Marking Women’s Month 2025: Persistent Struggles, Political Frontlines, and the Election

AS THE Philippines marked Women’s Month this 2025, media reports painted a powerful, multifaceted picture of the lives, struggles, and victories of Filipino women. From political frontlines to prison cells, from the town halls to courts, Filipino women continue to fight for dignity, recognition, and rights in a country still fraught with inequality. 

The coverage honored both the personal and political stories, highlighting the many fronts where women are still fighting for their place, rights, and dignity. CMFR cheers the many in-depth reports in March highlighting the situation of women and their place in Philippine society.

Women on the Frontlines: Love, Loss, and Resistance

Bulatlat documented in a poignant piece the human cost of political repression, the plight of political prisoners and the women who love them. It recalled the unwavering support of Grace Albasin for her daughter, Myles, a journalist and activist detained since 2018 as part of the “Mabinay 6.” Despite her poor health and notwithstanding legal setbacks, Grace moved to Dumaguete to care for Myles, providing for her daily needs and working through the system for her release. 

Myles, while in detention, has kept up her art and her reading. Grace’s dedication reflects the mother’s love that breaks through prison walls.

Grace is one of many mothers. Bulatlat chronicled in another report the relentless search of women for husbands, sons and daughters, all missing, all activists. Their journeys, marked by grit and grief, reflect the paramount truth: women are often left to pick up the pieces in the wake of state violence. These stories testify to women as witnesses to the injustice, making it possible to fight against it. 

In the silence of shared pain, the stories may not be heard by more people. But in circles that circulate these tales, the stories resonate with more meaning and power.

Women, Dissent, and the High Cost of Courage

The bitter truth is known to all those who struggle for women’s rights. Speaking truth to power courts anger and backlash. 

Rappler reported that female leaders and human rights defenders who criticize the government become frequent targets of gendered online abuse. This was noted in particular during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte. Bulatlat recently exposed the harassment suffered by women journalists who covered the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation of Duterte’s drug war; political attacks revealed to be profoundly misogynistic. 

But there have been victories. The ICC case carried the gift of symbolic triumph: an all-women panel of judges ordered Duterte’s arrest, a powerful display of women’s expanding influence in global legal systems. Rappler ‘s report memorialized the milestone, the role of women in shaping international justice as decision-makers.

Shifting Ground: Women and the 2025 Elections

As national elections approaches, gender has emerged as a highly contested theme. ABS-CBN’s election wrap noted a cultural shift, with more women voters than men – the former quick to check and reject even the most casual sexist remarks of candidates.  

At the same time, GMA News highlighted senatorial candidates proposing gender-sensitive legislation, from reproductive health access to stronger protective measures for solo parents and LGBTQ+ communities. Similarly, PCIJ gave more space for “survey underdogs” or alternative election candidates who have made strong and clear their stand on women’s issues.

But hostile terrain remains. In the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, women’s representation dropped sharply—from 16 members to just 10—despite earlier promises of inclusive governance. A PCIJ and MindaNews report revealed that political dynasties still dominate, often sidelining women’s voices in policymaking.

All the more reason for women to push back. VERA Files featured advocates to put a comprehensive women’s agenda at the center of public debate. These include long-ignored measures for wage equality, the legalization of divorce and expanded protection against sexual violence. 

A piece from PCIJ centered on women’s personal stories and the ongoing struggle to pass divorce legislation—a right still out of reach in the Philippines, one of the last countries without it.

Persistent Struggles, Future Frontlines

This year’s Women’s Month stories offered more than reflection—they issued a challenge. From courtrooms and prison walls, from streets to social media accounts, women continue to demand  their rightful space, speak for rights they have fought for — for so long, carving out the larger space that will amplify their message and their struggle. 

Whether searching for the disappeared, surviving prison, pushing for legislative change, or breaking barriers in global law, their stories show that women do not just live history – they are making it.