Crown Legacy, Baguio City – Close to a thousand co-operative leaders, mostly women are meeting here for the 2nd national summit on Gender and Development in Co-ops, quite a fitting event to conclude the international celebration of Women’s Month.
As a member of the Gender and Development GAD committee of the Cebu News Workers’ Cooperative (Cebu NewsCoop) I went to the City of Pines to learn more about GAD advocacy and programs that will help mainstream gender issues in the media cooperative. I wish to thank the NewsCoop board of directors led by chairman Eli Baquero and manager Evelyn Sarsale for this important co-op exposure.
Organized by the Gender Equality Resource Center in collaboration with Cooperative Development Authority CDA and Asian Women in Cooperative Development Forum AWCF, the March 29 – 31 summit has for its theme, “Transformative, Sustainable Growth for Women and Men in Coops”. This is a biennial event which calls on coop stakeholders to discuss their concerns and come up with a call to action and resolutions that could help shape state policies in further mainstreaming and strengthening GAD among self-help enterprises in the country.
Gender issues are oftentimes tied with women’s rights and the woman’s apparent and perceived inferior status in society. The problem can be very extreme in some countries in which women are forced into slavery and other inhuman conditions. In other cases, women lose out to men in education and job opportunities.
In professional sports like tennis, the prize money in the women’s tournament is still a few notches lower than that of men’s. I don’t know about the situation in the Philippines but men lord it over in Hollywood in terms of capturing meaty roles and huge talent fees whatever the age of US male superstars.
Still, global leaders like United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon are upbeat about the future of women in a constantly changing world. During the March 8 International Women’s Day celebration in New York, the UN chieftain was effusive about the gains of women when he said, “We have shattered so many glass ceilings; we created a carpet of shards. Now we are sweeping away the assumptions and bias of the past so women can advance across new frontiers.”
The Philippines has made headway in mainstreaming gender and development but gender gaps remain a critical issue.
A report by the online news Rappler cited that in terms of governance, there are less women in leadership roles. For example, out of 24 senators, only 6 are women.
In the 289-seat House of Representatives, only 79 are women. Among elective local government posts, only 23% are women governors and 21% are women-mayors.
Gender and development is also a significant concern in the work force because of the prevailing gender disparity.
According to statistics by the Department of Labor and Employment, in 1998 there were 16.7 million male workers compared to 9.9 million women; in 2005 there were 19.9 million men workers compared to 12.4 women-workers; in 2013, the work force grew close to almost 39 million but the increase is marred by discrepancy: 23.2 million male workers compared to 14.97 women workers.
The situation compels the government and private partners to take a long and closer look at prevailing societal mores and conditions with respect to women’s rights in order to strike a 50-50 numerical balance as a way of closing the gender gap. The co-operative movement is guided by a CDA circular that aims to institutionalize gender and development in self-help enterprises.
The gender gap in the Philippines indicates that society has failed to harness the power of women in terms of their knowledge and collective action to achieve sustainable development. This is lamentable in the sense that global leaders have acknowledged the impact of women in environmental concerns, governance, economic and social issues.
This is notable in a number of cooperatives all over the country. I have seen a lot of remarkable co-ops run by women aided by men who are not afraid to listen, adapt and grow with women in high places. This is evident in the Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative, a highly diversified agricultural coop under the helm of Ellen Limocon. The lady CEO is backed by the board of directors led by a gentleman, Delfin Tuquib. As I write this article, Ellen was on her way to present her coop’s best practices in GAD programs. Tagum Cooperative which is led by Norma “Normskie” Pereyras is also a showcase coop in terms of women empowerment.
On the obverse side, I have also seen co-operatives run by competent men working in parallel with diligent women who provide male decision makers with excellent administrative work and practical insights that only gifted women can do. I can cite ACDI Multipurpose Cooperative with whom I have had some engagements.
I am moved to say that GAD is about charity, respect for the human person and service for others. Transformative and sustainable growth can only happen if both men and women respect and value their respective roles in society and commit to serve under the guidance of cooperative principles.
For failing the harness the power of women in development, the Philippines is missing the boat.
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