by CWEARC | Jul 2, 2026
In this issue of Kali: Voices of Indigenous Women, we intend to update advocates of Indigenous women’s rights and the general public on specific domains of the women’s situation in the Cordillera. We hope to regularize and expand this content in the upcoming issues of Kali starting this year, to cover other aspects of women’s issues in the socio-economic, political, and cultural spheres, and to include the other provinces and Baguio City.
The information shared in this issue come from Indigenous women in the provinces of Ifugao (specifically, barangays Tupaya and Dulao in the municipality of Lagawe, Banga in the municipality of Lamut) and Kalinga (specifically, barangays Apatan and Limos in the municipality of Pinukpuk). We gathered the data in 2024 and 2025. Our outputs included (1) a policy brief exploring the links between gender-based violence and environmental issues in Apatan and Limos, and (2) a gender analysis report on Tupaya and Dulao. We now share these outputs in this issue of Kali which is a collaboration with Innabuyog.
The five barangays cited above are affected by large-scale energy applications, including the project to develop the Alimit Hydropower Complex in Ifugao
and the projects to dam the Saltan river in Kalinga. The implementation of the said projects has been stalled because of the resistance of the affected Indigenous communities. In the FPIC processes for both the Alimit and Saltan projects, the women participated actively and registered their opposition, outrightly denying the projects their consent.
The women of Apatan and Limos belong to the Limos tribe of the Kalinga Indigenous group. The women of Tupaya and Dulao largely belong to the Ayangan Indigenous group.
In our data gathering, we looked into access and control of assets and resources, power, representation and decision-making, environmental pressures and threats, and vulnerabilities. The women of Apatan and Limos articulated needs and aspirations as well as actionable recommendations.
We found positive aspects of local custom that enabled Indigenous women’s empowerment – for example, in regard to the ownership of land and other
resources. We found that there was no gender bias in inheritance rights; rather, inheritance among the Ayangan was determined by order of birth, and among the Kalinga, by the contribution of each offspring to working the land.
We also found, however, areas needing fundamental change, such as in the resolution of cases of violence against women (VAW). Kalinga respondents shared that women in their communities maximized mechanisms available in the barangay or municipal government, and in the Department of Social Welfare Development (DSWD), whenever VAW cases could not be resolved by the community’s elders and the families of the victims and the perpetrators. The practice of resorting to amicable settlement prevailed among both the Kalinga and the Ayangan, unjustly reducing the issue of VAW to a pecuniary matter. State VAW was also documented among the Kalinga respondents, who experienced redtagging and harassment from the Philippine Army encamped in their communities.
CWEARC and Innabuyog support the specific recommendations conveyed by the Indigenous women who took part in the two research endeavors. We
emphasize the need to promote Indigenous values and practices that empower women in terms of resource ownership and access, leadership and decision making. We also emphasize that amicable settlement of VAW cases must be challenged and disallowed, because this always favors the perpetrators and never the victims. Available mechanisms in government structures and domestic laws must be made known to the communities – especially the women – by the relevant government agencies.
We are indebted to the German Embassy in Manila for supporting the research carried out in Kalinga; the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) and the
International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) for supporting the research done in Ifugao; the Equality Fund for supporting the publication of this issue of Kali.
To request for your copies, please send us a message at cwearc@cwearc.org and info@cwearc.org and kindly answer this form. Thank you! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe90EN_rBs9MqMgxqSNqeeeA75YtwJT6tCzVQxDQeGdC9AYBA/viewform?usp=header
by CWEARC | Jul 2, 2026
CWEARC first published the handbook on women’s laws in 2006. Since then, new laws for the protection of women and children in the Philippines were passed in Congress and enacted. We owe it to the vibrant women’s movement in the Philippines that these laws were enacted, and we also owe it to our champions in Congress for making sure that the house bills were fought for, until these were eventually passed. Specifically, we acknowledge and laud the Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) for being the voice of women in the House of Representatives since 2004. GWP authored and supported landmark laws for women and children’s right such as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, Magna Carta of Women (RA 9710), Expanded Maternity Leave Law (RA 11210), Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Law (RA 11861), Occupational Safety and Health Standards Law (RA 11058), Safe Spaces Act (RA 11313) and the Anti-Child Pornography Act (RA 9775).
