More female voters, but much fewer women running — and winning — in elections

The Philippines may have more female voters, but fewer women candidates are elected into office.

For the 2016 elections, there are 28,052,138 female registered voters against 26,311,706 male voters.

This reflects the trend in recent years, based on data from the NSCB Philippine Statistical Yearbook.

For the 1998 national and local elections, female voters (14,992,697) outnumbered males (14,481,612).

In 2004, the pattern remained the same with female actual voters numbering 17,014,643 and male actual voters only 16,495,449.

In the 2010 elections, more women also cast their votes than men, with 18,921,744 female voters against 18,028,326 male voters according to data from the Commission on Elections.

Despite this, much fewer female candidates are running for — and getting elected into — public positions.

Comelec records show that in the 2010 polls, only 8,340 candidates (16.6 percent) out of 50,268 candidates for national and local posts were females.

A total of 3,305 females (18.5 percent) and 14,498 males (81 percent) won elective posts that year.

That year, 14 out of 61 senatorial candidates were women (23 percent). However, only two of 12 women (16.7 percent) were elected into office: Senators Pia Cayetano and Miriam Defensor Santiago.

Meanwhile, in the 2013 elections, only 7,925 candidates (17.9 percent) out of 44,326 bets were females.

Those elected into public office that year included 3,580 females (19.9 percent) and 14,331 males (79.8 percent).

Out of 33 senatorial candidates in 2013, eight (24.2 percent) were women. Out of the 12 who won the senatorial race, four (25 percent) were women: Senators Grace Poe (topped the race with 20,337,327 votes), Loren Legarda (placed 2nd with 18,661,196 votes), Nancy Binay (placed 5th with 16,812,148 votes), and Cynthia Villar (placed 10th with 13,822,854 votes).

Still in 2013, 60 women (25.6 percent), not including party-list representatives, were elected to the Lower House out of a total of 234 representatives.

Presidents, senators, congresswomen

There have only been two women heads of state so far (13.33 percent) –  the late President Corazon Aquino (1986 to 1992) and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001 to 2010) among the 15 presidents the country has had since 1899.

Arroyo had also served as the country's first female vice president from 1998 to 2001.

In 16 Congresses since 1899, there have been 47 women senators (12.24 percent) out of 382 senators.

In the Lower House, there have been 383 women representatives (11.75 percent) out of 3,259 representatives in 16 Congresses and two Batasang Pambansa (interim and regular).

The 2016 elections so far has the highest percentage of women running for the top political post. Two out of the five presidential candidates (40 percent) are women: Senators Grace Poe and Miriam Defensor Santiago. They are running against Binay, Roxas, and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Social realities

Sociologist Clifford Sorita, former secretary general and current project officer of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), said that in the Philippines, the low percentage of women participating in politics was not an issue of opportunity. 

“As long as a woman is willing to be of service to our country, there is no limit to the extent of her involvement,” Sorita told GMA News Online.

However, certain social realities hamper the participation of women in politics.

“Like in any other workplace, most women put into high consideration the extent of her involvement in politics vis-à-vis her role as mother and wife in the family and its consequent double burden of work which includes the multiple demands in running a political career and a family),” he said.

“Moreover, some women shun away from the traditional male leadership and managerial style needed in a political career which includes being aggressive and assertive,” he added.

This is an issue, according to the Philippine Commission on Women.

"While women's suffrage is essential to a nation's democracy, this cannot guarantee that women's issues and concerns can be fully addressed, especially when men continue to outnumber women in leadership positions. There cannot be true democracy if almost half of the population is excluded from holding positions of power," it said in a 2015 statement to mark the 78th anniversary of women's suffrage in the Philippines.

"Politics is not just a man's world," it added. "Women’s participation in governance brings in women's perspectives in public discourse thus, expands the scope of policies and programs to improve the lives of women and men, girls and boys in their communities."

Getting involved

How could more women be involved in politics? Sorita suggests proactive measures such as programs where women can be mentored to “become politically active and be part of political organizations.”

"It is important to analyze the various social spaces to which gender-based roles and expectations shape women’s experiences in their communities that could be utilized to create an atmosphere conducive for women’s involvement in politics," he said.

Sorita noted that gender is not a crucial factor in one’s effectiveness in public service.

“A person’s character, competence and consideration for others, regardless of gender, are what make a good public servant,” he said.

Sorita said a more equitable participation of women in politics is “a clear sign of a truly healthy representative democracy.” —JST, GMA News