Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Mon, 28 Sep 1992 12:19:56 +1000
From:         lulu@COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU
Subject:      PH: CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS/9

4TH INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINE STUDIES CONFERENCE: ABSTRACTS

PANEL: PHILIPPINE-AUSTRALIAN RELATIONS: LINKAGES IN HISTORY

(63)	Tom Inglis Moore
Pacita Alexander, Caulfield, Victoria

Tom Inglis Moore, critic and poet, and champion of Australian literature,
spent nearly three years as Associate Professor of English at the
University of the Philippines, between 1928 and 1931. Educated at Sydney
University and Oxford, he had previously taught English in the United
States. While in Manila he was actively involved in encouraging the
creative writing of his Philippine students, as adviser to their Literary
Apprentices' Club. He himself wrote two plays, which were performed by the
students, and a novel of Philippine headhunters, called The Half Way Sun: A
Tale of the Philippine Islands, published in 1935. His research involved
living with the Bontoc and Ifugao tribes in the terraced mountains of
central Luzon.
In 1945, after the Second World War, when he became Deputy Assistant
Director in the Army Education Service, he was appointed lecturer in
Pacific Studies at the Canberra University College. There he lectured to
diplomatic cadets from the Department of External Affairs. The course
covered the politics and economics of the countries of Eastern and
Southeast Asia, to which he brought his special knowledge of the
Philippines. He contributed many articles and reviews on Philippine issues
to The Australian Outlook.
Evan after 1945, when he set up the first full-time course in Australian
Literature, becoming Associate Professor in 1959 till his retirement in
1966, his links with the Philippines remained. Many of his former students
kept in touch, some serving in Australia as diplomats. He was one of the
pioneers of Australian involvement in Philippine studies.

(64)	'It had to happen': the Gamboas and Australian-Philippine interactions
Rod Sullivan, Dept of History and Politics, James Cook University

In 1949 Lorenzo Gamboa a Filipino serving with the United States armed
forces in Japan was refused permission to visit his Australian wife and two
children by Australian Minister Arthur Calwell. This paper will explore the
context and consequences of this short-lived decision and its relevance for
Australian-Philippine studies.

(65)	Australian representations of Filipinas
Betty Holt, Dept of History,James Cook University

During the prior decade of American colonial rule in the Philippine Islands
at the beginning of the twentieth century representations of Filipinos were
a common practice. In Australia during the past fifteen years
representations of Filipinos have appeared in the media. This paper
explores these representations and examines them in an historical context.
[NOTE: this paper not currently available for distribution]

(66)	Hilberto Zircal and the study of Australian-Philippine relations
Reynaldo Ileto, History Department, James Cook University
[NOTE:neither abstract nor paper currently available]

PANEL: WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT

(67)	Legislative agenda on women's issues for the new congress
Socorro L. Reyes, Congressional Research and Training Service, Philippines

The Eighth Congress of the Philippines, the first democratically-elected
legislature after fourteen years of the martial law regime finishes its
term of six years in July of this year. As far as women's issues are
concerned, it introduced sixty-seven (67) bills and nineteen (19)
resolutions and enacted four into law. Three of these were on substantive
subjects, namely the prohibition and discrimination against women with
respect to terms and conditions of employment; the outlawing of mail order
brides; and the provision of barangay-based child care. A fourth one was
more on the celebratory side declaring the eighth of March as a special
working holiday to be known as National Women's Day.
Most of this legislation promoting and protecting the welfare of women were
initiated by the male Members of Congress even if the present composition
has the largest number of women in Philippine history: nineteen (19) in a
200-Member House of Representatives and two (2) in the 23-Member Senate. In
fact, in the House, the men introduced the legislative proposals on the
annulment of marriages and participation of women in nation-building. In
both chambers, the men took the initiative in proposing bills on sexual
harassment, reproductive health, and equal rights of women and men. More
male legislators came up with bills on child care, domestic helpers,
maternity leave and pornography.
Using the feminist perspective, this paper will analyse 1) the reasons for
the lack of interest of women legislators in including women's issues in
their legislative agenda; 2) the essential components of a consolidated
agenda on women's concerns for the Ninth Congress; 3) the structures that
will assist women in advancing their agenda in Congress; and 4) the kind of
legislative advocacy work that needs to be done by women's organizations.
The data for this study are based on interviews of sixteen women Members of
Congress; textual analysis of all bills and resolutions on women; and
discussions with selected women's organizations. The paper presents an
omnibus legislative package for women called 'An Act for the Promotion and
Protection of the Interests and Welfare of Women' divided into three major
sections, namely Family, Work, and Reproductive Health. It further suggests
the formation of either a Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues or a
Legislative Council on Women which will consolidate the women's legislative
agenda and integrate all bills to facilitate their consideration by the
committees and approval by the two chambers. Finally, the research
discusses the mechanism for monitoring the implementation of enacted
legislation since the larger problem in the Philippines is not so much the
lack of laws as their effective enforcement.
In conclusion, this paper addresses the more practical and dynamic aspects
of the women's struggle for their liberation from gender-based oppression
through greater participation and involvement in the formulation of
legislative decisions. It seeks not only an increase in the representation
of women in policy-making bodies but their serious advocacy of the women's
cause.

