DEC.

11, 2014

NR # 3677B

HRep joins Global appeal for safe release

of girls abducted by Boko Haram
The House of Representatives has joined the international community in expressing support
for the families of the young girls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok town in Borno, Nigeria,
appealing for their safe and immediate release.
The House is expected to adopt House Resolution 1725 following endorsement by the House
Committee on Women and Gender Equality chaired by Rep. Linabelle Ruth R. Villarica, lead author
of the measure.
HR 1725 was approved by the panel in substitution of the original HR 1512 authored by
Chairperson Villarica and women-legislators, among them: Reps. Cinchona Cruz-Gonzales; Erlinda
M. Santiago; Luzviminda C. Ilagan; Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo; Emmi A. De Jesus; Marie Ann
S. Pernes; and Josephine Veronique T. Lacson-Noel.
The women lawmakers pointed out that the Philippines is a signatory to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which promotes equal
opportunity and access to education for women and girls.
The Resolution stressed that the Philippine Government is saddened by the fact that, contrary
to the commitments in the CEDAW, women and girls, like those abducted on April 14, do not have
freedom to pursue education without being subjected to violence and discrimination.
As recalled in the HR 1725, on the night of April 14, 2014, the Government Girls Secondary
School in Chibok, Nigeria was attacked by a group of militants who pretended to be guards and took
away young girls in trucks.
The girls are only between 16 and 18 years old, the lawmakers noted. The abduction is
thought to have been perpetrated by the extremist Muslim group, Boko Haram, which if translated
in the Hausa language means Western education is a sin.
The Boko Haram is reportedly opposed to the education of women and girls, and those
kidnapped in the past have been used as cooks and sex slaves. The girls abducted last April are
reportedly being auctioned off at $12 each to become wives of militants.
Aside from expressing support to the families of the victims in Nigeria, HR 1725 reaffirms
Congress commitment to undertake measures to end discrimination against women and girls and to
give to them all the opportunities to access education.
Likewise, the House of Representatives, through HR 1725, urges the Department of Foreign
Affairs to join hands and express solidarity with the United Nations and other countries who are
exerting all efforts for the safe and immediate return of the abducted girls in Nigeria.
Increasing the access of women and girls to education correlates directly to increasing the
pace of development and decreasing poverty, the authors declared. (30) dpt