A Glimpse into Gender and UEM in the Philippines Presented at the Networking Workshop on UEM Womens

1
A Glimpse into Gender and UEM in the
PhilippinesPresented at the Networking Workshop
on UEM Womens Organizations in Southeast Asia,
CIDA/AIT Partnership /SEA-UEMA Project and the
Vietnam National Institute for Urban and Rural
PlanningHanoi, Vietnam

• Roselle Leah K Rivera2005 January
• Department of Women and Development
  StudiesCollege of Social Work and Community
  DevelopmentUniversity of the Philippines,
  Diliman, Quezon CityPHILIPPINES

2
Presentation Flow

• The Context
• PATAY! The Bad News Overview of Womens
  Situation in the Philippines
• BUHAY! The Good News Potentials in the
  Philippine Landscape
• Gender in UEM in the Philippines
• Pushing for Gender Equality Promising Starting
  Points in Philippine Experience

3
THE CONTEXT

• The Philippines is an archipelago of 7100 islands
  with 300,000 square kms land area
• RP ranks 14 most populous in the world 77.2
  million people ( 2001)
• 34 of the population live below the poverty
  threshold

4
The Context

• The poorest 40 of its population receive only
  14 while the richest 20 receive 52 of the
  countrys household income.
• gtPhilippine Human
  Development Report, 2002
• The Philippines is still FAR BEHIND in meeting
  the first Millennium Development Goal of
  eradicating poverty and hunger

5
The Bad News

• RP has the highest maternal mortality rate (MMR)
  in Southeast Asia.
• RP has an MMR of 170 compared to Thailand at 44
  and Vietnam at 95 in the same period.
• 
  gt UNDP Report 2002
• RP has one of the highest population growth
  rates. Fertility rate of 3.5 births per woman in
  2003 in the Philippines is still higher than the
  levels observed in SEA countries. Brunei,
  Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam average less than
  2.5 children per woman.

6
The Bad News

• The Philippines has the lowest budget in
  education among ASEAN countries. Education
  spending in the Philippines only averaged to a
  measly 2.9 of the countrys GNP.

7
Potentials in the Philippine Landscape

• The Philippines has made significant inroads in
  empowering women and advancing gender equality.
• 1987 Philippine Constitution affirms womens
  equality with men.
• RP has a PDPW ( Philippine Plan for Women
  1989-1992) and a PPGRD ( Philippine Plan for
  Gender Responsive Development 1995-2005).

8
The Good News

• RP is a signatory to
• 1979 CEDAW convention
• 1994 International Conference on Population
  and Development
• 1995 Beijing Platform for Action
• Recently passed laws
• 2003 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act
• 2004 Anti Violence against Women and Children Act

9
The Good News

• Gender empowerment measure (GEM) is the highest
  in East Asia.
• Philippines has the highest proportion of female
  graduates in Southeast Asia.

10
The Good News

• Women constitute 35 of administrators and
  managers (one of the highest in the world)
• gt UNDP Human
  Development Report 2002
• Women occupy 17.2 of all legislative seats while
  2/3 of professional and technical workers are
  women.

11
The Good News

• Very vibrant Womens movement in the Philippines
• Involvement of pro women advocates in addressing
  practical and strategic concerns of women
• GOs and NGOs with integrated programs for men and
  women with womens components in their programs
• All-womens groups of various shades of feminism
  national or local government agencies ---
  active in pushing and promoting for gender
  equality in the private and public sphere

12
Air Pollution

• Total suspended particulates (TSP)
• Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
• Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
• Ozone (O3)
• Carbon Monoxide ( CO)
• Lead ( Pb)
• Over the decades, the Air Quality Management
  Section and the Environmental Monitoring Sections
  of the regional offices of the Environmental
  management Bureau ( EMB) has only consistently
  monitored TSP.

13
Air Pollution

• Metromanila has been cited by the Asian
  Development Bank as among the shameful ten most
  polluted in the World. (1999)
• Motorized transport is responsible for 70 of
  total pollutants in Metromanila ( ADB,1999)
• 750,000 people die prematurely every year due to
  transport related emissions. (World Bank, 2000)

14
Air Pollution

• 1999 Philippine Clean Air Act 90 of IRR
  created is concerned about regulation and
  monitoring of stationary and mobile emissions.
• Gender Differentiated studies related to air
  pollution has not been explored nor conducted in
  the country.

15
Water and Sanitation

• A decade ago, 68 of the total Phil population
  had access to potable water supply systems. The
  rest of the 32 percent get their water from
  sources of doubtful quality, such as rivers,
  rain, pond collectors and open dug wells.

16
Water and Sanitation

• In a baseline survey of communities all over
  the Philippines by an international development
  organization
• 33 of families were without sufficient potable
  water all year round
• 78 of families dispose of excreta in sanitary
  manner
• Only 7.6 adapt good hygienic practices
• gtPLAN Philippines, 2004

17
Water and Sanitation

• Despite 7 out of 10 families in these areas
  having access to water and environmental
  sanitation systems, only 1 family was found to be
  adopting good hygienic practices. ( PLAN
  Philippines, 2004)

18
Water and Sanitation

• The Water Quality Management Bureau of the
  Environment Management Board , as well as the
  Local Water utilities Administration which is
  tasked with the regulation and distribution of
  sanitary water systems in the nation, admits to
  lacking gender-specific studies on water and
  sanitation. Specific studies still have to be
  made in the Philippine setting.

19
Solid Waste Management

• Metromanila generates 5,565 tons of solid waste
  in 1993
• In 1995, it amounted to 6,102 in the metropolis.
• By year 2014, it is projected to increase to
  13,300 tons per day
• gtPhilippine Environmental Quality
  Report 1995

20
Solid Waste Management

• The current rate of collection of domestic waste
  in Metromanila is at 85 efficiency or to an
  equivalent of 5,187 tons per day. The remaining
  15 uncollected waste or TPD are burned, thrown
  into esteros and canals and deposited in esteros

21
Solid Waste Management

• In September 2004, former DENR Secretary Elisea
  Gozun herself lamented that to date, the Republic
  Act 9003 or the Solid Waste Management Act has
  not been fully implemented.
• Despite the civil and criminal penalty, most
  of the LGUs and ordinary citizens continue to
  ignore the laws and collect unsegregated wastes,
  maintain open dumpsites, and allow littering and
  dumping of garbage in creeks, rivers and
  waterways.

22
Solid Waste Management

• Like the other 2 issues, the EMB has no
  specific studies on gender-differentiated impact
  of Solid Waste Management. A few studies cite
  womens role in waste management and collection
  in the household level.

23
Pushing for Gender Equality

• Republic Act 7192
• Women in Development and Nation Building Act
• In support of the full benefits of gender
  responsive planning, external and domestic
  resources shall be increasingly mobilized by
  national and local agencies to support programs
  and projects for women.
• Executive Order 273
• All GOs,departments,bureaus,offices,
  instrumentalities,government controlled agencies
  at national and local levels must incorporate GAD
  concerns in their annual budget proposals, work
  as well as financial plans.
• General Appropriations Act Section 28
• A Government agencys total budget appropriation
  must allocate at least 5 to gender issues