Office of Anti-Sexual Harassment, UP Cebu

Happy International Women's Day ... and may this March be a meaningful National Women's Month!

GADvocacy with hard work, initiative, selflessness, and dedication beyond her work station ... this is the shining example demonstrated by Nennen Escabillas. OASH will forever be grateful for your exemplary service. We will miss you. Rest in peace. 🙏

The University of the Philippines Cebu community mourns the passing of Ms. Nennen E. Escabillas (August 17, 1978 – February 13, 2026), a well-loved and deeply respected member of our university.

Ms. Escabillas served as a staff member of the Gender and Development Office and as a Dormitory Manager. In 2024, she was recognized as a Gawad Chancellor Awardee for Outstanding Administrative Staff.

Her kindness, guidance, and presence will be profoundly missed by colleagues, students, and all who had the privilege of knowing her.

The wake will be held from February 17 to February 20, 2026, at St. Peter Imus, Cebu City.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends, and loved ones.

May her memory continue to inspire and live on within the UP Cebu community.

Day 18, 18-Day Campaign to End VAW 2025

“Kalma lang, babae ra bitaw”—
gina ingon nila, as if feeling pain is weakness,
as if ang kababaehan excuse ra para dili ka paminawon.
But invalidation wounds just as much as the hurt itself.
When you tell her to calm down, you are telling her to shrink.
When you call her “OA,” you are calling her pain imaginary.
Walay gamay nga kasakit basta babae ang nagbitbit.
Walay overreaction kung tinuod ang iyang kahadlok.
Her voice deserves space. Her pain deserves respect.

Day 17, 18-Day Campaign to End VAW 2025

There is a distinct, algorithmic serenity to the corner of the Internet currently occupied by the “trad wife.” In 15-second vignettes, we continue to witness a life filtered of friction through the slow, meditative kneading of sourdough, the rustle of floral linen, and the hushed rejection of the corporate grind. All these appear seductive, particularly for a generation defined by burnout. If the “Girlboss” of the 2010s was characterized by an aggressive leaning in, her successor is defined by a performative lying down, as a retreat into a “soft life” where the burden of decision-making is surrendered to a provider in exchange for perceived material security.

But it is easy to misread this as a mere return to what is traditional. If we gaze further at themechanics of this domestic pastoralism, one finds less a romance than a transaction. The soft life sells the idea that financial dependency is both luxury and liberation from the indignities of the marketplace. Yet, this bargain requires a woman to dismantle the very infrastructure that ensures her safety; that is, her economic autonomy. In the Philippines, where the exhausting reality of "making do" is a national trauma, performative leisure becomes a coveted status
symbol. But we must be clear about the nature of this asset, because for the dependent partner, this status is rented, never owned.

The danger of this curated helplessness is that it reconceives risk as virtue, erasing the distinction between being cherished and being kept. It is here where the aesthetic confronts the hard reality of RA 9262. Under the law, the unilateral control of conjugal assets is not “leadership,” but economic abuse. As any student can attest, consciousness of power, a life built entirely on the benevolence of another is not a partnership; it is a dictatorship of one.

When the Trad Wife aesthetics fade and the relationship fractures, she discovers the hidden clause of her contract — that she has traded her exit strategy for a sourdough starter. The ultimate luxury, it turns out, is not the leisure to stay, but the very solvency to leave.

Day 16, 18-Day Campaign to End VAW 2025

Now, more than ever, we amplify: Gender rights are human rights!

The 10th of December marks the International Human Rights Day, and this year’s theme is “Our Everyday Essentials”. This theme aims to reaffirm the values of human rights and re-engage people with human rights by showing how they shape our daily lives, even in ways we do not notice. In a period of turbulence and unpredictability, the focus on the “everyday” depicts human rights not as an abstract idea, but the essentials people rely on in their daily lives. (Source of this paragraph and of the photo: https://social.desa.un.org/world-summit-2025/blog/human-rights-day-2025-how-everyday-actions-make-a-difference #:~:text=Human%20Rights%20Day%202025%3A%20How%20Everyday%20Actions%20Make%20a%20Difference,-Image&text=The%2010th%20of%20December,is%20%E2%80%9COur%20Everyday%20Essentials%E2%80%9D.)

Day 15, 18-Day Campaign to End VAW 2025

Ambisyon Nga Dili Matugot: The Price of Female Drive
Women are often taught, quietly and persistently, to make themselves smaller. From childhood, the lessons begin — soft words, sideways glances, and gentle reminders to temper their ambition. “Don’t aim too high. Step aside. Blend in.” These small instructions grow into invisible chains, teaching her that her voice, her dreams, and her drive must always be softened to fit the world’s expectations.
Yet when a woman dares to speak, to act, to rise, the world calls her “too ambitious,” “selfish,” or “arrogant.” It punishes her for wanting more, for imagining more, for insisting that she has a place in spaces she is told she cannot claim.

