Cordillera women wage battle vs. profit driven energy projects
BAGUIO CITY – In celebration of the International Women’s Day, women from all over the region gathered in this city for a summit to amplify their position against profit-driven energy projects that has destroyed and are threatening their land, food and rights. The testimonies of women from provinces affected by the said projects on March 8, 2014 speak of an old story that says: “Maibus iti kuwarta, ngem saan iti daga; Ti bunga iti daga awan ti patinggana ay ay; Kakailian kitaen yo, saan tayo a paloko; Umanay a pagsarmingan, nakalkaldaang kapadasan ay ay… Iti biag mi ket simple, pagan-anu mi...
Indigenous Women: Defending land and resources against Chevron’s geothermal project
Executive Summary The study is aimed at strengthening the affirmative actions of local indigenous women leaders and their organizations. This is done through a framework where the local indigenous women leaders are involved in the entire process of the research. It is a process where the researcher is working "with" the community rather than working "for" the community. It is a process which empowers both the participants and the researcher. It is a research process that has a bias in favor of the poor, oppressed, and struggling women. The study presents the important role of indigenous...
Tanglag rice mill: A symbol of indigenous peasant women’s empowerment
Empowered are the indigenous peasant women of Sitio Liglig, Tanglag in Lubuagan, Kalinga who have defined and asserted their role in their community’s development through a socio-economic project despite the reality where there is low regard to women in their tribal community. Sitio Liglig is a tribal community where men are recognize as the ones working for the betterment of the village. It was even a taboo for this community that a woman participates in community decision making and discussions during meetings. Just like most of the tribal communities in the Cordillera, women are just...
Changing the lives of Mabaca indigenous peasants and women through the power from water
Rice mill and cooperative is the most requested project in the remote areas in the Cordillera region where rice is the primary crop. This is because shortage is often experienced given the situation that rice farms are limited to about 0.2 hectares per family in the Cordillera interiors. Most of the communities produce rice once a year thus, it is only able to produce the rice needs of the family from 2-4 months. There is rice shortage but at the same time there is a need for a rice mill. Farmers’ organizations, especially women see the rice mill as a tool to unburden them from the...
Effective waste management through indigenous knowledge and appropriate technology
“If we are to study closely where the city’s generated waste come from, especially the nonbiodegradable, it is from the export processing zones and big business establishments.” Daisy Bagni of SAMAKANA and ORNUS. The City of Baguio faces a mammoth problem on how to manage its garbage. The city’s garbage is reaching 130 tons per day (Ramo, Northern Dispatch, 2008) and P20 million (US$479,628.00) is needed by the City for its material recovery facilities (Baguio Midland Courier, 2008). In 2008, the City Government has been spending P20 million (US$479,628.00) per month in hauling garbage to...
Climate Change and Indigenous Women in Traditional Agricultural Communities in the Cordillera Region, Philippines
Introduction Indigenous communities are basically agricultural or peasant communities. An important indicator telling of change in an indigenous peasant women’s life is her family’s harvest or agricultural produce. In the phenomenon of climate change, an indigenous peasant woman would refer to a decrease to her family’s harvest to describe the environmental changes. Hence, it is important for every indigenous peasant woman to be keen of her family’s produce or harvest. This is a knowledge she learned from her long engagement of the land and the environment. Her tutors in agriculture...