MANILA, Philippines—When the fog rolled in to blanket Tagaytay City's Estancia Hotel in a translucent mist recently last month, 30 woman officials and barangay chairpersons from the City of Manila were getting ready to broaden their horizons on Gender and Development (GAD) and the issue of Violence Against Women And Children (VAWC).
It was the group's first time to undergo intensive training on these topics as local executives.
Anna Leah Sarabia of Kababaihan Laban Sa Karahasan was aware that developing gender-sensitivity within three days, even among women leaders, was an uphill battle.
With the help of Mayor Alfredo S. Lim, and with funding from the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives, the "kapitanas" were selected from more than 900 barangays (villages) in Manila to participate in the course on GAD planning and budgeting.
It would be just the first step in a yearlong project to nurture Gender Equality Models (GEMs) in Manila.
The urgency for this type of training became immediately clear after the first lecture on "Sex, Gender and Discrimination" given by Sarabia. Initially, the participants thought that as leaders of their community, the problem of gender bias was minimal. That was until they started comparing the number of hours they and their male partners spent on their family, their work and themselves.
On the average, men spend 3.5 hours more than women on themselves, recreation and sleep (some women sleep only four hours a day); and four hours less on family and home matters, even if women and men spend almost the same amount of time on their work or profession. With the time management exercise, it was easy to see the difference.
Despite the women's multiple responsibilities—family, work, community, household chores and spousal duties—their contributions and status are not given equal importance. Worse, they are often victims of stereotyping, abuse and violence.
During a talk on gender-responsive governance given by Dr. Ruby Palma of the Quezon City Gender and Development Office, she presented the aspects of transparency, accountability and gender-responsiveness, among other elements, as basic to the definition of good governance in local governments.
Dr. Palma encouraged the kapitanas to find ways to implement these in their local government units as well as to help organize other women in forming support groups. At the same time, she stressed that "women have perspectives and talents that could significantly enhance the quality of governance."
Dr. Florence Dorotan of the Women's Action Network for Development then lectured on how to formulate a GAD plan. Most of the participants argued about how their traditional barangay development council planning depended entirely on the figures handed to them "from above" annually by city and DILG executives.
She emphasized that there must be a paradigm shift toward learning what gender issues need to be addressed first, before the projected expenses can be indicated. A GAD plan without a GAD budget is a joke, she said, "while a GAD budget without a GAD plan is a disaster."
Towards the end of the seminar, the kapitanas, armed with a new-found awareness of gender issues, were able to come up with their respective GAD plan and budget tables for the following year.
A review to be conducted early this month will show if any of their plans are realistic. Draft resolutions for the passage of a Gender Equality Code are waiting to be written.
Soon enough, Sarabia hopes the GEMs of the country's capital city will join the ranks of other LGUs that have started to work for gender equality in the home, community and the nation.
These GEMs are expected to be champions of gender-responsive communities in Manila, polished by a keen awareness of the key concepts of gender and development, and bearing the patina of leaders who know they can make a difference.
