The Legal Alternatives for Women Center Inc. (LAW Inc.) has been in operation for 15 years. As it celebrates its endurance and remembers lawyer Arbet Sta. Ana Yongco’s birth anniversary, the group launches a website to serve more and better.
Looking back, we remember our first case, a married woman raped twice by a motorcycle driver. The case was dismissed because the court questioned the fact that she still rode on the motorcycle after the first experience. She was on her way to buy medicine for a sick child. The victim was despondent, but she was cared for by a congregation of sisters.
Then there was Maria, a battered wife. In spite of her situation she struggled for the survival of her family by selling charcoal. We began to realize at this point that many of the victims of violence were very poor, so Women in Socio-Economic Enterprises (Wise) began. Grameen-type loans were provided. Members were not only oriented regarding entrepreneurship but underwent sessions on women empowerment. Now, Maria has a thriving business and has become a distributor as well as a vendor. Rotary Club of Cebu Gloria Maris has been a strong Wise supporter.
LAW Inc. joined Women’s Solidarity and supported the Chiong family in its fight for justice over the kidnapping and murder of their daughters Jackie and Marijoy. The case got international support. Thelma Chiong joined the ranks of women advocates and a member of LAW Inc.; she also became the local leader of the Crusade against Violence. Now she is the president of the Cebu Women’s Network.
Lawyer Arbet Sta. Ana Yongco, chairperson of LAW Inc. legal services, supported the Bacolod family as it fought for justice for the death of Alona and the massacre of family members. In this struggle, Arbet was martyred. In memory of Arbet’s heroic defense of women and their rights, LAW Inc. sponsored a scholarship of a law student thus beginning the push for alternative or development lawyering.
LAW Inc. has worked productively with local government units both the Cebu city government and the provincial government. Cebu province became a partner. For some time it provided office space for it. Together, they gave rise to the Cebu Provincial Women’s Commission. Gender responsive governance paved the way for a series of ordinances for the protection of women. The most important was the very comprehensive Cebu Women’s Development Code in 2005, ahead of the Magna Carta of Women. Vice Gov. Agnes Almendras-Magpale led in the preparation of the ordinance ably assisted by the expertise of the late Connie Estopa. Connie also ably led the implementation of the provincial competition to encourage gender responsive governance among the municipalities. This is now institutionalized. With the province and consultants from the academe LAW Inc. prepared Heritage Cards, Cebu Women Trailblazers.
LAW Inc. also linked successfully with non-government organizations. From the very beginning it has worked with Lihok Filipina. It has been the founding member of Sidlak, the Gender Resource Center of Region VII. Since helping the victims of violence has not only meant providing legal services but also psycho-social processing, it has actually a strong linkage with the Personnel and Guidance Counseling Association. This has facilitated the administration of family counseling. The victims are guided for healing and empowerment. At the same time there is an effort to reach out to the source of violence who often is a family member. The partnership also helps LAW Inc. be of assistance to victims whether or not they have filed a case.
The latest partnership is with Visayan Forum in the Microsoft-sponsored project, stepUP: Stop Trafficking and Exploitation of People through Unlimited Potential. The project creates unlimited potential through computer literacy accompanied with life skills.
For quite a while now LAW Inc. has been anchoring weekly radio programs in radio dyLA and Bantay Radyo as academies on air for women and the entire community.
LAW Inc. continues to join efforts in the transformation of the justice system. It has monthly alternative lawyering sessions. This endeavor emphasizing developmental law has been inspired by interaction with former judge Adoracion Avisado.
Yesterday, Human Rights Day, LAW Center Inc. had the blessing of the House of Refuge and the Atty. Arbet Sta. Ana-Yongco Training Hall. Its website: www.womenlawcenter.org contains, apart from general information and updates on LAW Inc. activities, local ordinances for the protection of women and the Heritage cards.
Rotary Club of Cebu Gloria Maris also supported this latest endeavor.