Asnairah Tahir has been a bakwit (internally displaced person) all her life. She is a resident of Mamasapano, Maguindanao, one of the battlegrounds in the Philippines between government forces and armed groups, and even for rivalry among family clans called rido.

When the 2008 conflict between Armed Forces of the Philippines and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters broke out, Melan's family and other hundred families were forced to evacuate to a safer place in Datu Odin Sinsuat. Their temporary shelters had no decent comfort rooms, and access to safe water is scarce.

There were no mourners when they buried her. There were no flowers and there was no coffin, only a black body bag. Patricia died just exactly how she lived – abandoned. She was born out of wedlock. Patricia’s mother casted her aside when she was just a kid and grew up with her grandparents in […]

Teenage is the common age to become a parent in a poor village in Sta. Margarita Town in Samar province where  teaches. “Many children do not stay as young people for so long. A lot of young girls get pregnant before they reach the legal age,” she said.   Janita knew that early parenthood is […]

International humanitarian and development organization Oxfam on Wednesday welcomed the House of Representatives Committee on Women and Gender Equality’s (CWGE) decision to approve in principle a proposed bill seeking to end child marriage in the country. The committee approved House Bills nos. 1486, 3899, 5670 & 7922 in principle and directed its secretariat to draft […]

Vice President Leni Robredo together with other women leaders and women’s rights advocates kicked off the International Women’s Day celebration ahead of March 8 with a virtual march spotlighting the role of women at the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a virtual march organized by the development organization Oxfam Philippines together with the Philippine […]

Blog post by Ces De Castro-VillaMore from Ces De Castro-Villa Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, women’s choices and rights to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care have been deprioritized and ignored. Additional contraception methods and SRH information, while identified by the Department of Health as essential life-saving devices, are not evenly implemented as essential requirements of both national […]

Some people often correlate women leaders with bad governance or bad leadership. Well, I beg to disagree. Leadership for me is not about the title. You can be a full time homemaker and be a leader compared to an elected official. In the case of the Marawi conflict and the extension of Martial Law in […]