ABANSE! Pinay Seeks to Recover 'Women's Vote' for party-list seats in Lower House

Is there still a 'women vote' in Philippine politics? A women's party list which had two previous stints in the Lower House before losing their seat in the 2004 elections aims to find out.

The 'Women's Party-list' group Abanse! Pinay is seeking another stint in the Lower House in the coming May elections by recovering women's votes it lost to other party list groups in the 2004 elections.

Abanse! Pinay is a national movement of women and women's organizations which seeks to advance the women's agenda in Congress through the election of eight women sectoral representatives.

"Although the number of votes for our party grew from 1998 when we first won a seat in the Lower House to the next election in 2001, our popularity as a party list did us in," admitted Yasmin Busran-Lao, the third of the eight women nominees who filed their certificates of candidacy Monday with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Apparently, Ms. Lao said Abanse! Pinay was prominently mentioned in the 2004 campaigns of other party list groups as being "already popular" and did not need any more votes since it was a sure winner, a line which ultimately led to the loss of their seat in the Lower House in the last elections.

Only one women's party list made it to the Lower House in 2004, the progressive women's group Gabriela, which has often been maligned by the armed forces and police as an alleged communist front.

Abanse! Pinay has pushed for the passage of three landmark laws: "The Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000"; "The Anti-Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children Act of 2003" and the "Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Law."

A psychologist by training, Ms. Lao is executive director of the Al-Mujadilah Development Foundation, a Muslim women's organization based in Marawi City which promotes social and economic development among impoverished communities in Muslim Mindanao. She has also remained active in peace-building and promoting the role of women in the peace process.

In 2003, she was one of ten Filipina signatories from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao who signed the Win with Women Global Initiative to promote strategies for increasing women's political leadership worldwide through a 'Global Action Plan' that outlines practical recommendations for political parties to broaden their appeal by addressing women's role as voters, candidates, party activists and elected officials.

"Abanse! Pinay believes that all issues are women's issues," Ms. Lao said, who was in town as a resource speaker for a forum on Religion, Gender and Women's Health.

"Women's voices must be heard in the articulation and pursuit of a social change agenda, including agrarian reform and rural development, sustainable livelihood, environmental protection, peace and good governance, cultural and spiritual renewal," she added.

An academic and Islamic scholar who used to teach at the Mindanao State University main campus in Marawi City, Ms. Lao continued campaigning for Abanse! Pinay in 2004 despite undergoing chemotherapy.

"Like the last time, my role is to mobilize the Muslim vote not only from Muslim women but also Muslim men all over the country," Ms. Lao said. "This means I will be visiting Muslim communities in Pangasinan, Cavite, Quezon City and Taguig, to mention a few."

As one of the growing number of women Islamic scholars around the world studying the Qur'an to relate it to the challenges faced by today's women, Ms. Lao has written a ground breaking book on gender sensitivity training Muslim women. It draws on the teachings of the Qur'an, religious teachings and the experiences and life lessons of real women to derive a curriculum rooted in scripture, culture sensitive but challenges traditional norms and expectations.

But beyond the Muslim vote, Ms. Lao said Abanse! Pinay would aim to 'recover' the votes it lost to other party list groups in 2004 by focusing on securing the 'women's vote', regardless of creed, ethnic origins, and social status.

"Approximately 50 percent of all registered voters are women," she noted. "We are not maximizing the Women Vote if we don't get them to vote for Abanse! Pinay."

Ms. Lao is the daughter of Justice Mama Busran, the first Muslim Filipino justice appointed to the Court of Appeals. She is married to Candidato Lao with whom she has a daughter, Amanah.