As we celebrate International Working Women’s Day, the UP Office of the Faculty Regent stands in solidarity with all working women, both within and beyond the University of the Philippines (UP) community. We recognize the truly immense contributions of women to our society and we acknowledge the persistent challenges that they face, as systemic issues of corruption and deepening inequality continue to exacerbate these concerns.
Today, we highlight how corruption under the Marcos Jr. administration disproportionately affects ordinary citizens, and especially working women. When public funds are misused, women are the ones who bear the brunt of its consequences, because the diversion of public resources away from essential services such as education, health care, and social protection deprives women of the support they need to sustain their families and secure livelihood. Furthermore, the misuse of taxpayers’ money, from Vice President Sara Duterte’s questionable use of confidential funds to anomalous procurement deals to institutionalized patronage, robs working women of economic opportunities and access to quality public services.
As we demand transparency and accountability in government, we must also turn our gaze inward to the struggles within our own university community. The University of the Philippines is not exempt from policies that threaten its mandate as the national university. There are the proposed revisions to the core curriculum that undermine the critical and holistic education as well as the creeping commercialization of university spaces that further marginalizes students and employees by prioritizing profit over accessibility and inclusivity. And, of course, the are the threats to academic freedom, including intensified red-tagging and political repression within our campuses that stifle intellectual dissent and diminish the democratic character of our university.
Within UP, women employees including faculty members, research staff, administrative personnel, and rank-and-file workers have long called for institutional reforms that uphold their welfare and well-being. Low and delayed wages, inadequate benefits, and the persistent problem of contractualization within the university workforce exacerbate gender disparities. Meanwhile, the lack of support for mental health services and institutional responses to workplace harassment continue to burden women in academia and university service. Personnel and students from the LGBTQIA+ community face similar struggles, as they still need to go the distance to have their basic rights respected.
It is only right that we commemorate the struggles of working women, honor their strength, their labor, and their unwavering resolve to fight for a better future. We also reaffirm our commitment to the fight for a just and equitable society, and we stand with women across sectors in demanding an end to corruption and the misallocation of public funds. We call for a UP that truly serves its people—one that defends academic freedom, resists commercialization, and upholds the rights and welfare of its employees.
End the plunder of public resources! Uphold academic freedom! Protect the rights and welfare of women workers!
Hon. Early Sol A. Gadong
Faculty Regent, UP System