OUR PROGRAMS

ABOUT US

The Cordillera Women’s Education Action, Research Center (CWEARC) is a grassroots-oriented, not-for-profit and non-government organization providing support to various Cordillera women’s formations through capacity building, evidence-based advocacy, direct social and economic services.

ABOUT US

The Cordillera Women’s Education Action, Research Center (CWEARC) is a grassroots-oriented, not-for-profit and non-government organization providing support to various Cordillera women’s formations through capacity building, evidence-based advocacy, direct social and economic services.

ABOUT US

The Cordillera Women’s Education Action, Research Center (CWEARC) is a grassroots-oriented, not-for-profit and non-government organization providing support to various Cordillera women’s formations through capacity building, evidence-based advocacy, direct social and economic services.

UPDATES

Holiday Greetings!

Honoring women human rights defenders in the Cordillera

In commemoration of International Women Human Rights Day (November 29), the 16-Day Campaign to End Violence against Women (IDEVAW) and International Human Rights Day (December 10), the Cordillera Women’s Education, Action Research Center (CWEARC) together with the Women Working for Justice and Peace (JAPNET) organized a tribute to women human rights defenders in the Cordillera on December 12, 2021. The tribute honored Women of Courage for their steadfast commitment for indigenous peoples’ rights, women’s rights and social justice in the region. The event especially paid tribute to...

False Accusations, Persecution and Imprisonment of Indigenous Women

Rachel Mariano and Betty Belen, indigenous women and human rights advocates share their incarceration stories due to trumped-up charges and evidence. The cause of their persecution is clear: they defend their ancestral lands. Because of their activities, their families and communities also suffer the impacts of prison. At present, both leaders have currently been released and continue to fight against the development projects of transnational companies in a context of escalating attacks against the indigenous peoples of the country. Rachel Mariano is a member of the indigenous...

Kicking off women’s month with women’s harvest, art, and artisanship

Cordillera Women’s Education, Action Research Center, (CWEARC) Inc. launched Paglilikha Art Exhibit and Binnadang Para Isnan Kataguan Trade Fair on March 8 in celebration of International Women’s Month. The two simultaneous activities that showcase Cordillera women’s harvest, art, and artisanship lasts for a month. The events are guided by the theme “Babbai Ti Kordilyera, Sumikad Para Iti Daga, Karbengan, Pangkabiagan Ken Salun-at (Women of the Cordillera rise for land, rights, livelihood and well-being).” ‘Binnadang’ through a trade fair Binnadang Para Isnan Kataguan aims to provide a venue...

Urban Gardening: Growing Herbs and Vegetables

I started urban gardening many years ago by planting several vegetables, herbs and ornamentals using both practical and traditional knowledge and experimenting. Growing up in the province exposed me to gardening—I do not hesitate to hold and mix the soil for pots and other recyclable materials at home. With a limited space of about 100 square meters, my plants were arranged closely—vegetables and fruit-bearing trees such as lemon, orange, guyabano, coffee, guava and papaya were planted for disaster preparedness and to mitigate landslides during typhoons. The Ayyew-Ubbo Network which I...

Gardening in the time of a pandemic: Baguio’s urban vegetable lifeline

The health crisis and imposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) due to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) unmasked not only the shortcomings in the Philippines’ health system but also exposed the urgency of addressing issues in food security. The ECQ’s implementation displaced most low-income families from their livelihood and have no means to buy food, even those who were able to set aside a little and have minimal income face difficulty in procuring food supply. This already difficult plight is worsened by the rising costs of vegetables and other commodities, and the...

CWEARC denounces PNP red tagging on Facebook

Cordillera Women’s Education Action Research Center, Inc. (CWEARC) denounces the red tagging and vilification of the Philippine National Police (PNP) through its Facebook pages “Pnp Rmfb Wolverines” and “Kapulisan ng Kalinga” on CWEARC’s campaign to support the frontliners in our country’s battle against the COVID-19 virus. On March 31, 2020, both pages posted a publication material that blatantly red tagged CWEARC. PNP grabbed CWEARC’s #TieARedRibbon poster and accused the campaign as a deceptive strategy of organizations affiliated with terrorist groups to ask for donations that they claim...

Annie’s Journey

“Annie” is a twenty-year-old Kankana-ey born and raised in Mankayan, Benguet. She comes from a family of seven, wherein she has her parents and her four younger siblings. Her parents are trying their best to make do with the meager wages that they earn from informal jobs. Despite their efforts, the pay they receive is not enough for their growing family. She migrated to Baguio and took a Bachelor’s Degree in Education at a university, hopeful of finding a job after her study. In her second year, Annie decided to forgo her studies and work as a call center agent. Her desire to help her family...

A call to action to the young indigenous women of the Cordillera

If you are like the vast majority, you probably haven’t heard of the ‘ball-squeezing’ and ‘breast-baring’ women who defended our ancestral lands from threats of unmerciful destruction. For that, you are not to blame because believe it or not, we have a state that is trying to revise our history of resistance. When remnants of our colonial past became a tool for those who have grown to feed off the capitalist world system, our ancestral lands became sources of profit for the few. Giant corporations partnered with the state to legitimize their plans for “development” in our ancestral lands –...

On the occasion of the 16-day campaign to end gender-based violence

On December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW). It also marks the beginning of the 16 days campaign to end gender-based violence which ends on December 10, designated as the International Human Rights Day which highlights the link between violence against women and human rights and emphasizes that such violence is violation of human rights. On December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence...

