An old adage says, “What men can do, women can also do it, even better.”

Such is the case of four women from a small village in Conner, Apayao, who dispelled the image of women as the weaker gender when they led the construction of a women’s center in their town.

Thanks to the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), which paved the way for the women of Cupis to prove their mettle.

Setting the change

Cupis is one of the 21 barangays of Conner, Apayao, and a second-class municipality that has been implementing Kalahi-CIDSS since 2012, under the funding of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and through the Millennium Challenge Account Philippines.

Kalahi–CIDSS is a community-driven development (CDD) program that helps alleviate poverty by capacitating people so they will have the opportunity to identify, implement, and manage community projects and resources that will address their most pressing needs.

Through the CDD, community residents are encouraged to participate in all aspects of the project implementation from planning process, proposal development, construction estimates, community finance, and to procurement.

Skills training are given to the residents to prepare and empower them in managing, as well as sustaining the project.

The community projects identified by the citizens usually come in the form of small-scale infrastructure projects that address basic social service needs, such as school buildings, day care centers, health centers, pathways, rice or corn mills, or electrification projects.

Kalahi-CIDSS also seeks to improve local governance by tightening the ties between local government units (LGUs), and communities so that they can work together to ensure sustainable local development, even after the program.

Since the first year of Kalahi-CIDSS implementation in Conner, a big change in the community has been noted, beginning with the empowerment of women.

The challenge as women leaders

In Conner, the men used to be regarded as the only capable leaders. This timeworn norm, however, is no longer the situation in the town.

“Noong sinimulan ang Kalahi dito, pinag-uusapan na nila ang posibilidad ng magkaroon ng mga kababaihang lider. Naisip namin na parang napakalaki itong hamon para sa aming mga kababaihan (When Kalahi started here, they were talking about engaging women as leaders. We always thought back then, that being a leader feels like it was a very big challenge for us women),” said Jocelyn C. Pascua, Barangay Sub-Project Management Committee (BSPMC) Chairperson.

“Sobrang pasasalamat ko nga po sa DSWD dahil sa sobrang dami ng mga trainings at seminars ng Kalahi . Ang laki po ng tiwala na binibigay ng mga tao sa akin. Maka-ilang beses na po akong nagpa-training ng weaving sa mga ibat-ibang grupo sa loob at labas ng Apayao (I am thankful to DSWD for all the opportunities, trust, and skills trainings provided to me through Kalahi-CIDSS. I have already served as resource person in various trainings on weaving within and outside Apayao),” Jocelyn said.

She also proudly shared that she was the vice-president of the Kalipi Women’s Organization in Cupis last year, and just this year, she represented Conner in the recent Women’s Month celebration.

“Lahat po ng kababaihan ay nagtataglay na nang kani-kanilang sariling lakas para mabago ang kanilang buhay nang dahil po sa Kalahi (All women here in Cupis are already empowered, all because of Kalahi ),” shared Lilia L. Andaya, another BSPMC Chairperson.

“Noon, talagang mga kalalakihan ang nasa posisyon. Ngayon, makikita na ‘yung balanse sa parehong gender. Hindi na issue ngayon ang taas ng pinag-aralan. Ngayon, nakadepende na sa puso at kung hanggang saan ang kaya mong gawin para makapagsilbi ka sa kapwa mo at sa bayan (Before, only the males were given positions of leadership.  Now, we have seen gender equality.  It is no longer an issue of educational attainment.  It now depends on the commitment to serve),” Lilia shared her thoughts on promoting gender equality through Kalahi – CIDSS.

Women’s center

Through the leadership of Jocelyn and Lilia as BSPMC chairpersons, they led other women and men in the implementation of their chosen CDD project, which was a women’s center.

With a P2.6-million gender incentive grant (GIG) from MCC plus the local counterpart contribution (LCC) of the local government unit of Conner, the 126-square meter women’s center was built.

As soon as they were able to complete the project, the women continued to plan and source out additional funds for the acquisition of materials and equipment, which they can use for the facility.

Today, various women’s groups in Conner are using the center for skills enhancement trainings.

“’Yung mga natutunan namin sa Kalahi-CIDSS, hindi natatapos sa Kalahi-CIDSS. Ngayon, alam na namin na mas marami pa kaming kayang gawin. Madami pa kaming pwedeng matutunan. Hindi kami pwedeng tumigil dahil lang babae kami. Kaming mga kababaihan ay parte rin ng komunidad, kaya’t may boses kami sa pagpapaunlad nito (What we learned from Kalahi-CIDSS goes beyond the program.  We realized that there are still many things to learn and explore.  We should not stop learning just because we are women. We will continue the change that we have started. We are a part of the community, thus, we should work at improving our lives),” Lilia said, sharing her commitment for change.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said that women like Jocelyn and Lilia if given the right opportunity can also become leaders in their own right.

“This is the essence of inclusive growth. All sectors, from children to older persons, can take part in nation building and become part of development,” Sec. Soliman added. ###