the CWR said that the numbers are conservative estimates.
“These are only conservative data because there is a grave underreporting in the cases of violence against women. According to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) and PNP, only one out of ten cases of VAW is being reported to the authorities due to the lack of awareness of these mechanisms and distrust in the authorities,” said CWR in its report.
The economic violence along with the culture of impunity, Elago said, worsens the situation for the Filipino women.
Economic violence
Value-added tax (VAT) has been dubbed as a regressive and anti-people tax imposed on consumers. In the Philippines, VAT is an indirect tax on goods and services. A percentage is added to what consumers would pay for goods and services, which businesses would then remit to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Just October last year, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the Digital Services Act or Republic Act No. 12023, imposing a 12-percent VAT on foreign digital service providers, with the aim of generating “additional revenue and level[ling] the playing field for local providers.”
Digital services are services availed of by consumers and delivered via the Internet or electronic networks using information technology. Examples of digital services levied for VAT are digital goods and platforms (e.g. Canva), e-marketplaces (e.g. Shein, Temu, Amazon, Lazada and Shopee), cloud services, streaming services (e.g. Spotify, Netflix), online media, and advertising.
Read: Digital services tax another burden on consumers
“The prices of basic commodities are rising, while the wages of workers remain unlivable,” Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said in Filipino. “The price of rice is record-breaking. Marcos Jr.’s administration promised that he would lower it. But instead, the price worsens every day because of the lack of support and subsidy for the local producers. Importation continues.”
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the price of well-milled rice currently averages P45 per kilo, but poor consumers reported that the usual market price of rice is around P55 to P60 per kilo, far from the P20 promise. The Department of Agriculture (DA) also said that despite the interventions of the Marcos’ administration, local rice prices have remained high. The department responded by setting the price for National Food Authority (NFA) rice at P35.
“For a long time, we have been calling the government to buy rice from the local producers at a reasonable price. However, Marcos and the DA continue to impose policies that could only favor big traders, smugglers, and hoarders, among others.” said Zenaida Soriano, chairperson of Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women. “We continue to call for the scrapping of Rice Liberalization Law (RLL) and other neoliberal policies.”
CWR also noted in their study that the enactment of RLL is the primary cause of losses among rice farmers, with the price of palay continuously declining, while the cost of farming inputs has risen. A separate study by think-tank IBON Foundation shows that the net income per hectare dropped from P32,976 before the implementation of the RLL to P19,680 , or a 40.32 percentage decrease, after the law was enforced.
Culture of impunity
Corruption and the lack of accountability in the administration of Marcos Jr., as Brosas pointed out, are among the primary problems of Filipino women. “It is clear in the national budget that there is corruption in the government. It prioritizes infrastructure, projects that have been deteriorating. It is the people that suffer the most.”
Infrastructure projects get one of the highest allocations for the 2025 national budget at P1.034 trillion, second to the education sector which is at P1.053 trillion.
Brosas said that on top of the potential kickbacks in infrastructure projects, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also has the highest confidential and intelligence funds, which could also be used for corruption.
“The Filipino people are suffering while the cronies and allies of Marcoses enrich themselves,” said Brosas.
The biggest amount of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) in the 2025 national budget goes to the Office of the President, which is at P4.5 billion. The Commission on Audit (COA) also stated in its Annual Financial Report last year that the same office has remained the top spender of CIF.
This is on top of the corruption issue linked to Vice President Sara Duterte. The alleged misuse of P612.5 million of CIF is one of the grounds of her impeachment.
“Meanwhile, the impeachment remains stalled. Despite the evidence we have exposed against her, she remains unaccountable,” Brosas lamented.
Brosas also called out Sara Duterte’s “hypocritical and empty rhetoric.”
In a video message, Sara Dutere said that a “united and multisectoral approach” is needed for the protection of Filipino women. “Every sector of society—government, private institutions, civil society, and individuals—must work together to break the cycle of abuse and exploitation.”
Brosas reacted, “It is the height of hypocrisy for the Vice President to call for strengthening laws against gender-based violence when her father’s administration perpetuated one of the most violent campaigns that left thousands of mothers grieving for their children killed in the so-called ‘war on drugs’.” (AMU, RVO)
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