(His)tory, (Her)story

Change doesn’t always begin from the top, at the center…

It was a long struggle for women across cultures to have their stature built. An age-old patriarchy has defined the society’s working on how sexes interact in Philippine landscape. And while Filipinos continue to do utmost in order to cope with the fast-paced global exchange, the battle has gone far indeed, as gender concerns enter the road to progress.

Now, the battle is nearly won.

From dark years of marginalization and subordination posed by gender stereotypes and biases, the struggle made its way to identify roles of women and men, both integral in all aspects of societal change. Gender concerns have slowly been integrated and recognized in the country’s development agenda. The government has started efforts to bring these changes in the periphery, where the real battle happens and where development is a must.

Approaches employed in community-driven development projects such as Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) attest to this ‘winning battle’. Its gender and development mainstreaming in the Cordilleras went deeper from a mere effort to include women and the youth in its implementation to further teaching the people to innovate, organize, and ultimately empower themselves as people looking beyond their sex.

For three years, KALAHI-CIDSS operated in Tinoc, a once disadvantaged municipality in Ifugao. The agricultural community has been nearly isolated from the rest of the mountainous region – farmers finding no market for their harvest, women confined in domestic monotony.

Nemesia Calexto, a woman-volunteer narrated how the project opened their eyes to development alongside their assertion of women empowerment. Leading a small group of women in her humble barangay of Ap-apid, she would hike around villages to motivate people to attend barangay assemblies. Meeting dubious faces and hearing inhospitable remarks were never a disappointment though. She would trek back and forth until the people learned the value of participation and belongingness.
“And women were just on the outside edge”, she added retelling the earlier days. But, after three years, the people, especially women, are now witnessing the changes brought not by the Project but, by them.

“We felt like everything started to change and we are just so grateful!”, she exclaimed. With women comprising majority of most assemblies, Nemesia recognized the need to federate and her dream of having an assembly for Tinoc women was finally brought to reality. With her displayed leadership, Nemesia was elected to being president. Founded in 1996, now composed of different barangay women’s groups, the Tinoc Federation of Women’s Organization, Incorporated was revived and was registered in 2006 under the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-stock, non-profit organization. From a small group, the organization grew to include over 200 women. They were the same number that made witnesses to the sub-projects’ implementation which served prize of their struggle. “Men made fun of us at the start. They would even say ‘so, that’s empowerment?!’ whenever we (women) stood up during the assemblies”, Nemesia narrated. And while the communities worked, the women did double. Proving they could do help in every step, even in sub-project implementation workforce; they won that due admiration and respect from the rest of the community.

Tinoc Federation of Women’s Organization is part of a cultural metamorphosis in a male-dominated Cordillera society. This change however doesn’t clash or discriminate any part of its rich culture. The context in which this change happens is a manifestation that all parts of Philippine society are ready for developmental efforts and its approaches that include gender concerns. Decentralizing development doesn’t mean divergence of direction. It is in fact a great step in bringing about significant lessons for the grassroots communities. From the bottom, from the edge, we could see topmost solutions to age-old problems.

For Nemesia, KALAHI-CIDSS taught them to work as one. Moreover, it has instilled upon them that being together means having the power thus; it was during the KALAHI-CIDSS implementation in Tinoc that they have formally built their organization. They have recognized the many valuable lessons they have gained from their experience with it. As her organization gathers more and more women, they clamor for more of development to come. As for these women, it was not only a battle for equity and equality but, it is a battle fought for change, for progress – a battle against poverty – soon to be won…