These words carry more weight than they seem. Controlling a woman’s ambition is a quiet but powerful form of violence. It restricts her freedom, questions her worth, and enforces the idea that she does not belong in positions of influence or authority. This policing of ambition is never isolated; it is part of a culture that allows abuse to linger, from subtle slights and verbal intimidation to structural inequalities, all quietly reinforcing the oppression of women.

Supporting a woman’s dreams is not merely encouragement. It is an act of defiance against a world that seeks to limit her. It is a statement that she has the right to exist fully, to act freely, and to rise without fear. Ambition is not a crime—it is courage in motion, resilience made visible, and hope taking shape. Every goal she pursues is a declaration that her life, her choices, and her voice matter.

Every woman deserves the space to dream without limits, to grow without restraint, and to live free from control.

Honor her ambition. Protect her voice. Empower her fully. END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.

Day 14, 18-Day Campaign to End VAW 2025

“Giunsa nimo pagdala tanan sa balay?”

It’s a question many women hear every day, yet few stop to think about what it really means. Being a housewife is not just a role—it’s invisible labor. From cooking meals, caring for children, managing finances, to keeping the home running smoothly, the work often goes unnoticed and unvalued.

Behind every clean floor, every packed lunch, every chore completed on time, is a woman carrying responsibility that the world rarely acknowledges. This labor is essential, yet society often treats it as ordinary, as if it requires no effort, no skill, no sacrifice.

Today, we honor every housewife, every woman whose work is the backbone of families and communities. Your efforts are seen. Your work matters. And it is long past time that the world recognizes the invisible labor we owe everything to.

Day 13, 18-Day Campaign to End VAW 2025

BREAKING BARRIERS: Confront the Glass Ceiling in Women’s Leadership

The glass ceiling persists as one of the most invisible yet powerful barriers restraining women from reaching leadership positions, particularly in STEM and political spaces. It operates quietly—through biased promotion practices, unequal access to mentorship, and assumptions that leadership and technical excellence are inherently masculine traits. These narratives distort reality by making women’s underrepresentation seem like a matter of choice or capability, rather than a consequence of exclusion.

This barrier is strengthened when institutions rely on outdated hierarchies that reward familiarity over merit. When decision-makers repeatedly select successors who look like them, come from the same circles, or fit a traditional image of “leaders,” they protect a system built to favor a narrow group. As a result, women who demonstrate expertise, innovation, and leadership potential are overlooked, undervalued, or confined to supportive roles—while the system excuses itself through the language of “fit” or “readiness.”

Dismantling the glass ceiling requires a deliberate rejection of these institutional habits. It means recognizing biased structures, reforming promotion pathways, and making leadership development accessible to all. Real progress emerges only when workplaces confront their own exclusionary practices instead of placing the burden on women to “prove” themselves over and over.

The real barrier is not women’s ability—it is the system that refuses to open the door.

Day 12, 18-Day Campaign to End VAW 2025

Overprotectiveness Unmasked: When ‘Safety’ Becomes a Cage

There are forms of love that pretend to protect, yet quietly suffocate.
There are hands that hold you gently, yet keep tightening until you lose your breath.
And there are words — “para lang sa imong safety,” “basin makadaot” —
that sound caring on the surface, but slowly become chains you never asked for.

Because not all warnings are born from worry.
Some are born from fear of losing control.
Some restrictions carry the tone of affection,
but the weight of imprisonment.

When a woman begins shrinking herself to avoid conflict…
When she stops going out because “mas maayo diri lang ka”…
When she no longer chooses because someone always chooses for her—
that is not protection.
That is power disguised as concern.

This campaign stands as a reminder:
Love should never demand silence.
Care should never shrink someone’s world.
And “pagpangga” must never become a cage.

Babae ka. Dili ka angay kontrolon. Dili ka angay pugngan.
Your safety must never come at the cost of your freedom.

Day 11, 18-Day Campaign to End VAW 2025

“No woman should feel that her body is a mere vessel for others’ control. We deserve the right to our own choices.”
― Hagir Elsheikh, Through Tragedy and Triumph: A Life Well Traveled

Day 10, 18-Day Campaign to End VAW 2025

We can all take responsibility for helping to bring about change, and keeping our friends and colleagues safe from domestic violence”
-- Charles Clarke