The Philippine Online Chronicles

It was a last minute decision, just two hours before beating the deadline of  the filing of candidacy on December 1, 2009.  Yasmin Busran Lao's chance to run as one of the senatorial candidates for the Liberal Party (LP) literally fell into her lap. People asked her “why did you take it?”   She mused “I have been doing it anyway. I have been advocating for women seizing the center of power and reframing politics ..and how can I go to the community of women and talk about  women’s political participation when I was given the opportunity and I say “No”?  What message will she give to the women if she said “no”?   When the opportunity came, Yasmin (otherwise known as Yas) felt she needed to walk the talk.

"I have to walk my advocacy. It is important to redefine the playing field of politics."

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As a woman, she feels with women around the word. There is a cultural context that makes gender issue more difficult compared to other cultures.  Yasmin says “ I am a Moro. To a certain extent, I have observed indigneous women and how women are viewed.”.  Her advocacy lies in gender equality in general but  more specifically the cultural context of the Moro women.

Yasmin felt the bias when, together with her parents and 15 siblings moved to Manila officially because her father had just been appointed as the first Muslim justice in the Court of Appeals. Another reason was  to flee war-torn Marawi where the warring private armies of Ilagas and Barracudas had set up a virtual “reign of terror.”

“Muslims were seen as devils, complete with tails and horns,” she recalls of the prejudice and stigma she had to put up with when her family moved to Manila.  Yasmin had to learn to keep a stiff upper lip when classmates wondered “How come she could speak good English and Tagalog? And by the way, where was her kris?”

Instead of wallowing in a negative attitude, she befriended them and assured them that she isn’t like that and she won’t cut their heads. She knew that her classmate’s bias was  due to ignorance . History books portray the moro  as “juramentado”.   Her friends told her that their parents would often threaten them that a Moro would come and get them if they don’t sleep.

What is surprising, she adds that in 2004 Pulse Asia showed that 33-44% of  adult Filipinos showed bias towards Muslim even if 14 % had actual contact with them.

She established the Al-Mujadilah Development Foundation in 1997 , inspired by a Koranic verse that means either “The Woman who Pleads,” “The Woman who Seeketh (Justice),” or “The Woman who Disputeth.”. the foundation is “challenging the dominant discourse on the role of women,” The group’s focus is really social justice, working on issues of women’s rights, good governance and peace-building. The popularization of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, which has been translated into local dialects, is another of the foundation’s concerns.

If elected to the senate, her main advocacy will focus on, the following

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1. Continue her work on gender equality and women’s rights

As one of the ten Filipina signatories from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao who signed the Win with Women Global Initiative to promote strategies for increasing women's political leadership worldwide through a 'Global Action Plan' , she indeed walks the talk as she takes up the challenge to run as a senatorial candidate.   In her ground breaking book on gender sensitivity training Muslim women, it draws on the teachings of the Qur'an, religious teachings and the experiences and life lessons of real women to derive a curriculum rooted in scripture, culture sensitive but challenges traditional norms and expectations.  Her grassroots efforts  on women’s reproductive health, community participation, education and their livelihood will continue on even if elected in the senate and she will be able to  mobilize her efforts even more at a national level.

2. Peace in Mindanao

The next administration should commit to resolving armed conflict issue which is 40 years down the road because “we cannot allow civilians particularly children  and women to be the collateral damage. It has to end.” The national peace policy that she plans to  look at as a senator is , just resolution to the armed conflict between the government and the Moro rebels.  The economic and social impact is huge if the armed conflict is not resolved. Poverty is increasing. Government spending on war should be spent on social services.

3. People centered-governance

Yasmin emphasizes that “what is important is we give opportunities to people to serve the country and not be denied just because she comes from a different identity group or does not have the money, and the clout. “  We cannot afford to perpetuate the same old  traditional politics that falls to  the rich, the famous. There has to be a new politics that can come in. This kind of new politics comes from ordinary people like us but have the capacity and ability to serve this country.  It comes from the people because we are the ones who have lived this experience of the kind of governance and the kind of life in this country.”  It is time for the citizenry to be the spokesperson of their own agenda.  “In the past, as basic sectors, we’ve been doing our own agenda and..we approach the people in power to carry for our agenda but it is not their agenda, and they may or may not carry it”. It feels like we are picking crumbs that fell from the table of the people in power if we continue this approach.

Are we ready to change for change?

One of the target goals of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDC) on gender equality is “ that women slowly gain ground in political decision-making.  A United Nations review on the progress of Philippine women and their role in politics revealed that despite "an increase in the quality of female politicians, there was not enough increase in" the number of women participants in government activities. Right now, we only see four women in the senate and to think that 50% of the Philippine population are women.  We are far from the gender equality goals even in politics but it is good to see women candidates like Yasmin Busran Lao taking up the challenge.

Despite serious setback in campaign funds, she accepted LP’s challenge to represent women and the Muslim community in their senatorial slate.  She felt that she had   to accept the challenge to raise the bar for her advocacies on gender rights, peace and good governance.

After working for  the  social and economic development among impoverished communities in Muslim Mindanao for many years, it is about time her grassroots leadership in peace-building and promoting the role of women create more impact if elected as senator.

Photos and videos by author. Some Rights Reserved.

View the rest of the interview from the video playlist on Yasmin Busran-Lao.

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