In our engagement with communities, education on violence against women and the laws for the protection of women and children remain vital and relevant. The conversations and discussions we had with the women and their communities demonstrated the continuing need to facilitate empowerment on women’s rights, particularly laws for women. Similarly, we encountered persistent challenges, such as prevailing norms on VAW and rape. It is therefore of utmost significance that knowledge of the laws for women and children, as well as the services and remedies available to them, be urgently disseminated. At the same time, it is important to strengthen the existing laws — it is in this regard that we are including in this handbook highly relevant policy recommendations by distinguished bodies on women’s rights such as the Center for Women’s Rights (CWR), Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), UN Women, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and of course, GWP.
This handbook is intended for women’s organizations wherever, local government units especially at the barangay level, educators and advocates who tirelessly fight for women’s rights, particularly working for women’s access to justice and eliminating barriers to accessing justice.
IEC and knowledge sharing will continue to be our priorities in facilitating women’s empowerment. We are grateful to the International Work Group on
Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) for making this project possible.
To request for your copies, please send us a message at cwearc@cwearc.org and info@cwearc.org and kindly answer this form. Thank you! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe90EN_rBs9MqMgxqSNqeeeA75YtwJT6tCzVQxDQeGdC9AYBA/viewform?usp=header
by CWEARC | Dec 15, 2023
INTRODUCTION
The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) underscores that “most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment, while some will become seriously ill and require medical attention. Older people and those with underlying medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, or cancer are more likely to develop serious illnesses. Anyone can get sick with COVID-19 and become seriously ill or die at any age.”
The first suspected case in the Philippines was investigated on January 22, 2020, involving two Chinese nationals on vacation in the country.2 Barely Four months later, the first known Covid positive case in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was reported in May 2020—an overseas Filipino worker who arrived from the United Arab Emirates in his hometown in Manabo, Abra.3 By November 11, 2021, the Department of Health Cordillera Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) had reported a total of 92,221 Covid positive cases in CAR, with Benguet province having the highest number of active cases at 940.4 Disaggregated data according to sex is not available from official government records.
While it is true that the impact of the pandemic cuts across individuals from all walks of life, COVID-19 disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable, including Indigenous peoples, women, and children,5 with wellbeing, poverty, and hunger being core issues related to COVID-19’s impact. The Philippines was already among Asia’s poorest countries even before the pandemic. Towards the end of 2020, a quarter of Filipinos were living in poverty, surviving at USD 3 per day according to the World Bank.
In this light, the research explores the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on women in the Cordillera region, Philippines. Specifically, the study investigates reproductive health, food security and nutrition, mental health, gender relations, and culture based on existing knowledge and literature, observations, and expressed community needs. Knowledge gaps exist in observations and anecdotes, necessitating documented knowledge to address expressed and observed community needs. In addition, the research scrutinizes socio-political issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been leveraged for control. Finally, we want to unravel other dimensions of wellbeing encountered during the research process.
In this study, we align with the WHO definition of wellbeing as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” We particularly explore the disparate impact of the pandemic on women’s wellbeing, as it influences both the family’s wellbeing and the roles of women-both traditional and contemporary-in both family and society. The research focuses on the Cordillera region, home to Indigenous peoples belonging to 7 major ethnolinguistic groups collectively known as the Igorot (people of the mountain) Indigenous peoples. The Cordillera population is presently at 1.7 million, 48% of whom are women, or 100 women for every 104 men, according to latest data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
We capture the nature of the socio-economic aspects of COVID-19’s impact on women through the narratives of the participants in key informant interviews and focus group discussions.
To request for your copies, please send us a message at cwearc@cwearc.org.
by CWEARC | Jul 25, 2022
The following advocacy publications by CWEARC are still available:
Kali: Voice of Cordillera Women (Volume XIII No.1, December 2020). Cordillera Women’s Perseverance in the Struggle for Ancestral Land, Rights and Dignity (A Women’s Anthology of Poems, Songs and Stories)
Kali: Voice of Cordillera Women (Volume XIII No. 2, December 2020). The Ayyew-Ubbo-Vermiculture (AUV) Project: Good Practices and Lessons Learned
To request for your copies, please send us a message at info@cwearc.org. Copies are also available at the Indigenous Peoples Center near Burnham Park. We are happy to contribute copies to libraries in schools and universities.
by CWEARC | Dec 1, 2018
Editor’s Note
It has been fifteen years since the publication of the first volume of KALI, Voice of Cordillera Women. The first anthology echoed the Cordillera women’s recollection of the early struggles and their tributes to the victories of the pioneers of the Cordillera people’s movement, such as the participation of women against the Chico Dam and Cellophil Resources projects, and the ensuing burning issues of the early 2000s. The corruption and tyranny of the regimes that manifested as development aggression and militarization in the region were denounced by women writers, visual artists and musicians and they found their voice in Kali.