A Reflection on the Cordillera Women’s Human Rights Summit

The Cordillera Women`s Education Action Research Center and the All UP Academic Employees’ Union of the University of the Philippines-Baguio conducted the Regional Women’s Human Rights Summit in response to the relentless attacks against critics of the present administration, human rights defenders, including indigenous peoples and other marginalized sectors of the society. The summit made me see the blatant disregard of our leaders of the basic concepts of human rights, an evidence that an unjust system is reigning in the country. This also provoked me in writing this poem as my reflection...

An open letter to the wife, family, and friends of Brandon Lee

Our warmest solidarity greetings to all those who gave their support (moral, material and financial) to the family of Brandon in these times of great tribulation. Amid beeping life supports, bloodshot eyes from constant crying, endless questions from all over, the uncertainty of tomorrow, how long will you hang on? A month has passed, but an assurance of life has yet to come. You may be overwhelmed with a lot of emotions, but you choose to numb them to focus on the goal of holding on to the lifeline, one day at a time. You may have asked yourself for the nth time, why? Why him? Why Brandon...

Mental Health – a Societal Concern Essential to Women’s Well-being

October has been declared as World Mental Health Awareness Month by the World Health Organization (WHO). Awareness is really a key element in addressing this societal concern most especially that Mental Health is rarely discussed and studied and there is still considerable stigma and taboos on matters surrounding mental illnesses. Reports indicate that 17 to 20 percent of Filipino adults experience mental health disorders, while 10 to 15 percent of Filipino children, within the age group of 5 to 15 suffer the same. NSO accounts mental health illnesses as the third most common forms of...

A community’s grief and anxiety through children’s eyes

The usual road to Loacan from Ucab, Itogon, Benguet is now missing in maps and photos, defaced from the wrath of the September 15 heavy downpour that saturated the soil and followed the law of gravity. The new route is via Sabkil, offering us distant views of Ucab and Loacan whose mountains bear scars from the recent onslaught, and unseen reminders of a century of mining. After a 45-minute ride through Ambuklao Road, past landslides that were being cleared, we held our collective breath and kept our wits in place, fear disguised in nervous laughter as the hired jeepney descended down the...

The embodiment of a frenzied Misogynist

MISOGYNY is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women”. It is a word that aptly describes the persona of today’s president PRRD. President Duterte since his ascension to power never hid his hatred for women. Two years from the time he took over the presidency of this country, we are able to compile a number of his infamous statements, inexcusable behaviour and actions that undeniably characterizes him as a “bona fide” misogynist. His first prey when he first sat as president was former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima when he made a...

Understanding discrimination and violence vs women

Violence Against Women (VAW) in its different forms are gender-based abuses that target women in particular because of how they are viewed in society. It is one of the most palpable manifestations of women’s unequal status in relation to men in our society. Although VAW is usually perpetrated by males, it must be clear that VAW happens not because of the ridiculous belief that men are naturally violent and aggressive. The problem has its origin in our history, when the subjugation of women emerged in our society. It is systemic and deeply entrenched in the socio-cultural and political...

Reclaim the Genuine Tradition of International Women’s Day

March 8 of every year, International women’s day is celebrated by women all over the world. The United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day during the promulgation of International Women’s Year in 1975. By 1977, the United Nations General Assembly called on its member states to declare March 8 as the UN Day for women’s rights and world peace. For the UN and member states, this day marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. March 8, women’s day, however was originally international working women’s day. Before UN countries began adopting this as women’s day in 1975,...

Retracing the True Beginnings of IDEVAW

November 25 marks a very important date for women the world over. Waves of critical events transpired on this particular date bringing to the fore violence against women as a legitimate societal concern in turn engendering awareness towards this issue. On December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated this date as International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (IDEVAW). Since then, UN member states begun celebrating this date defining strategies “to end violence against women, empower women, and achieve gender equality”. However, it is not really to UN’s...

Real Essence of IDEVAW, Upholding the Fight vs State Violence

The United Nations (U.N.) estimated that in 2012 over half of the murdered women were killed by their partners or family members, and that 120 million girls worldwide have been forced to have sex at some point in their lives. In the Philippines, statistics on violence against women and children are also high. In 2013, the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) reported that 1 in 5 Filipino women had experienced physical violence since aged 15; while 6% had experienced sexual violence. 1 out of 4 married women experienced emotional, physical, or sexual violence perpetrated by husbands....

Against All Odds: Women Journalists in the Frontline

(A Keynote address delivered by Kathleen T. Okubo, member of CWEARC's Board of Trustees, on the 37th biennial conference of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), November 9-11, 2017, in Quezon City. The theme of the 3-day conference: Broadcasting and Social Justice: Women in the Media on Conflict and Crises.) Ladies, women of the world, colleagues in media work, and gentlemen; Naimbag a bigat yo amin! (Good morning! In my region of the Philippines.) Apparently, we are here to confer about the world as women in the profession of broadcasting particularly, and...

Defending the Rights of the People, Women and Children

“If we stop defending our rights because of fear from the harassments and intimidation being perpetrated by state security forces upon us then we might as well be dead.” This was a statement by one of the women leaders who attended the Women Human Rights Defenders training workshop for Cordillera women held on September 9 to 10 in Diliman, Quezon City. Spearheaded by Cordillera Womens Education Action Research Center (CWEARC) and Innabuyog, 60 women leaders and organizers from the six Cordillera provinces gathered together in the training workshop who vowed to safeguard and protect their...