What Risa stands for
So what’s a nice lady like Risa Hontiveros – an activist, a former journalist, and a single parent to four children – doing in politics?
She could have opted for an easy life, but Risa chose politics as a means to pursue her principles. “Bawiin natin ang pulitika, at ibalik ang kapangyarihan sa mga mamayan,” she says. She believes – and has proven – that politics can be an instrument to achieve reforms, and if practiced with the highest interest of the people in mind, it can lead to change.
Honor and integrity in government
Inside or outside Congress, Risa stands for honor and integrity among government officials. Even as a neophyte legislator, she pushed for the impeachment of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and called for resignation. She has likewise championed the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Navarro Gutierrez, an ally of the Arroyo family, for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the constitution.
For many, Risa is one of the very few opposition leaders who is not tainted by traditional politics and vested interests.
Compassionate and principled
When farmers from Sumilao, Bukidnon, walked from Mindanao to Manila to press the government for their lands, Risa stood up for them and joined them in their protest. She used her position to pressure the government to distribute to the Sumilao farmers the 144-hectares of agricultural lands illegally owned by San Miguel.
Despite pressure from different conservative groups, Risa is an ardent supporter of the Reproductive Health Bill. She has consistently called for all stakeholders to step back from the climate of antagonism and confusion that surrounded the RH bill and see the measure for what it truly is – a measure that promotes the well-being and health of women, our youth, and our families.
Voice of the voiceless
In an institution dominated by landed and rich families, Risa has given voice to the marginalized and under-represented. She is the proud champion of a bill that protects workers from the abuses of contratualization. She is pushing for an anti-discrimination measure that protects lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders from prejudicial policies and practices. Risa is also the author of the Students’ Rights and Welfare Bill, which protects students from human rights violations inside and outside campuses.
To protect communities whose voices are oftentimes stifled by rich mining interests and corrupt local government officials, Risa has filed an alternative mining bill than prohibits environmentally destructive large-scale mining projects and integrates the participation of communities in the granting of environmental permits.
Consistency, grace and strength
For her no-nonsense, uncompromising stance against corruption, abuse of authority, and electoral fraud, she earned the respect and admiration of the public. She stood by principles and worked closely with the civil society to demand for the truth behind the ‘Hello Garci’ scandal. At the height of the clampdown on civil liberties, her activism did not waver. Finally, in 2006, she was forcibly seized by the police during the International Women’s Day March and was illegally arrested. She was subsequently released, but her arrest, which earned bipartisan condemnation and embarrassed the already beleaguered government, only increased Risa’s resolve as an activist.