Indigenous women’s voices in Ifugao and Kalinga
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...
Updated Handbook on Philippine Legislation for Women and Children
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...
Covid-19 impact to women in the Cordillera
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...
Advocacy Publications
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...
A Women’s Anthology of Songs, Poems, and Stories
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...
Ti Parabur a Manangguddua: Komiks Basar iti Kapadasan ti Umili ti Kordilyera iti Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)
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....
Weaving Indigenous Women’s Empowerment as Human Rights Defenders
Foreword It's not completely a new initiative. What makes this journey unique, however, is the utilization of positive aspects of customary institutions and values as avenues to promote indigenous women's rights. It was a painstaking journey of human rights awareness and capacity building of indigenous women in 26 communities of Sagada and Bontoc, Mountain Province in the Cordillera region and in the municipalities of Alabel and Malapatan in Saranggani Province in Mindanao, from the last quarter of 2010 to 2013. It was an empowering experience for the participants who face human rights...
Corporatization of water and wind in Mt. Province
Years before, the winds in Sagada gave off the sound of rustling pine needles, the wings and songs of birds, and the fresh smell of the forest. Hardly did anyone think that soon enough, the wind would bring with itself the metallic sound of the spinning turbines of a wind farm. Hardly anyone thought that it would bring the sound of heavy machinery drilling and digging, the sound of the earth being savaged in the name of progress, the sound of trees falling, and the stench of chemicals spilling. Hardly anyone, except for PhilCarbon president Ruth Yu-Owen and her supporters. PhilCarbon and the...
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...