New women's
party launched
IN THE 1970s, Maita Gomez became famous. A former beauty queen, she joined the New People's Army, guerrilla force led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. After falling ill, she returned to Manila for treatment. She rapidly assumed a major role in the women's movement and the National Democratic left.
Last October, she became the general secretary of the KAIBA, the new women's party in the Philip-
The following interview was given by Maita to Sonia Rupon and Paul Petitjean on August 28, 1986, the launching
Question. Can you explain why you decided to launch a women's party?
Answer. This party will assure the political education of women. It will prepare them to take part in the country's political life. It will participate in the elections. It will reinforce women's consciousness. The women's party will not only seek to play a symbolic role. It will fight to win in the political competition. We want this party to be women's rights. It will be a party deeply committed to women's rights.
Why launch such a party today? Because there is an opportunity that movement is growing The present situation in the Philippines is very different from that which prevails in other countries, where the political field is generally firmly occupied by a small number of traditional parties, it very difficult for new electoral formations to develop.
Under martial law, the dictatorship itself. (1) Since the fall of the Marcos there is no longer any dominant party in the country. The electoral traditions have to be reconstituted. Everywhere there is a lack of trained and recognized political is a vast free space open to new parties.
This is a rare opportunity that cannot be allowed to go by. The situation is exceptional in many respects. We do not claim that what we want to do here may be appropriate in other countries, in other circumstances. But we are convinced that it is possible and necessary today to launch a women's party.
Q. Could members the women's party belong to other political parties with a compatible program?
A. No. The party will be made up only of women, and dual membership will not be recognized. (2) Our initiative would lose all its meaning if people belonged to the women's
"in addition to" We will run candidates in the local elections, and sometimes in the regional ones for governorships, or even in national elections. We will candidates to not to elect the candidates another party. We progressive male candidates where we
We will demand that the other parties support our candidates course, the women's party will participate in coordinating bodies and movements such as GABRIELA, the Nationalist
The Philippines was officially under martial law from 1972 to 1981. But emergency rule lasted in fact until February 1986. when the Marcos dictatorship was overthrown.
2. KAIBA is open to ans woman who "commits herself to the goals and ideals of the party "denies membership in any other political party" and meets a minimum of organizational requirements, according to the conditions for membership set down in October 1986. see "Why a Political Party of Women? A Primer. " International Viewpoint 9 March 1987
Alliance, the Bayan coalition of mass organizations, trade unions and associations.
Q What program will the women's party candidates run on?
A. We want to show the contribution that women are making to the life of the country. We want their voice to be heard, their rights not to be ignored. Women must be made a real political power in Filipino society.
The women's party will put forward the specific demands of women. But it will not limit its activity to the specific area of women's rights. It will collaborate closely with the various cause-oriented movements and people's organizations, which will be its natural allies. Women's power is an integral part of people's power.
The women's party will fight for the people; it will address itself to the popular strata and to the middle layers. It will put forward a general nationalist and popular program to assure the dignity, rights and equality of all.
Q. How will you combine women's demands and general demands?
A. In struggle. There are distinct demands concerning women and other layers of society. But I do not think there is any dichotomy between the two levels of activity. You can see that in the struggle. Poor women are fighting here for their daily bread, their "rice and fish". That is perfectly normal. But it immediately poses problems of organization (childcare, etc) and that creates a collective experience that raises new questions, shakes up traditional values.
I know that it won't all happen in isolation. Women "first and last proletarians." That, indeed, is why we are launching the women's party. But you can't have a static vision of things. The women's movement exists. It will grow.
Our party has first to put down roots, to win a genuinely broad base. You have to know how to organize. I learned that in my life as an activist. We will start by agitating on immediately popular questions. We will be radical in action, but we will be less so in our program on a series of questions such as abortion and divorce.
However, one day we will face these questions head on, even at the expense of losing some popularity among the middle classes. Abortion is common among poor women, who can be easily criminalized.
A new generation has come into struggle, in the countryside, in the shantytowns, in the factories, in the society. Through its own experience it will advance beyond the highpoint reached by the previous generations. •
International Viewpoint 9 March 1987