Much has transpired in the women’s movement in the Cordillera through those years from which we draw valuable lessons and insights. This trove of experiences and challenges has been translated into individual writers’ reflections and leaps; and collective dedication of communities and women’s organizations to the continuing pursuit of the aspiration of the women’s movement. Because development aggression still rears its ugly head and tyranny has fiercer fangs that preys on women, defense is much bolder now.
Women organizers in the indigenous people’s movement, women who work as staff in development programs, women who are mothers and income earners in communities, students who carry out cultural work in schools, have crafted their literary pieces, songs, stories, visual images as mirrors of their daily lives and involvement in the struggle for a better, humane society. Their aspirations are for a Cordillera and a country that practice and enjoy the fruits of self-determination in aspects of politics, economy and culture. In this period under a regime that spites human rights and reeks of misogyny and disregards the value of life, how is rage expressed by women who are not only the life source but also nurturers of generations? In this period of utmost deprivation and wanton disregard for right to life and security, how is resistance expressed by women who dare not remain on the sidelines but also take crucial tasks in the front lines? Women draw strength and courage from the heroism and selflessness of foremothers and ancestors who were not superwomen, but were able to combat fear, limitations and real enemies. The power to create, to transform, to reflect and act, to leave and break from the shackles of tradition and social limitations is a weapon that women in the Cordillera are learning to protect and utilize. The beauty is in the realization that they are validated by their fellow women in these perilous times, and supported by men who have deep understanding and appreciation of the women’s struggle. It is time once again to share the voice of Cordillera women to wider communities of readers. The poems, songs, personal essays and illustrations in this anthology are testimonies that we shall prevail, we shall not be daunted to express our fears and aspiration until true change has come to our Motherland.
by CWEARC | Jun 1, 2016
Pakauna
Daytos a komiks ket naglaon kadagiti istorya ken kapadasan dagiti nainsigudan a babbaie iti rehiyon Cordillera maipanggep iti Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), wenno popular iti termino a 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program), a kangrunaan nga ipagpagna ti Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Nagrugi ti badyet na daytoy iti P4 milyon idi 2007 para iti 6,000 a benepisyaryo.
Daytoy ti kangrunaan a programa nga ipanpannakil ti dua a nagsaruno nga administrasyon (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ken Benigno Aquino III), a mangrisut kanu ti kinakurapay dagiti umili a Pilipino. Ti kangrunaan a pokus ti 4Ps ket para iti edukasyon ken salun-at dagiti pamilya a napili.
Ti 4Ps ket inadaptar ti Pilipinas babaen iti duron ti World Bank (WB) ken Asian Development Bank (ADB) a kangrunaan a naggapuan ti pondo. Immuna a naipadas daytoy a programa idiay Latin American ken Africa sakbay nga inadaptar dagiti gobyerno iti Asia, mairaman ti Pilipinas. Sigun iti panagadal iti kapadasan ti Latin America ken Africa, maysa daytoy a dole-out; programa a nangiyaw-awan kadagiti pudno a pangkasapulan ti umili a nabayag nga inlablaban da kas iti pudno a reporma iti daga ken agrikultura, natalged a pagtrabahoan, ken naan-anay a sweldo.
Daytoy a komiks ket nakabasar kadagiti istorya manipud kadagiti workshops ken focused grouped discussion kadagiti babbai idiay Kalinga, Apayao, Montanyosa, Abra ken Baguio manipud idi 2012. Ti inisyal a report, “The Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) in the Cordillera from the Perspective of Indigenous Women” ket naipresentar idi naisayangkat ti Cordillera Development Conference idi Nobyembre 2013. Ti Proceedings ti komperensya ket naiparuar. Napabaknang ti inisyal a report babaen iti nagtultuloy a dokumentasyon kadagiti kapadasan dagiti benepisyaryo ken saan a benepisyaryo iti 4Ps.
