Positioning Women’s Month as a platform for protest rather than sole commemoration, Protection of Women’s Equality and Rights (POWER) AdDU staged a picket rally demanding institutional and systemic accountability on issues of rising tuition fees, campus safety gaps, technology-facilitated violence, and abortion criminalization.

Gabriela Youth – Davao Secretary General Allena Sofia de Castro framed the mobilization as a response to intersectional oppression faced by Filipino women, especially students navigating economic precarity, patriarchal norms, and institutional inaction.

“…Oppressed na nga [dahil babae], may oppression pa dahil ipinanganak na Pilipino, may oppression pa talaga dahil estudyanteng Pilipino–with the rising tuition fee increase, ang pagpapataas ng mga bilihin natin, at pangatlo ay the very oppression that perpetuates women,” she stated.

Gabriela Youth – Jacinto Chairperson Fatimah Guiani called out the disproportionate burden on women from working-class families caused by tuition and other school fee increases, maintaining that accessible and affordable education must remain central to conversations on women empowerment.

“Ang edukasyon ay nananatiling karapatan at hindi dapat itinuturing na negosyo at ang pamantasan ay dapat maging isang ligtas na espasyo para makapag aral ang lahat ng kababaihan at makilahok sa akademiko… Kapag mahal ang matrikula, sino ang tunay na nakikinabang? Hindi ang kababaihang estudyante na patuloy na ipinaglalaban ang kanilang mga karapatan” 

Guiani also underscored that tuition hikes extend beyond economic strain, forcing some women to reduce their academic loads, pause their studies altogether to meet financial demands, or take on precarious service-based work.

“Hindi lamang ito usapin ng pera–ito ay usapin ng oportunidad at dignidad ng isang babae, ito ay uspain ng kawalan ng oportunidad at dignidad ng isang babae sa bawat taas ng matrikula may mga estudyanteng napipilitan na mag trabaho, magbawas ng units, at tuluyang huminto sa pag aaral,” she added.

POWER Commune Chairperson Jiesen Ferraren posed the same skepticism on institutional gaps, questioning the operationalization of Republic Act No. 11313, or the Safe Spaces Act, within academic institutions.

“What is supposed to be a safe space for academic venture and learning has become corrupted with the normalization of harassment taken lightly as jokes.” 

She pointed out that harassment is frequently dismissed as mere humor despite the psychological and emotional harm it inflicts, highlighting how such attitudes normalize disrespect and undermine accountability.

“‘Joke ra mana, nganong ma-offend man ka?’—No. Jokes and laughter shall never permit disrespect and discomfort towards anyone,” she asserted.

Denial of bodily autonomy in digital spaces, criminalization of abortion

Highlighting gender-based violence in both physical and digital spaces, POWER AdDU Second Year Representative Nike Dueñas described technology as “the new frontier for control,” which powers non-consensual sharing of private images, online harassment, and the restriction of bodily autonomy.

“We live in an age where technology gives us the power to reach almost everything, but for women, that connectivity has become a cage. When private images are leaked, the question asked is ‘Bakit niya sinend?’ and not ‘Bakit niya ninakaw?’” she stated.

Harassment, she stressed, is systemic, persisting across public, private, and institutional spaces where women continue to be objectified.

“Ang issue ay di kailan man isang isolated case dahil marami pa rin sa lahat ng espasyo mapa public space man o private space ang nakaka-experience nito at lalong lalo na hindi nakaligtas ang ating mga paaralan mula dito.”

Linking bodily autonomy to structural reform, she further called for the decriminalization of abortion, rebuking current laws as harmful to vulnerable sectors that forceyoung women into unsafe situations and societal judgment.

“In this country, the criminalization of abortion is a tool of class warfare. This affects poor women, students, and young girls, who are pushed into the shadows of unsafe procedures and lifelong fear.”

Dueñas asserted that criminalization does not eliminate abortion but drives it underground, increasing health risks and reinforcing stigma.

“Decriminalizing abortion is about bodily autonomy. It is about the fundamental truth that a woman is a person and not a vessel for the state to manage. Our bodies are not battlegrounds, and our autonomy is not negotiable,” she said.

In line with the “Bolder and Braver” theme, POWER AdDU Moderator Mary Donna Grace Cuenca upheld that Women’s Month should not be confined to symbolic recognition.

“To be bold today is to question structures that continue to marginalize. To be brave is to create spaces where women and gender-diverse individuals can lead, innovate, and thrive without fear,” she said.

In partnership with the SAMAHAN Department of Campaigns and Advocacies and Unyon Mindanao, the picket rally opened POWER AdDU’s month-long celebration for 2026 Women’s Month in the Sunken Garden, Ateneo de Davao University on March 3, 2026.