Women's Political Agenda
adopted by the participants to the
Kamindanawan 2008 Political Power and Women: Vision and Values

We, women leaders of Mindanao gathered by the Mindanao Commission on Women for KAMINDANAWAN 2008 in Davao City from June 25-27, 2008,

United in our concern for the future of our country;

Recognizing that politics is the means by which a society produces collectively-binding decisions;

Accepting our crucial role as political actors;

Acknowledging the need for competent and honest political leaders as well as educated and vigilant citizens;

Concerned that corruption, violent conflict, and hunger are wreaking havoc on the lives of most of our people because of unconscionable self-interest and rapacious greed of political leaders who are supposed to serve the people;

Convinced that we have the power and the will to act for the good and welfare of our families and communities;

Declare that

• we will campaign vigorously for the holding of credible and peaceful elections in 2010, including working for the appointment of a woman from Mindanao in the Commission on Elections;
• we will campaign resolutely against cha-cha before 2010 and no extension for the President and all other officials with term limits;
• we will educate and inform our people to be vigilant about the declaration of martial law or the take-over of civilian authority by the military as a devious means to thwart the holding of elections;
• we will mobilize the “integrity vote” such as the voters did in Pampanga, Isabela and Iligan City in the 2007 elections by participating in civil society electoral monitoring activities in the ARMM elections in August 2008 and every election thereafter; and
• we will encourage and train women of integrity to run for public office.

Moreover, we declare that to contribute to achieving peace, and to fight corruption and hunger we will

• embark on an educational campaign on the inherent right of a people to self-determination as embodied in national and international laws;
• promote multiculturalism where our society actively embraces diversity as a source of social wealth and dynamism rather than of conflict;
• help to enlarge the network of anti-corruption advocates; and work for the strict enforcement of all major laws (RA 6713, RA 3019, RA 9485 and Act No. 3815) and executive fiats on anti-fixing and anti-red tape in government offices; and
• ensure food security by encouraging families to grow their own food; and campaigning for measures to ensure availability and affordability of food especially among the poor.

We commit ourselves to all these actions for God and country as Mothers for Peace and Youth for Peace.