(68)	Women, migration and development: the trading of Filipina maids in the
Asia-Pacific region
Josefa Francisco, Women's Resource and Research Center, UP Diliman

The paper will share the preliminary findings of an ongoing collaborative
study by a Philippine team, a component of a broader regional study
entitled 'The Trade in Domestic Helpers: Causes, Mechanisms and
Consequences' which is being conducted under the coordination by the Women
in Development Programme of the Asia Pacific Development Centre with fund
support from the Dutch Government. Following the stated objectives of the
regional study, the Philippine research report will: a] provide a national
overview of the extent, nature, character and consequences of the
Philippine government's active promotion of trade in Filipina domestic
helpers; b] document and analyse the interlinkages among the international,
national and micro levels as well as the interaction among the economic,
socio-political and cultural factors that shape the perspectives of both
government and individual migrant domestic helpers, phenomenon of migration
of Filipina domestics to other parts of the Asia Pacific region; and c]
determine critical issues facing the domestic helper in all the stages of
her overseas labor experience (pre-departure, at worksite, and
re-integration), as well as identify existing support and crisis
intervention programmes, and nongovernmental offices and groups towards
surfacing constraints and prospects for protecting the rights and promoting
the welfare of the domestic helpers within the country and their worksite.
An important addition to the above objectives and highlight of the paper
will be a discussion on the overall impact of the Gulf Crisis on the
migration of domestic helpers particularly toward the Middle East
(currently the number one destination of domestic government,
nongovernmental support institutions and centers for migrant workers, and
individual domestic helpers. The data is currently being generated through
a number of sources: national macro economic statistics and qualitative
data on the status of women, community surveys, and in-depth interviews
with a variety of key informants.

(69)	An anthropological study of the impact of economic change on gender
relations and the status of Visayan fisherwomen
Carolyn I. Sobritchea,Asian Center,UP Diliman

This paper describes and analyses the changes brought about by the
introduction of large-scale fishing technologies and systems as well as
aquaculture, on the roles and status of fisherwomen. It also looks into how
these changes have affected gender relations both in the household and
community. The data for this study were collected through fieldwork
conducted in a fishing village in the province of Bohol, Central Visayas.

(70)	Filipino child labour: generation and gender in the Angono smocking
industry
Rosario del Rosario, College of Social Sciences, UP Diliman

This paper focuses on Filipino child labor in the subcontracted smocking
industry in Angono, a municipality of the province of Rizal.
It describes this traditional baby dress industry, introduced by the
Americans in the early twentieth century, as one of the earliest entry
points of female child labor in the garments industry as a whole.
It traces the involvement of generations of female children in the labor of
smocking, and discusses the potentials of this involvement in channeling
female labor into other branches of related work in the global garments
industry. It also discusses the gender implications of the supply and
demand of female child labor and their relationship to specific culture and
community.
Finally, it discusses the effects of this subcontracted smocking industry
on the child workers - their youth, their gender and their future.

-------------------------------------------
These papers are available from the Dept of Political and Social Change
(see address below) for a small fee.
*******************************************
Lulu Turner
Dept of Political & Social Change
Research School of Pacific Studies
Australian National University
GPO Box 4, Canberra  ACT 2601
AUSTRALIA

tel: (06) 249 0173
fax: (06) 257 1893
e-mail (Internet): lulu@coombs.anu.edu.au
*******************************************
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