Philippines: Gabriela to join 2022 elections despite NTF-ELCAC disqualification plea

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Gabriela Women's Party list on Monday filed a manifestation of intent to participate in the 2022 elections despite a pending cancellation of registration plea from the government's anti-insurgency panel. House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas filed a petition at the Commission on Elections main office in Intramuros on March 8th.

The party list said referring to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which has tagged the group and its affiliate party list as the legal fronts of the communist movement, we are actively campaigning against the NTF-ELCAC's disqualification case, particularly its claim that we are advocating violence. We will never back down. We will never be fazed by the Duterte regime's evil ploy to shun women representation out of the Lower House and disenfranchise millions of marginalized Filipino women.

The military has been accusing Gabriela members of being part of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the New People's Army. The party-list has denied the allegations. Accusations that Gabriela is a communist organization can be disputed by the party-list's 2-decades of legislative track record, Brosas said in an earlier interview.

She said, we have a track record of 20 years of doing legislative measures [regarding] violence against women, anti-trafficking, juvenile justice welfare act, occupation safety on health, maternity leave law (MLL), expanded MLL, anti-rape amendments, magna carta for women. That's enough to explain [na] iba ang Gabriela women's party.