By Gabriel L. Cardinoza

WITH March, as women’s month, drawing to a close this week, I decided to include in this column facts and figures I found in the Internet about Filipino women. These are little known facts that, to my mind, are very relevant because they sum up how far the women’s struggle for equality around the world has gone.

The first article that caught my attention was a fact sheet of the National Statistical and Coordination Board of Region 1 that says, “Women in the Ilocos-Pangasinan Region continue to actively participate in the public order, safety and justice sector.”

The fact sheet indicated that the task of maintaining public order, safety and justice is no longer the monopoly of men alone. “Women (have been) given equal opportunity to serve and perform the same duties as that of the men. However, their participation still remains to be low compared to their men counterpart,” the article said.

Although majority of judges are still occupied by men, in 2004, there were already about three women judges for every ten men judges in the Regional and Municipal Trial Courts (R/MTCs).
Most of the women judges were in the MTCs, comprising 31.2 percent of the total judges in the MTCs.

In the RTCs, however, there was only one woman judge for every ten men judges. Among Region 1 provinces, the NSCB said that Pangasinan had the most number of women judges, most of them were in the MTCs while Ilocos Sur had the least number of women judges, with only one in the MTC.

“The presence of women in the judiciary ensures that women’s concerns are considered in the judicial process. However, this has to be further improved through greater motivation among women to apply in the judicial branch of the government,” the article said.

It is also interesting to note that the number of women personnel in 2004 employed in the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and Bureau of Fire Protection has increased compared to the previous year. The PNP had the most number of public order and safety workforce with a 23.9 percent increase for its women personnel.

BFP and BJMP, which are men-lead agencies, had an additional of two and three women staff, respectively, in the same period.

Women’s share in the top level positions of the PNP, BJMP and BFP is low, comprising only 7.6 percent of the total number of officers in 2004. “However, it was noted that the number of women officers in the PNP grew by 26.3 percent in 2003-2004. This was slightly higher than the 21.7 percent increase of PNP men officers for the same period,” the article said.

Nationwide, I stumbled on the following facts and figures:

•There is almost an equal level of participation between women and men in overseas work but the context of their participation is very much different. In 2004, women accounted for 51% of the total number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) yet their average monthly cash remittance represents only 57% of the PhP 74,267 average monthly cash remittance of Filipino men. This is because Filipino women are likely to end up in jobs that are low-paying and often unprotected.
The 2004 survey showed that 56% of women who went abroad for work are laborers and unskilled workers, while 28% of their male counterparts worked in trade and related work and 27% worked as plant and machine operators/assemblers. Common destinations of female workers abroad are Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia , and Japan.

•Both the 2005 police and social welfare records show that physical injuries/battering and rape are the most common types of reported VAW cases. One in every three reported cases to the police were battering / physical injuries while 17.2% accounted for the rape cases. Similarly, the social welfare department served a total of 1,217 cases of physical abuse/battering or 28.8%, while sexual abuse cases accounted for 6.8%.

•Filipino women have higher voter turnout rate and are winning in elections but still continue to have little participation in politics and governance. During the 1998 and 2001 national and local elections, women voters’ turnout rates were slightly higher. In the same election years, women comprised a meager 20% of the total number of candidates although the proportion of women who won the elections is also around 20%.

•though women marry at a younger age than men, women are slightly delaying marriage. Based on the 1995 population census, the average age at first marriage of women is 23.8 years and 26.4 years for men. The National Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS) conducted by NSO indicate that the median age at first marriage of women aged 25-49 years is slightly increasing: 21.6 years in 1993, 22.1 years in 1998, and 22.0 years in 2003.

•Similar to the global trend, Filipino women with advanced educational attainment tend to marry at a later age. On the average, women who had no education at all marry at around age 18 while women who get to college marry about 7 years later.

•Filipino women live longer and are likely to be widowed. The projected life expectancy at birth of Filipino women in 2005 is considerably higher: 71.6 years for females versus 66.1 years for males. Moreover, according to the 2000 Census, for every widower, there are 3 widows.