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Gabriela Women’s Party said their champion to carry the ‘Babae, Bata, at Bayan’ agenda
Undeterred by new hindrances, such as the controversial conviction of two of its stalwarts in alleged child abuse charges, another Makabayan coalition representative announced her candidacy for a seat in the Senate in next year’s national elections.
Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) Rep. Arlene Brosas today announced her run for the Senate in 2025 amid “relentless attacks” against progressive parties that recently announced plans to field a slate for the other congressional house.
Set to complete her three terms in the House of Representatives next year, Brosas said her bid is backed by a diverse coalition of women leaders and various women’s groups across the country.
“I am deeply grateful to the Committee of 100 Women – representing various sectors and professions – who will lead the charge in bringing Gabriela from Congress to the Senate,” Rep. Brosas said in a press conference in Quezon City on Tuesday.
“This decision is driven by the urgent need to defend women’s rights against the ongoing onslaught of patriarchal and anti-women policies,” she added.
Brosas is the second Makabayan bloc representative after ACT Teachers’ Party Rep. Castro to announce a bid for the Senate.
Her announcement came a day after Castro, along with former Bayan Muna representative Satur Ocampo as well as indigenous people’s teachers and educators, were convicted of “child abuse” charges by a Tagum Regional Trial Court on Monday, a decision many local and foreign groups dubbed as “outrageous.”
The Communist Party of the Philippines on Monday warned that the court decision against Castro and Ocampo is the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government’s “opening shot” against Makabayan’s plans to field a slate in next year’s Senate race.
Women’s champion
With two decades of experience as an activist prior to being nominated to three successive three year terms as GWP representative, Brosas was mainly responsible for the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Law, the Expanded Maternity Leave Law, the Safe Spaces Law, the Increasing the age for statutory rape law, and the Expanded Solo Parent Welfare Act.
“These laws are crucial protections for women, yet we see continuous attempts to water them down or obstruct their implementation,” Rep. Brosas noted.
“In the Senate, I will not only defend these laws but push for more comprehensive legislation to safeguard women’s rights,” she said.
In her announcement, Brosas emphasized the urgency to elect “genuine leaders” in the Senate given the current socio-political climate and the intensifying attacks on women’s rights and welfare.
“The unprecedented crisis doubly burdening women, the severe oppression and discrimination, and the various forms of state-sponsored violence give me even greater determination to serve the oppressed and those in need,” she said.
Brosas assailed what she called the systematic attempt to roll back hard-won gains for women’s rights, she said the people must resist “with all our might.”
Pro-people platform
Brosas said she pledges to push for wage increases, genuine agrarian reform, and national industrialization if elected to the Senate, emphasizing that women’s liberation is inextricably linked to national development and economic justice if elected.
She added she is appalled by the indifference of government leaders who prioritize personal interests and engage in petty squabbles as the country approaches the 2025 elections.
“If what the people see are the same rotten, criminal, corrupt, oppressive leaders subservient to the interests of the few and foreign powers, I, Arlene Brosas – like you and many other women who aspire for genuine change – will not remain silent and merely watch,” she said.
GWP meanwhile said Brosas’s senatorial bid represents a significant step in advancing the representation of women’s rights and progressive policies in the upper chamber of the Philippine Congress.
“Her campaign is expected to focus on addressing the pressing issues faced by Filipino women, combating the relentless attacks on women’s rights, and advocating for comprehensive national development that truly serves the interests of women and the broader masses,” the group said.
Brosas is the second GWP representative to run for the Senate after Lisa Maza in 2010. She is also the second woman Makabayan bloc leader to vie for a higher seat after Maza. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
