Herstorical Philippine Timeline

Precolonial Society

Precolonial Era: Gender relations were more egalitarian. Women led the spiritual and cultural realms.

Spanish Colonial Period

1565: Start of Spanish colonial rule.

1589: Founding of Colegio de Santa Potenciana, the first school for girls

1684: Founding of Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus

1763: Gabriela Silang led the revolutionary movement in Ilocos

1892: Founding of the Superior Normal School for Women Teachers founded by the Assumption Sisters

1893 (July): Women were first initiated into the Katipunan

1896 (August): The Cry of Pugad Lawin marked the start of the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule.

August 29, 1896: Tandang Sora was arrested.

1898: The Philippine Declaration of Independence was proclaimed. Meanwhile, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States of America for $20 million in the 1898 Treaty of Paris.

American Colonial Period

February 1899: American infantry fired shots at Filipino forces

1899: Beginning of the Philippine-American War

1901: Emilio Aguinaldo surrendered to American forces

1902: End of the Philippine-American War

1905: Founding of Asociacion Feminista Filipina

1913: Battle of Bud Bagsak in Sulu. It ended the long Muslim resistance against the Americans

1935: Establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth

September 15, 1937: President Manuel Quezon signed the Women’s Suffrage Bill into law, granting Filipino women the right to vote

1940: Founding of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines

1941: Elisa Ochoa was elected. She was the first woman legislator.

Japanese Occupation

1942: Start of Japanese occupation

1945: End of Japanese occupation

Post-War and Independence Period

July 4, 1946: Philippine Independence from the United States

1946-1960s: Post-war recovery; women began entering male-dominated professions

1947: Geronima T. Pecson was elected. She was the first woman senator.

Martial Law and Women's Rights Movements

1970: First Quarter Storm

1972: Declaration of Martial Law

1974: Maryknoll College (now Miriam College) introduced and offered a subject on Women and Society

1975: Establishment of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW)

1979: United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The first draft was prepared by Filipino diplomat and former Senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani

1981: 

• January 17: Lifting of Martial Law

• Silliman University offered the first Certificate Course in Women’s Studies and founded the first Centre for Women’s Studies and Development

February 22-25, 1986: EDSA People Power Revolution

Post-Martial Law and Contemporary Era

1986: Corazon Aquino was elected president. She was the first woman president of the Philippines. 

Women's movements campaigned for gender equality provisions in the new constitution. Four organizations consolidated the proposals: Concerned Women of the Philippines, Women's Caucus, GABRIELA, and Lakas ng Kababaihan, spearheaded by PILIPINA.

1987: Gender equality was incorporated into the 1987 Constitution

March 1, 1988: Proclamation No. 224 s. 1988, “Declaring the First Week of March of Every Year as Women’s Week and March 8, 1988, and Every Year Thereafter as Women’s Rights and International Peace Day.” Signed by former President Corazon C. Aquino on March 1, 1988, it affirmed our solidarity with the United Nations and recognized Filipino women’s contribution to the struggle for national independence, civil liberties, equality, and human rights.

1989: Approval and adoption of the Philippine Development Plan for Women (PDPW) 1989-1992, serving as the government’s blueprint for integrating women into development processes

1990: RA 6949 or An Act to Declare March 8 of Every Year as Working Special Holiday to be known as the National Women‘s Day was signed by President Corazon C. Aquino on April 10, 1990. 

1992: Enactment of Republic Act 7192: Women in Development and Nation Building Act

1995: Approval and adoption of the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025

1995: Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), a landmark document for advancing women's rights and gender equality worldwide. This was adopted during the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.

2004: RA 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act was signed into law. 

August 14, 2009: Enactment of the Philippine Magna Carta of Women