RA 9262: Challenging the Unconscious

By: Stephanie Quilates Dandal

Hannah Arendt, a German-American political theorist, says that violence is nothing more than the most
flagrant manifestation of power. Its subtlety is expected in many forms yet it is the most pervasive construct
in our status quo as a free nation. Deeply embedded in our culture, the many dimensions of violence
specifically against women and children, are something that we hope to dismantle. However intolerable our
condition is, there is fear and denial of the muffled murmurs of protest which lead us to accept our banal
state of imagined progress.

While gender-based violence is an old concept, only over a decade ago has it been recognised as a human
rights issue. Although it gained traction on the international level, gender-based violence is tolerated because
victims fear of being shamed for violating the rules of conservative society. As a construct of power,
patience and creativity are required to dismantle violence of any form in the Philippines.

CEDAW and the Birth of RA 9262

In response to the growing concern of violence against women and children, our Congress passed RA 9262:
An Act Defining Violence against Women and their Children on 08 March 2014. While it is an advent of
progress in regard to the status of women, it has met a number of reprisals from some individuals challenging
the constitutionality of the law.

In the landmark case of Garcia vs. Drilon, the Supreme Court held that RA 9262 is not violative of the equal
protection clause and the due process clause of the Constitution. Atty. Myra Angeli Gallardo-Batungbakal, a
lecturer at San Beda College Alabang School of Law and arbitrator at the Singapore International Arbitration
Centre (SIAC) lends us her knowledge and understanding of RA 9262 and the peculiarities to our
jurisdiction. According to Atty. Batungbakal, RA 9262 is not unconstitutional because the 1987 Philippine
Constitution provides that the rights of women should be respected and we should advance the interests of
women in the Philippines. It is incumbent upon us to come up with laws in congruence to the Convention to
Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) . She further explains that as a signatory to
the CEDAW, it is legal basis for RA 9262.

Although widely accepted, CEDAW has yet to permeate cultures that are resistant to the concept of equality
extending to the private domain. Similarly, the challenge that beholds RA 9262 in the Philippines is to break
the silence generated by intimacy between individuals. A perfunctory glance at the situation of women and
children in the Philippines reveals a paradox. While the Philippines is an active participant in the fight
against gender-based discrimination, cases of violences against women remain underreported.



The Intimacy of Violence

In most countries, gender-based violence is perpetuated in the home. Brutality at the hands of relatives,
friends, and significant others do not command headlines because it happens within the realm of privacy.
Furthermore, women do not speak about the violence experienced due to several factors such as shame and
self-blame for the violence, fear of the abusers retaliation, limited resources to pursue justice, inaccessible
or unavailable facilities where one can report the violence, among others. In cases of intimate partner
violence, many women also experience being filtered out of the legal justice system when they are
pressured by village mediators to reconcile with their abusive partners.
1
A juxtapose of the treatment of
violence within the home and in society reveals that oppression in the home shapes the treatment of violence
in a much larger scale.

Peculiar to our jurisdiction, the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9262 prohibit mediation of cases
involving violence against women and children. Atty. Batungbakal explains that VAWC cases are not
mediatable, the reason being to prevent the exposure of women and children to the perpetrators of violence.
Although violence can be mediated in other cultures such as California and other states in the USA, the non-
referral of a VAWC case to a mediator is justified in our country. In the same case of Garcia vs. Drilon, the
petitioner, Jesus C. Garcia, argued that by not allowing mediation, the law violated the policy of the State to
protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution cannot be sustained. In a
memorandum of the Court, it ruled that the court shall not refer the case or any issue thereof to a mediator.
This is so because violence is not a subject for compromise. In addition to limiting the exposure of the
victims to their abusers, Atty. Batungbakal surmises that the paramount concern of RA 9262 is the
preservation of dignity of women and children.

RA 9262 and the Search for Kamatuoran
2


Percolating through mainstream Philippine culture, RA 9262 protects women and children regardless of
ethnic backgrounds. Atty. Batungbakal explains that violence in all its forms is not specific to urban areas.
Twice removed from the mainstream, indigenous women seek to address the issue of violence against
women and children in the context of their customary laws. The problem in post-colonial states like the
Philippines, customary laws are often discordant with state laws, usually with the state having the power and
the indigenous people being marginalised. Indigenous people have distinct cultures and community laws. In
the face of violence, indigenous women have to be educated on their rights. Although there are cultural
differences, there is a common thread - women have rights, must not be abused in any form, and must not be
discriminated against solely because of gender. It is when one does not know or demand ones right that
victimisation starts.

1
Womens Legal Bureau, Engendering the Barangay Justice System (2004).
2
Kamatouran literally translates to truth in some dialects in the Visayas.



Violence Beyond the Realm of Gender

In the same case of Garcia vs. Drilon, Justice Marvic Leonen recognised the existence of battered men and
that violence in the context of intimate relationships should not be seen and encrusted as a gender issue;
rather, it is a power issue.
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There is concern that RA 9262 has become a tool for harassment and exploitation to men. As it was designed
to protect women from physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuses, some groups question the
exclusivity afforded to a particular class in society. Women are equally capable of being abusive and men are
also likely targets of different abuses. Battered men, and abused members of the LGBT sector have
expressed concerns that the law does not cover protection of all persons from the same abuses suffered by
women and children.

Traditionally, power-based violence is confined to violence against women but as we try to understand the
scope of violence against people in general, the term violence against women diminishes the experiences
of the battered men. While gender-based crimes are commonly committed by men against women, the
underlying theme in these offences is the desire to assert power and control over another person. Because
females are seen as second-class citizens, there is a devaluation of the feminine within our culture, and
violence against women is expanded from the traditional heteronormative
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social structures to a
demonstration of the helplessness of the other and a display of superiority by the aggressor. While there are
no existing laws protecting other abused sectors such as the battered men, Atty. Batungbakal comments that
other abused groups are at liberty to come up with proposals to advance their interests.

A notable lesson to be learned from RA 9262 is the limiting effect of violence to an individual. When a
person whether male or female, is shrouded in the penumbra of violence it restrains the potential of a person.
The penal nature of RA 9262 is commendable yet temporary. Dismantling violence means more than
punishing individual acts but changing the deeply ingrained impression and unconscious objectification of
the feminine in our culture.


3
A. Detschelt, Recognizing Domestic Violence Directed Towards Men: Overcoming Societal Perceptions, Conducting Accurate Studies, and Enacting
Responsible Legislation, 12 KAN. J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 249 (2003).
4
Heteronormativity is defined as the predominance and privileging of a definitely heterosexual-based ideology and social structure that acts as the
exclusive interpreter of itself and of all other sexualities in relation to it. Definition found in A. Ponce, Shoring up Judicial Awareness: LGBT Refugees and
the Recognition of Social Categories, 18 NEW ENG. J. INTL. & COMP. L. 185 (2012) citing M. Warner, FEAR OF A QUEER PLANET: QUEER POLITICS
AND SOCIAL THEORY (1993).