Gabriela to join 2022 elections despite NTF-ELCAC disqualification plea

MANILA - Gabriela Women's Party-list on Monday filed a manifestation of intent to participate in the 2022 elections despite a pending cancellation of registration plea from the government's anti-insurgency panel.

House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas filed a petition at the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) main office in Intramuros on International Women's Day.

"We are actively campaigning against the NTF-ELCAC's disqualification case, particularly its claim that we are 'advocating violence," the party-list said in a statement, referring to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which has tagged the group and its affiliate party-list as the "legal fronts" of the communist movement.

"We will never back down. We will never be fazed by the Duterte regime's evil ploy to shun women representation out of the Lower House and disenfranchise millions of marginalized Filipino women," it said.

• Move to void Gabriela's party-list registration affront to women representation: Brosas

The military has been accusing Gabriela members of being part of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the New People's Army. The party-list has denied the allegations.

Accusations that Gabriela is a communist organization can be disputed by the party-list's 2-decades of legislative track record, Brosas said in an earlier interview.

"We have a track record of 20 years of doing legislative measures [regarding] violence against women, anti-trafficking, juvenile justice welfare act, occupation safety on health, maternity leave law (MLL), expanded MLL, anti-rape amendments, magna carta for women," she said.

"That's enough to explain [na] iba ang Gabriela women's party," she said.

• 2 decades of legislative work: Gabriela dares AFP to prove alleged terror links

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