The Gabriela Women's Party (General Assembly Binding Women for Reform, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action), or simply GABRIELA, is a progressive Filipino political party that advocates for women's issues and represents Filipino women in the House of Representatives. The party is separate, although allied, with GABRIELA National Alliance of Filipino Women. GABRIELA, the alliance, is a nationwide network of

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

organizations, institutions, and programs that address social issues such as

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

, militarism, violence, rape culture,

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

, sex trafficking,

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

and other issues affecting women. The alliance has regional chapters in

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

, Cordillera Administrative Region, and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

; sub-regional chapters in Negros, Panay and Samar, and provincial chapters in Bicol and Cebu. GABRIELA's membership includes Filipino women from marginalized sectors of society and works towards their education and empowerment. The organization also engages in counseling services, medical missions, free clinics, and trainings on women's health and women's rights.

History

GABRIELA, the alliance, was founded in April 1984 after 10,000 women marched in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, defying a Marcos decree against demonstrations. GABRIELA was named in honor of Gabriela Silang, a Filipina revolutionary, who led a revolt against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1763 following her husband's assassination. Amidst a backdrop of widespread social inequality and unrest, GABRIELA aimed to synthesize issues of national liberation, poverty and women's emancipation. The organization's founders pushed for " Third World feminism" which focused on comprehensive social transformation, rather than focusing on individual forms of oppression. GABRIELA's advocacy challenges patriarchy, alongside resisting foreign influence and neocolonialism. In October 2024, GABRIELA fielded former Kabataan Partylist Representative Sarah Elago as their lead representative for the 2025 House sectoral elections, with pushing the legalization of abortion in the country, and did not agree with the term usage of sex workers to prostitutes.

Electoral performance

In 2003, the Gabriela Women's Party was launched with the help of GABRIELA members and other women's and people's organizations. In the 2004 election for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

the party-list received 464,586 votes (3.6518% of the nationwide vote) and won a seat for first nominee Liza Maza. In the 2007

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

, the party won two seats in the nationwide party-list vote. The Gabriela Women's Party was the only women's party to obtain a second term in Congress.

Representatives to Congress

* 13th Congress (2004–2007) - Liza Maza * 14th Congress (2007–2010) - Luzviminda Ilagan, Liza Maza * 15th Congress (2010–2013) - Luzviminda Ilagan, Emerenciana de Jesus * 16th Congress (2013–2016) - Luzviminda Ilagan, Emerenciana de Jesus * 17th Congress (2016–2019) - Emerenciana de Jesus, Arlene Brosas * 18th Congress (2019–2022) - Arlene Brosas * 19th Congress (2022–2025) - Arlene Brosas * 20th Congress (2025–present) - N/A (lost elections)

Programs and positions

One Billion Rising (OBR) Task Force Philippines

One Billion Rising (OBR) is a global campaign founded to end rape and sexual violence against women. Since 2013, GABRIELA have led the One Billion Rising Task Force in the Philippines and abroad where its chapters are situated. The Philippine task force members include: * Gabriela * Gabriela Women's Party * Gabriela Youth * Kilusang Mayo Uno * Alliance of Concerned Teachers * Ecumenical Women's Forum * Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concerns * Association for the Rights of Children in Southeast Asia * Amihan Federation of Peasant Women * Kadamay * Innabuyog Gabriela * Kabataan Partylist * Migrante

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. In 1999, GABRIELA launched the Purple Rose Campaign against the sex trafficking of Filipino women and children. The campaign achieved a milestone with the passage of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 with GABRIELA representative Liza Maza as the bill's co-sponsor. GABRIELA is also actively involved in the Vow to Fight Against Violence on Women and the Free Our Sisters/Free Ourselves campaign.

International chapters

GABRIELA has chapters in the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom.

References

External links

GABRIELA Alliance official websiteGabriela Women's Party official websiteGABRIELA USA
{{DEFAULTSORT:GABRIELA 1984 establishments in the Philippines Anti-pornography feminism Anti-pornography movements Democratic socialist parties in Asia Feminist organizations in the Philippines Feminist parties in Asia Human trafficking in the Philippines International League of Peoples' Struggle National Democracy Movement (Philippines) Organizations established in 1984 Organizations that combat human trafficking Party-lists represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines Political parties established in 2003 Socialist feminist parties Socialist parties in the Philippines