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Violence is experienced by the Filipino people due to the worsening condition of landlessness, unemployment, and development aggression. Communities are devastated due to mining projects in rural areas, housing demolitions in urban centers. Pushed to the wall, the Filipino people assert their rights for food and freedom, jobs and justice. Such assertion is answered with state violence, which greatly affects women and children.
Oplan Bayanihan, just like the operational plans of the previous administrations, brought about different forms of violence against women and children, namely:
Under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) signed under Joseph Estradas administration, the launching of Balikatan exercises has been possible since 2002. In these Balikatan exercises, the whole country becomes accessible to US troops. For women, the increased presence of US soldiers are indicative of further sexual abuses and exploitation. They become vulnerable to prostitution, trafficking, and sexual violence such as the case of Nicole, a young woman who was raped by US soldiers in 2005.
Center for Womens Resources | November 2013
administration that aims to curb elements that oppose the government. It is a copied version of the 2009 Counter-Insurgency Guide (COIN) of the US. Different from the previous operational plans, Oplan Bayanihan puts emphasis on non-combat strategies such as alleged delivery of social services in places where there is increased resistance from the people. This of course, is apart from the usual military tactics that they employ.
Joven Cabe, 9 Sunshine Jabinez, 7 Christian Noceto, 15 Michael Mancera, 10 Richard Mancera, 7 Rodilyn Aguirre, 6 Manuel Pamintuan, 14 Gerald Oreza, 4 Gaily Miraato, 6 Dada Botawon Haron, 5 Asmayra Usman, 4 Jordan Manda, 11 John Khali Lagrimas, 14 John Mark Capion, 13 Jordan Capion, 13 Roque Antivo, 8
Under the worsening crisis of poverty that beset the people, women and children experience increasing violence. According to the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey, 55% of poor women have experienced violence, compared to 12% of women in the upper income decile. This means that poor women are more susceptible to violence.
POVERTY
5,180
14 women or children victims daily 1 victim every 1 hour and 42 minutes 7 out of 10 victims are children
What compounds the problem is that those who are supposed to be protecting women and children are the ones who are violating them the military, the police, and the paramilitary units of the government or the CAFGU (Citizens Auxilliary Force Geographical Unit). The Center for Womens Resources (CWR) was able to monitor 12 cases of rape involving soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and police from the Philippine National Police (PNP) as perpetrators in 2012. One of the rape cases involved two 16-year-old girls in Mankayan, Benguet who were raped by military elements. In 2012, there were 15,181 recorded cases of domestic violence and physical abuse of children, according to the PNP-WCPC. This means that every day, there are 41 cases of violence against women and children or one case every 34 minutes and 37 seconds.
According to Talikala, an organization that upholds the rights of prostituted women based in Davao City, there is an estimated 4,000 women and children who are victims of prostitution wherein the youngest is 9 years old while the oldest is 60 years old. The different forms of prostitution continue. In Iloilo, there were reported cases of sex for rice or prostitution in exchange for a kilo of rice. In Navotas and Davao, cases of akyat-barko or prostitution in ships are still rampant. There were also reported cases of prostitution in exchange for a bag of grocery or any food. In young students, there were also reported cases of prosti-tuition or prostitution in exchange for payment for tuition which usually happen every start of the semester in June or October.
Despite the increasing violence, women and children do not remain victims. They are actively participating in the struggle of the people to oppose the programs and policies that reduce and further expose them to poverty and violence. That is why it is a challenge for women to study and to mobilize more women to collectively fight for their democratic rights.
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