Women's groups say Cha-cha not the answer to PH woes

Women’s groups took to the streets on Thursday to exhort Congress to stop efforts to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Gathering at the Bonifacio Revolution Shrine in Manila for International Women's Month, the groups said the administration should instead address the issues hounding women such as lack of jobs and low wages.

"This shrine is very significant as it depicts the victory of Filipino people against oppression...It symbolizes the highest aspiration of Filipino people for our freedom, for our dignity," said Niza Concepcion of In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement.

"At our time when we are experiencing a lot of crisis, hardship, we’d like to recall how the Filipinos struggled against their situation,” she added.

Concepcion said Charter change (Cha-cha) is "dangerous for our country" and does not address the "real and urgent" needs of women.

The Women's Legal and Human Rights Bureau said women will not just sit idly by and let pass moves to tinker with the most important law of the land.

"Even women at home, mothers, those who tend sari-sari stores now speak against charter change," the group's executive director Jelen Paclarin said.

Partido ng Manggagawa's secretary general Judy Ann Miranda said Cha-cha is ill-timed, costly, and does not address current problem.

"We call on the senators and congressmen to stop Cha-cha and prioritize making laws that that will advance the rights and welfare of women," she said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News