WeDpro, Inc. A feminist collective working for women’s empowerment

Isulong ang Karapatan ng Kababaihan; Labanan ang Karahasan:Ang Kalahagahan ng Pandaigdigang Araw ng Kababaihan (International Women's Day) [Click here for the English version]

ni Aida F. Santos-Maranan
sa ngalan ng Buklod at Nagkakaisang Kababaihan ng Angeles
Project Manager, “The Red AVP” (WeDpro,Inc.)

May 100 taon na nang unang ipagdiwang (1910) ang Pandaigdigang Araw ng Kababaihan o International Women’s Day. Ito ay unang idineklara sa ikalawang International Conference of Working Women sa Copenhagen na dinaluhan ng 100 kababaihan mula sa labimpitong bansa. Ipinanukala ito ni Clara Zetkin (lider ng ‘”Women’s Office” ng Social Democratic Party sa Alemanya) na magkaroon ng ispesyal na araw para idulog ng kababaihan sa buong mundo ang kanilang mga karapatan. Ang IWD ay isang tradisyon na nagdiriwang sa tuloy-tuloy at di napapatid na pakikibaka ng kababaihan tungo sa pagkakapantay-pantay, hustisya at kaunlaran.

The Malaya Lola is the organization of surviving victims of mass rape by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army in Pampanga, Philippines. Their harrowing experience happened as part of a planned attack in their barrio (village) on November 23, 1944. They are 61 old and sickly women. The rest of them, about a hundred women, have already died. None of them have seen justice.

The Song of Malaya is a music video of one of their songs. It was produced by WeDpro and Citrus Productions in cooperation with KAISA-KA, the Philippine Women's Network for Peace and Security, and the PETA Women's Theater Program. The video was launched on November 29, 2007.

External links (these will open in a new window)

• Join the Facebook group
• Read about the commemorative event for the 2008 International  Day
  of Protest by "Comfort Women" organized by KAISA-KA and WeDpro at Bahay ni ISIS, and listen to the Malaya Lola women sing during the event
• See the production photos for The Song of Malaya on Jona Cham's blog
• Read (and hopefully sign!) the Amnesty International petition for "comfort women"
• Read Tonette Orejas' article on the Philippine Daily Inquirer
• Read Reuters' account of the Malaya Lola and their partnership with WeDpro.
• Read the account of the Malaya Lolas performance for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

WeDpro, Inc, with the support of the European Union, is undertaking an 18-month project to address domestic violence and trafficking in the urban poor communities of Angeles City and Olongapo City. Read more about it here.

This project is made possible with the support of the European Union