Page 10 - Empowerment and Protection - The Philippines

”I ind it ironic that some countries that come across as
rich and abusive
on the one hand, continue to provide development aid on the other.”
point of awareness wherein they were raising issues on sexist language, work hours and the like, within the legislative branch.
Our legislative work also prepared us to work even with the opposition. The practical beneit of linking with the opposition is a smoother process. By having them informed on the issues and processes, we got a better grasp of the questions they’d raise, and where they were coming from. Such work emphasised the need to always be consultative
and meet with people and allow them to make the decision themselves.
Public participation and empowerment
Ultimately, people should be involved in the solution. They should know the dimensions of their situation and enabled to act for themselves. The purpose is not to make them angry but to seek and develop solutions to the issues. We saw the need
to demystify the lawmaking process to the people and educate them. We had the people attending sessions and consultations and showing them the details that were important.
In our legislative advocacy we made use of
other methods of educating people, such as the audio-visual presentation entitled ‘WE ARE SO SYNDICATED’, a video tape used to educate and raise general consciousness on women traficking overall. Such innovative processes, for those times, helped spark initiatives to address these issues on a larger scale, and educated a wider audience. Such efforts stressed the importance of involving the
Local Government Unit at the lowest levels.
Many of our population have no access to the law, another factor for insecurity. People will be more willing to defend their environment, their livelihood sources, even their homeland if they know what they can legally do. This situation provides another venue to educate the people, learn about laws, legal options, securing necessary writs and orders. It teaches people how to go up against the rich even in the big and developed countries. It teaches them about their legal options and the mechanisms they can use to protect themselves through legal writs, injunctions and orders.
Even now, I continue to look at all factors causing or impacting poverty. I see the value of education such as family development sessions. They have led to better discipline, and taught members the value of education, health, family and children. I have learned that people begin to address value issues only after they are able to establish a more stable way of life with less insecurity.
looking to the future
I think we all need to rethink globally the issues that require global intervention. Some things can be addressed locally, but other dimensions, like traficking in persons, require all our attention. There must be a strengthening of our global-wide response mechanisms to address unfair global trade rules for example, which in turn affect other issues. We must begin to discuss how the global dynamics are inluenced by various forces, and in so being become unfair to the rest of us.
I ind it ironic that some countries that come across as rich and abusive on the one hand, continue to provide development aid on the other. We have donors who are strong on gender here, but in
their home country there are mining concerns that exploit women as well as communities. Despite this, we still need to engage them; our intent is to challenge them on their inconsistency. Overall, we must realise that issues like traficking themselves are not solved by simply removing the traficker. There are many connected points as to vulnerabilities and insecurities of the people. It is our responsibility to expose and link these.
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