May 28, 2021 — JUANAs are trying to adapt their way during this pandemic. Adaptation is by no means perfect, but when lives are upended by a catastrophe, survival is a must for self, family, and country.

The theme of Women’s Month 2021 reflects this drive. “Juana Laban Sa Pandemya: Kaya!” Chosen by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), it is both a rallying cry and a reminder to the flagging spirits of our people: “You are not alone. We are here. Women have always held up half of the Philippines. Together, we will survive.” 

And so, as the first salvo of that reminder and cry, Women’s Month 2021 at UP Manila was opened with a bang by the Center for Gender and Women Studies (CGWS) and the Gender and Development Committees of the units. Their Guest Speakers for the Opening Ceremony embodied what Dir. Leilanie Apostol-Nicodemus said in her message, “someone who can give us strength and inspiration during this time”: Honorable Maria Leonor Robredo (Vice President of the Philippines) and Ms. Jill Javiniar (Angat Buhay head, Office of the Vice President). The projects for the country by the OVP and its Angat Buhay Program, before and during the pandemic, are testaments  to what visionary female leadership can do to uplift people despite a limited government budget and misogynistic behavior. 

Chancellor Carmencita Padilla, in her message, gave a background to what women face during the COVID-19 pandemic: Women are the ones mostly affected; they face job loss much more than men because they are over-represented in jobs hardest hit by the pandemic; they shoulder much of the burden at home, while facing increasing domestic violence; and they experience anxiety and depression like everyone. 

In the Philippines, women are at the center of the COVID-19 response. Almost 70% are health workers; while the rest are administrators, educators, researchers, lab personnel, volunteers, organizers, facilitators, and community workers. Add to this some of the realities stated above, Chancellor Padilla continued.

“My dream is for a time when we don’t have to set aside a month for gender equality. We at UP Manila are moving towards that. But such is not the same in other areas: the pandemic made women’s access to quality services and availment of their rights more difficult. We must continue to be vigilant to make information and advocacy campaigns to make change work for women.” 

Vice President Robredo outlined what positive leadership can do: leaders who are competent and compassionate, empowering and nurturing, collaborative, and strategic get things moving in times of crisis. She cited, as examples, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s compassionate and collective leadership in New Zeland; Chancellor Angela Merkel’s data-driven approach in developing policy which is key in far lower death rate in Germany than its neighbors; and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen’s dignified approach in one of the most successful control of COVID-19 without going into full lockdown. 

She addressed grumbles of some Filipinos that issues of women and gender should be set aside during the pandemic. This must not happen because women bear the disproportionate brunt of the pandemic’s impact. In fact, they take even greater urgency today. “Progress has always depended on ensuring that those in the margins, including women, cannot only survive but also thrive,” she said. “We must empower the last, the least, and the lost; and harness them into a tide that lifts all boats.” 

She emphatically stated that the glass ceiling keeping people (especially women) disadvantaged can be broken, “but we need more of us to do the work.” As illustration, she said that her OVP and its Angat Buhay Program have seen first hand how the private and government sectors can work together to create meaningful changes for women. 

VP Robredo ended her message with this: “Today’s celebration is proof of what is possible, because we are not alone. There are many of us who are working for a truly better normal, one that is truly inclusive, that is truly equitable, that truly empowers women. With institutions and advocates like you, I have faith that this better normal is close at hand.” 

Ms. Jill Javiniar’s part on how the Angat Buhay Program works is the perfect foil to the messages of VP Robredo and Chancellor Padilla.

 Angat Buhay is the anti-poverty flagship of the OVP. It began in 2016. Through it, public and private sectors address the needs of the farthest and poorest sectors of the Philippines. As of March, it has reached around 2,089 communities, serving more than 341,000 families and more than 221,000 individuals. It worked with 617 private partner organizations and mobilized about 564 M worth of resources. 

OVP and its Angat Buhay partners help people in 6 key advocacy areas: Women Empowerment, Rural Development, Food Security and Nutrition, Public Education, Universal Health Care, and Housing and Resettlement. 

Its “modes of engagement” with people in fighting poverty are through Disaster Response and Rehabilitation, Angat Buhay Youth, Angat Buhay Women, OVP Caravan, and Sustainable Livelihood and Development. “We try to make our work sustainable and impact-driven as we know our term is limited. We make sure that the communities we help have programs that they can sustain on their own,” she explained. 

Like all very good programs, Angat Buhay works with (not at or on) the communities and their Local Government Units or LGUs as well as any private sectors in their areas; from identifying problems and solutions, to looking for partners who can help with the solutions, to co-implementing the programs with the communities. It has Monitoring and Evaluation Teams which go back and assess how the programs have impacted the people and how they can be further sustained. It is cooperation all throughout, with a win-win mindset for all. 

The Opening Ceremony ended with the announcement of all the online activities prepared by the UP Manila units and their Gender and Development Committees. These are the PGH Free Mammography, Breast, and Cervical Screenings; HIV Screening from the PGH Sagip Unit; “The Super Juanas of PGH: A Showcase of all Women Frontliners” via the hospital’s HDTV; PGH’s Virtual Launching of MOVE: Men Opposed to Violence Everywhere @HDTV; College of Pharmacy webinars (“HIV in Covid Times: Women Choose to Challenge”, “Women and the Economy of Survival”, “Ang Babae Bilang Diviner sa Panahon ng Krisis”, “Harana ng Tiklado Para sa Kababaihan”); CAS webinar (“Mga Natatanging Babaeng Bayani ng Kamaynilaan sa Panahon ng Himagsikan”); HRDO webinar (“Developing Self-Confidence for Women”); and, Women’s Month Closing Ceremony/Awarding of Gawad Dakilang Babae.

Fedelynn Jemena  |  Published in UP Manila Healthscape Special COVID-19 Issue No. 27