GABRIELA
Encyclopedia
GABRIELA is a leftist Filipino
organization that advocates for women's issues.
It is a nationwide network of grassroots
organizations, institutions, and programs that address issues such as human rights
, poverty
, globalization
, militarism
, violence
, health
, sex trafficking, censorship
and other issues affecting women. Its name is an acronym of General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action. There are regional chapters in Metro Manila
, Cordillera Administrative Region
, and Mindanao
; sub-regional chapters in Negros, Panay
and Samar
, and provincial chapters in Bicol
and Cebu
.
, defying a Marcos
decree against demonstrations.
The NGO was named in honor of Gabriela Silang
, who led a revolt against Spain
in the second half of the eighteenth century.
In the 2004 elections
for the House of Representatives
the party-list got 464,586 votes (3.6518% of the nationwide vote and one seat; Liza Maza
) In the 14 May 2007 election
, the party won 2 seats in the nationwide party-list vote.
, Los Angeles
, New York
, Portland
, San Francisco and Seattle.
The vigil was the first nationally coordinated action in the US to protest the escalating political killings in the Philippines.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
organization that advocates for women's issues.
It is a nationwide network of grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
organizations, institutions, and programs that address issues such as human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
, violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
, health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, sex trafficking, censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
and other issues affecting women. Its name is an acronym of General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action. There are regional chapters in Metro Manila
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...
, Cordillera Administrative Region
Cordillera Administrative Region
The Cordillera Administrative Region is a region in the Philippines composed of the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province, as well as Baguio City, the regional center. The Cordillera Administrative Region encompasses most of the areas within the Cordillera...
, and Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
; sub-regional chapters in Negros, Panay
Panay
Panay may refer to*Panay Island*Panay *Panay, Capiz*Panay River*Panay Gulf* USS Panay *Panay incident...
and Samar
Samar
Samar, formerly and also known as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland...
, and provincial chapters in Bicol
Bicol Region
The Bicol Region or Bicolandia is one of the 17 regions of the Philippines. Its regional center is Legazpi City...
and Cebu
Cebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
.
History
GABRIELA was founded in April 1984 after 10,000 women marched in ManilaMetro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...
, defying a Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
decree against demonstrations.
The NGO was named in honor of Gabriela Silang
Gabriela Silang
María Josefa Gabriela Cariño Silang was the wife of the Ilocano insurgent leader, Diego Silang. Following Diego's assassination in 1763, she led the group for four months before she was captured and executed....
, who led a revolt against Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Electoral performance
In 2003, the party-list 'Gabriela Women's Party' was launched by GABRIELA.In the 2004 elections
Philippine general election, 2004
The senatorial election was held in the Philippines on May 10, 2004. The major coalitions that participated are the Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan composed of parties that support the candidacy of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino ,...
for the House of Representatives
House of Representatives of the Philippines
The House of Representatives of the Philippines is the lower chamber of the...
the party-list got 464,586 votes (3.6518% of the nationwide vote and one seat; Liza Maza
Liza Maza
Liza Maza is a Filipino activist and development worker. She represents the Gabriela Women's Party in the 13th Congress of the Philippines....
) In the 14 May 2007 election
Philippine general election, 2007
Legislative and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 14, 2007. Positions contested included half the seats in the Senate, which are elected for six-year terms, and all the seats in the House of Representatives, who were elected for three-year terms...
, the party won 2 seats in the nationwide party-list vote.
Electoral performance
| Election | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 Philippine general election, 2004 The senatorial election was held in the Philippines on May 10, 2004. The major coalitions that participated are the Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan composed of parties that support the candidacy of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino ,... |
464,586 | 3.65% | 1 |
| 2007 Philippine House of Representatives elections, 2007 The 2007 Philippine House of Representatives elections were held on May 14, 2007, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the Philippines to serve in the 14th Congress of the Philippines from June 30, 2007, until June 30, 2010... |
621,171 | 3.89% | 2 |
| 2010 Philippine House of Representatives elections, 2010 The 2010 Philippine House of Representatives elections were held on May 10, 2010 to elect members to the House of Representatives of the Philippines to serve in the 15th Congress of the Philippines from June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2013... |
1,001,421 | 3.31% | 2 |
Representatives to Congress
- 13th Congress13th Congress of the PhilippinesThe Thirteenth Congress of the Philippines was the meeting of the national legislature of the Republic of the Philippines, composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives...
(2004–2007) - Liza MazaLiza MazaLiza Maza is a Filipino activist and development worker. She represents the Gabriela Women's Party in the 13th Congress of the Philippines.... - 14th Congress14th Congress of the PhilippinesThe Fourteenth Congress of the Philippines was the national legislature of the Republic of the Philippines, composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives...
(2007–2010) - Luzviminda IlaganLuzviminda IlaganLuzviminda Ilagan is a Filipino politician and development worker. She represents the GABRIELA Women's Partylist in the 14th Congress of the Philippines.-Batasang Pambansa Bombing:...
, Liza MazaLiza MazaLiza Maza is a Filipino activist and development worker. She represents the Gabriela Women's Party in the 13th Congress of the Philippines.... - 15th Congress15th Congress of the PhilippinesThe Fifteenth Congress of the Philippines is the current meeting of the national legislature of the Republic of the Philippines, composed of the Senate and House of Representatives...
(2010–2013) - Luzviminda IlaganLuzviminda IlaganLuzviminda Ilagan is a Filipino politician and development worker. She represents the GABRIELA Women's Partylist in the 14th Congress of the Philippines.-Batasang Pambansa Bombing:...
, Emerenciana de Jesus
Human Trafficking
In the Philippines, GABRIELA is actively involved in awareness campaigns to prevent the trafficking of women and girls from the Philippines. Its strategies consist of seminars and information dissemination to NGOs and government agencies and awareness campaigns at the community level. GABRIELA Philippines reports that a Filipina woman sells for between $3000 and $5000 in the international sex trade.GABRIELA USA
GABRIELA-USA is the first overseas chapter of the Philippine-based organization, extending the Filipino women's mass movement to the United States.GABnet in United States
GABRIELA has a sister network in the United States, GABRIELA Network (GABNet). GABnet is a US-Philippine women’s solidarity mass organization. GABnet conducted a nationwide vigil on Friday, May 20th, 2005 in six US cities—ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, San Francisco and Seattle.
The vigil was the first nationally coordinated action in the US to protest the escalating political killings in the Philippines.