BETTER DAYS
Senator Sonny Angara
The Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF) has long been a barometer for how well a country or an economy upholds equality between men and women—particularly in terms of economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health and survival; and political empowerment.
And from the time the report was first released in 2006 up to today, the Philippines has consistently figured as a top-performing country. According to the latest iteration of the report (2021), we ranked 17th out of 156 countries across the world,1st in the ASEAN, and 2nd in the Asia-Pacific region, behind only New Zealand which ranked 4th globally.
Such high rankings are often highlighted every March when the country formally celebrates National Women’s Month. And with good reason, for it is in this area where we truly are a world leader — or as President Duterte put it in a recent statement, “a shining beacon for women empowerment and gender equality across the globe.”
Other studies have underscored how we lead in this manner. For instance, in the Women in Business Report by Grant Thornton International Ltd., the Philippines consistently ranked high in terms of having the most number of women executives that occupy senior management roles across mid-size firms. In fact, we ranked 1st in 2020 and 2021. And though we slipped to 3rd in 2022, we still outpaced our regional peers with 39 percent of leadership roles being occupied by Filipinas compared to the averages 30 percent across Asia-Pacific and 37 percent in ASEAN.
There is a similar data story when it comes to innovation and intellectual property. An infographic recently released by the WEF, based on 2021 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) data, showed that the Philippines was second in terms of the share of women among applicants for international patents. Only Cuba with 53 percent bested the 38 percent we registered.
Indeed, when compared to many other countries, women in the Philippines appear to be more empowered, occupy more prominent roles across society, and enjoy relatively equal footing with their male counterparts. This isn’t to say however that there aren’t any gender gaps or biases that adversely affect Filipinas.
Consider the Women, Business and Law Index of World Bank which gauges whether laws, policies, or regulations limit or enable economic opportunities for women. According to the 2022 report, the Philippines has a perfect score when it comes to laws and policies which affect women’s work, their pay, and entrepreneurship. That is, there are no legal barriers for women to have a job, to get equal pay, or to start a business. In fact, this is affirmed by the comprehensive women’s rights framework enshrined in R.A. 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women, which we co-authored while still a member of the House of Representatives.
The same index however showed that when it came to freedom of movement, constraints related to marriage, laws affecting women’s work after having children, gender differences in property and inheritance, and laws impacting the size of a woman’s pension, several reforms are needed to further enshrine the equality of women in law.
The pandemic also laid bare some gaps and disparities that sometimes get glossed over amid the country’s glowing gender equality rankings. In December 2021, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released a study showing that women were among the hardest hit sectors as a result of Covid-19’s effects on labor markets. Citing Q2 2020 data, the report showed that while women accounted for 40 percent of the workforce before the pandemic, they accounted for up to 44 percent of the jobs lost in that period. And this was driven largely because women were overrepresented in job sectors that were hit the most by the pandemic such as retail services and tourism. The lockdowns had also adversely affected the livelihood of up to 3.5 million women who work in the informal economy as sari-sari store owners, roadside vendors, and carinderia operators.
Meanwhile, it has been well-documented that incidence of domestic violence, which skews heavily towards women, had increased throughout the pandemic — a trend which was also observed in the Philippines. A March 2021 survey conducted by the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) and the Social Weather Stations (SWS) found that one out of four adult-respondents cited harmful acts in various forms as among the most pressing problems of women throughout the pandemic. Eleven percent characterized physical violence as a top-of-mind concern, while seven percent mentioned sexual violence and another seven percent for emotional violence.
These are sobering reminders that while there is much for the Philippines to celebrate, there is still a lot more that needs to be done to empower women in our society, uphold their equality before the law, and promote their welfare and well-being.
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Senator Sonny Angara has been in public service for 15 years — nine years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 6 as Senator. He has authored and sponsored more than 250 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.