Here’s to small victories.
According to a report by Manila Bulletin published yesterday, the city of Manila’s proposed city ordinance penalizing catcalling passed its first reading.
Manila Councilor Krystle Bacani, the author of the ordinance, hopes to implement it by March 2018.
Apart from catcalling, other forms of sexual harassment like cursing and wolf whistling will also be penalized.
Those who violate the ordinance can be imprisoned for at least one day and up to six months, will be fined anywhere from PHP1,000 (US$19.81) to PHP10,ooo (US$198.15), and will need to attend a gender sensitivity seminar by the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Commission on Women.
Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada is in full support of the ordinance and was quoted in the same report saying: “We have no tolerance for words or actions which tend to insult or cause fear in others, especially the woman,” he said. “I express my utmost admiration for women who are finally speaking up against this kind of behavior.”
Manila is not the first city in Metro Manila to go after catcalling.
In April 2016, Quezon City passed a similar ordinance that prohibits catcalling, stalking, and other forms of harassment. Violators in Quezon City can be fined anywhere from PHP1,000 (US$19.81) to PHP5,000 (US$99.08) and jailed for one day to one year.
Still, sexual harassment towards women persists. Last month, two Quezon City cops were relieved of their duties and charged with violating the ordinance. This came after they allegedly catcalled a woman walking on the street while riding a police patrol car. The woman shared the incident on social media and sued the cops.
In February, Senator Risa Hontiveros filed a bill that seeks to protect women and members of the LGBT from public sexual harassment.
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