Justice Singh to Women: Speak Up and Never Give Up
March 4, 2024
“If we feel that we have been abused or our rights have been offended, we have to speak up,” says Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh at the flag-raising ceremony at the Department of Justice today, March 4, 2024, in celebration of Women’s Month. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh today urged all women to never give up and speak up for their rights and for what they believe that they deserve.
As guest speaker at today’s flag-raising ceremony at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in celebration of Women’s Month, Justice Singh shared her personal journey in work and in life that led to where she is now—the 194th Associate Justice of the High Court.
“I am particularly happy that I was invited as a speaker during Women’s Month. Needless to say, a woman does not have to be a particular advocate of feminism or women’s rights. By birth right, kailangan tinataguyod natin ang isa’t isa,” said Justice Singh, who co-chairs the SC Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary along with Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting and Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez.
As a then young litigation lawyer, Justice Singh said she had experienced that male judges were more accommodating and helpful than female judges. When she became a judge, a fellow female judge, whom she had idolized for being a luminary in Family Law, told her that female judges should not get appointed to the Judiciary while they are still of child-bearing age because work is delegated to others when they go on maternity leave.
“That became a bitter lesson for me. So sabi ko, I will not be like that….In my courts, those of you who had the chance to appear in trial courts in Quezon City, you would know that if you were young then, I was extra helpful to both men and women,” said Justice Singh.
Justice Singh served as Presiding Judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court, Quezon City (QC) from 2002 to 2007, as Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, QC from 2007-2014, and as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals from 2014-2022 before her appointment as the 194th Associate Justice on May 18, 2022.
Justice Singh shared that getting promoted from MTC all the way up to SC, she said that “I felt that I had to do everything a hundred times better than my male contemporaries. And even when I did, I would still get rejected many times. And I know that during those times, as compared to the others, I was at least equal to them but I still did not get the position. But I did not let that get me down. I did not let that stop me from what I wanted to achieve. And that is my main message to everyone here…If I can do it, you can also do it.”
Justice Singh said that in the 122 years of SC, only 18 are women have been appointed out of 194 Associate Justices. She shared that in a study on gender representation and mobility in the Judiciary to trace the progression of women in the Judicial hierarchy, they identified this as a factor why only a few women make it all the way to the SC—women themselves do not put themselves up for the vacancy.
She said some found the work too demanding for women because women have other personal duties as a wife, a mother, a sibling, and so forth and so on. She added that the Judiciary is addressing this through HerStory, a campaign which highlights the stories of some of our judges who face gender challenges and gender-based discrimination in their careers but were nevertheless able to rise against these challenges and succeed.
“Gusto namin ipakita sa kanila that they can handle their professional and, at the same time, their personal obligations. Katulad ko, I am a mother of four but I am a single parent. Napakahirap but I managed. Now, all my kids are done studying. I think I’ve managed to balance all these things. So it’s not impossible. We can do it. I’m sure all of you can identify with these challenges. But what is important is that we do something about it,” stressed Justice Singh.
She also shared that in every opportunity, she has always advised law students “that they have to start speaking for themselves. If we feel that we have been abused or our rights have been offended, we have to speak up. Lalo na tayong mga abogado. If we cannot defend our own rights, we have no personality to defend other people’s rights.” (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh poses for posterity with (from left) Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Deo L. Marco, DOJ Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez, DOJ Undersecretary Geronimo L. Sy, DOJ Assistant Secretary Majken Anika Gran-Ong, and DOJ Assistant Secretary Michelle Anne S. Lapuz after the DOJ flag raising activity today, March 4, 2024. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)