CEDAW/C/PHI/4 English Page 34 IV. ARTICLE 7 Equal rights with men in political and public life Situation Women voters 94. Voting is the most common mechanism for participation in the political process. Women continue to be a strong voting population. In the 1992 elections, women voter turn-out was 79.97 per cent while that of men was 74.96 per cent. The figures show women's determination to exercise their voting rights. But this has not been translated into a women's vote (defined as a united vote for electoral candidates, female or male, whom women believe will take up the cause of women). Women elective officials 95. There has been no significant increase in the number of women running for elective office, much less those who actually win. The 24-hour member Senate never had more than four women members. In the House of Representatives, only 20 out of the proclaimed 223 seats in the 1995 elections are occupied by women. 96. This dismal performance may be attributed, among others, to the persisting notion that electoral politics is dirty and basically for men only. Philippine elections are characterized by violence and terrorism where candidates use "gold, guns and goons" to win. Politicians are also deemed to be prone to graft and corruption. 97. The women who run for Congressional positions are second-generation politicians. They are either wives, sisters, daughters or immediate relatives of male politicians. Politics is a family tradition, and they run on the strength of the family name and influence. As with male politicians, female politicians belong to the socio-economic elite. This makes it very difficult for cause-oriented women to fight and run for office. Women as government executives 98. Among appointive officials, there is only one woman member out of a total of 22. She heads the Department of Social Welfare, which traditionally has always been headed by a woman. The Department of Labour and Employment had its first woman Secretary but she has already been replaced by a man. In the four Constitutional Commissions, only one Civil Service Commission is chaired by a woman. 99. Out of the total 969,046 career positions, 60.1 per cent are women. They dominate the second level at 70.7 (436,948), followed by the first level at 41.9 per cent (140,413) and the third level at 31.9 per cent (5,086). 100. Considering that there are more women at the second level, which supposedly should feed into the third or top level, the data indicate some problems for /...