DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 08 March) — Women’s rights advocates are calling for the abolition of the 12% value-added tax (VAT), saying it has become an added strain on ordinary Filipino families, particularly women who manage household needs amid rising prices of basic commodities and services.
At the International Women’s Day celebration on Sunday at Freedom Park along Roxas Avenue, Allyssa Ancheta, spokesperson for Gabriela Youth Davao, said that the continued implementation of 12% VAT places a burden on women, who primarily manage household budgets.
As women, they are the ones who truly manage each household. They are familiar with the budget and how the money is allocated within the family. Since they oversee household necessities, they also experience firsthand how difficult it is to provide food for their families and cover daily expenses, especially with the rising prices of goods,” she said in Cebuano.
She lamented that while poor families continue to pay taxes to the government, public officials are diverting funds intended for social services that should benefit ordinary Filipino households.
She said they are demanding accountability from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, whom they branded as the “King and Queen of Corruption” in the Philippines, citing numerous corruption scandals ranging from the Marcos administration’s controversial flood control scandal to Duterte’s misuse of confidential funds.
She said both Marcos and Duterte should resign because, as officials, they allow corruption to persist in government.
The celebration drew over 100 rallyists from various progressive groups, including Gabriela-Southern Mindanao, Gabriela Youth Davao, Sabokahan, and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN)-Southern Mindanao Region.
Rallyists chanted slogans such as “Abante Babae! Palaban Militante!” before dancing to “Bangon Babae” and “Bangon na sa Rebolusyon.” They later tore down and destroyed effigies of Marcos and Duterte depicted as crocodiles.
“Our struggle as women is inseparable from the people’s struggle. Workers, students, and youth must unite to dismantle the systems that oppress us,” she said.
Rose Hayahay, secretary general of Gabriela-Southern Mindanao, added that poor families bear the brunt of VAT implementation, as it further drives up the prices of essential goods amid high inflation.
“Mobayad tag tax mopalit og asin, vetsin, bugas, ginamos, og batakang panginahanglanon. Samtang ginakuhaan sa gobyerno atong kwarta (We pay taxes every time we buy salt, vetsin, rice, fish sauce, and other necessities, while the government continues to take money from us),” she said.
She added they will continue calling for accountability until Marcos and Duterte are ousted from office.
In a statement, the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao(UPLM) expressed solidarity with women in their call for decisive action to end all forms of violence, discrimination, and misogyny.
It said women’s rights, dignity, and safety must be protected at all times.
“Across the country, we see how women in the public sphere—those who speak out, organize, and lead, like human rights defenders, lawyers, artists, journalists, and community leaders—are often targets of gendered disinformation, abuse, and misogyny,” it said.
It added that these attacks aim to “silence women and marginalize them from spaces where decisions on accountability, justice, governance, and peace are made.”
“In Mindanao, the fight for gender equality is inseparable from the struggle for land and self-determination for Lumad and Moro, and human rights for all. Women human rights defenders—like UPLM members Attys. Beverly and Czarina Musni—continue to resist the structures that enable and tolerate injustice despite incessant red-tagging and trumped-up charges,” it said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
