DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Women activists have been on the forefront of the protest movement in Davao City, the bailiwick of the Dutertes where some Dabawenyos also resort to red-tagging and maligning activists and the issues they champion.
Last March 8, during the International Women’s Day rally, many women leaders from sectors showed up. It was a blend of young activists and veteran women leaders who continue to voice the struggle for women’s rights and other issues affecting the Filipinos under the Marcos Jr. administration.
In conversations, veteran women leaders praise the young women leaders taking a bigger role in organizing and in mobilizations.
Cora Espinosa, leader of the urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), expressed optimism about the new generation she referred to as the “second liners” of the activist movement.
Espinosa stands among the rallyists, holding one placard in hand and another clutching her grandson. Through the years, she has always been accompanying her grandchildren to such activities, exposing them to social issues.
“Pasaop na man ang among panahon ug nahatag na namo ang among halos tanang kusog sa pakigbisog. Siguro sa karon ang among mamahimong papel mao ang makanunayong pag-giya sa mga batan-on nga magpabiling malig-on ug huptan ang disiplina isig mga aktibista ug lider kababaihan, (The sun is setting for us, as we gave everything for the struggle. What we can do now is to constantly guide these young ones and remain firm and disciplined as women activists and leaders),” Espinosa said.
Another veteran is Fe Salino, a Martial Law survivor and chair of Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) in the Southern Mindanao region.
Salino said she sees herself in the young women activists who remain unfazed, “fearless and determined” by attacks from Duterte supporters and state forces.
She noted how activism in Davao Region has faced backlash during the Duterte administration and the pandemic, from red-tagging, forced surrender tactics, social media bashing, yet it still endures.
Young women leaders have risen from universities and Lumad schools, standing up against violence, misogyny and anti-people policies, Salino noted.
“Kung mihinay man ang kalihokan sa mga kababayen-an sa mga milabay nga mga katuigan, gina-ani na nato karon ang pagdaghan sa mga babayeng aktibista ilabina diha sa mga schools. Kana tungod nagkagrabe ang sitwasyon ug nakita nila nga kinahanglan gyud naay mubarog aron iduso ang ilang katungod, (Even if the women’s movement waned in the past years, but what we’re doing now, is to expand and organize among female activists in schools. This is because they see the situation now that they should stand up for their rights),” Salino said.
Lumad women leaders
What is notable in Davao’s women movement are young Lumad women taking on the struggle that was blazed by the late Bai Bibiyaon Ligkayan Bigkay, the Talaingod chieftain who died in 2023 who spent her final years alongside many young Lumad in the Bakwit School in Manila.
The regional spokesperson of Gabriela Southern Mindanao is Rose Hayahay, a student from the Lumad schools who earned a college scholarship and taught in the bakwit schools.
Meanwhile, Sabokahan Tomo Kamalitanan (Unity of Lumad Women), Bai Bibyaon’s own organization, now has a young leader in Kat Dalon, who was also a student in Misfi Academy in North Cotabato before she earned an associate degree in creative writing in Filipino at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2024.
Both women witnessed have been exposed to activism in their communities at an early age and saw the role of women in the movement.
“Ang among kasinatian isip mga estudyanteng Lumad nga eventually nahimong bakwit school maoy kanunay nga pahinumdom nga bisan kami mga babae kinahanglan magpadayon nga mubarog sama sa among mga katigulangan kaniadto, (Our experience as students of Lumad schools, which eventually turned to bakwit schools made us remember that despite our gender, we have to continue to stand up in the same way our elders did before us),” Dalon said.
For this current generation, the struggle goes beyond defending ancestral lands or asserting the rights of Indigenous peoples. They have joined broader campaigns of the marginalized sectors, condemning corruption and lack of policies for the poor.
“Daku ang papel sa mga babae sa pagduso sa pagrespeto sa mga batakang katungod ug sa pagsiguro nga manubag ang gobyerno sa iyang responsibilidad sa katawhan, mapa Duterte o Marcos man na, (Women play a huge role in asserting our basic rights and demand accountability from the government to be responsible to the people, regardless if it’s Duterte or Marcos),” Hayahay said.
Optimism ahead
Amid the political chaos between the Dutertes and Marcos, young feminists see the future of feminism as crucial in confronting social issues.
For them, it is a challenge for the new generation of women activists to ensure that “feminism is based on women’s rights and social justice,” as they believe that “feminism is beyond colors and personality.”
Gabriela Youth Davao spokesperson Alyssa Templa said feminism should not only address gender-based issues. She explained that feminists must recognize that women’s struggles are rooted in the basic problems of society.
“Ang issue man gud sa kababaihan nagsumikad na sya sa tulo ka basic problem sa society, ang pyudalismo, ang burukrata kapitalismo ug ang imperyalismo. Kining tulo ka mga problema maoy hinungdan ngano ang mga babae ug ang tinubuok nasud nakasinati sa grabe kamahal sa mga palaliton, mubo kaayo ang suhulan ug ang nagakahitabo karon nga gyera sa mga kanasuran, (Women’s issues are rooted in the basic problems of society, that’s feudalism, bureaucrat capitalism and imperialism. These three problems are the reasons why women and the whole nation suffer from inflation, low wages, and the continuing war in the country),” Templa said.
Hayahay, for her part, said the future of feminism in the city must take the lead in condemning the use of political power against the people, the corruption of public funds, and the betrayal of public trust.
“Sa awayan karon sa politika tali sa mga Marcos ug Duterte, ang future sa feminism sa Davao kinahanglan kahibalo mukondena sa mga binuhatan sa atong isig ka babae sama ni Sara Duterte. Ang future sa feminism kahibalo maningil ug accountability ilabina diha sa pag explain sa corruption sa confidential funds, (In this fight between Marcos and Duterte, feminism’s future in Davao should understand that we need to condemn a woman like Sara Duterte. The future of feminism should demand accountability from her to explain the corruption of confidential funds),” she said.
In Davao City and across the Southern Mindanao region, feminism takes many forms. However, these activists say that “true feminism only stands with oppressed women and the struggling nation.”(davaotoday.com)
