Feminism and the Women's Movement in the Philippines: Struggles, Advances, and Challenges Reflections and Continuing Challenges The Philippine women's movement is an organized national movement composed of women's NGOs and organizations of women workers, rural women, indigenous women, youth, survivors of violence against women; women committees in mixed organizations (Taguiwalo, 2013). Over the last three decades, the women's movement has provided services on sexual and reproductive health and victims of gender-based violence, facilitated mainstreaming of gender perspective in government and academic communities, and achieved significant gains at the policy level for the advancement of women's rights. The women's movement has also collaborated with other social movements, and has been able to mainstream feminist analysis in different political blocs. The dialogue among feminists and the social movements dealing with issues of class and imperialism has been facilitated by the presence of feminists who maintain that the liberation of women from patriarchal oppression cannot occur without liberation of the entire people from imperialist oppression, and vice versa(Estrada-Claudio, 2005). In the spirit of solidarity, the Philippine feminist movement has built linkages with other women's organizations from different countries and regions, with individual feminists contributing to the global feminist struggle. Common opposition to neo-liberal policies, political repression, non-recognition of women's rights as human rights, the pervasiveness of violence against women, among others, are the shared platform of women, whether in the Philippines or in other parts of the world(Taguiwalo, 2013: 13-14). Filipino feminist organizations are active participants in regional formations such as the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development 14 , the Asian-Pacific Resource& Research Centre for Women(ARROW) 15 , and Committee for Asian Women(CAW) 16 , among others. Yet, there are more challenges to hurdle. It remains to be seen whether or not laws for the protection and advancement of women's rights are implemented properly, and whether they result in the overall improvement of the lives of women. Given the experiences of our sisters in the trade unions, it is imperative to revisit the concept and understanding of “gender integration” in union work. What does it mean for trade unions when they assert that gender work should benefit both women and men? Will this change the gender power relations? Perhaps women's solidarity within the labour movement, regardless of individual affiliations, would be a timely strategy that should be pursued by women leaders to protect the gains of the past, develop young leaders, and craft a new agenda that will lead to the creation of more spaces for women and gender concerns as core workers' issues. Also, since informal work is continuously expanding, the link between women in trade unions with autonomous organizations of informal women workers and rural women's organizations should be explored and strengthened as well. 14 APWLD developed from dialogues among Asia Pacific women lawyers, social scientists and activists, which began at the 1985 Third World Forum on Women, held in Nairobi, Kenya. The women participating in the dialogues recognised that while law is used as an instrument of state control over resources, rights and even women's bodies, it can also be used to help effect political and socio­economic changes in our societies. In 1986, women-delegates from across Asia met in Tagaytay, Philippines to discuss the most pressing socio-legal issues facing women and to explore possible areas of collaborative action. The outcome of this meeting was the formation of APWLD, the first regional response to the challenges of Nairobi(www.apwld.org) 15 Established in 1993 upon a needs assessment arising out of a regional women's health project, where the originating vision was to create a resource center that would'enable women to better define and control their lives', ARROW is a regional non-profit women's organization based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We have consultative status with the Economic and Social Council(UN ECOSOC) of the United Nations. We work closely with many national partners in countries, regional and global networks around the world, and are able to reach stakeholders in 120 countries(www. arrow.org.my) 16 The Committee for Asian Women i s a network that brings together women's rights groups and labour unions from across Asia. Using training and learning exchanges, the network contributes to developing the potential and skills of women leaders in trade unions and labour organisations, with the aim of increasing the individual and collective bargaining power of women workers in Asia (www.caw-asia.net) 19