An official from the Davao City Integrated Gender and Development Division (IGDD) said that women from all the city’s barangays and partners had a fruitful discussion during the Women’s Summit held at Grand Menseng Hotel on March 4, 2024.
The 24th Women’s Summit was themed “Kababayen-an Kusganong Ipadayag ang Kakayahan, Taliwala sa mga Hulga sa Panahon”.
Davao City IGDD Head Lorna Mandin, during the I-Speak media forum, bared that three subsectors were given focus during the Summit – economic, political, and environment.
Mandin said that for the economic subsector, among the topics discussed were inflation and poverty, politics included the various stands on Anti-and Pro-Charter Change efforts, and for environmental concerns, discussed were ways forward for the proper implementation of solid waste management.
“We have resolutions finalized and gihatag na namo sa Office of the Vice Mayor and Office of the City Mayor for possible legislation (We have resolutions finalized and we already gave the copy to the Office of the Vice Mayor for possible legislation),” she said.
Mandin said that possible legislation for a more intensified information dissemination drive for women was pushed after some women reported that they faced challenges in accessing information in the changes of the methods of billing in concerned public utilities in the city.
Mandin said that with this, concerned agencies or offices will hopefully be urged to enhance their info drive.
During the summit, a consensus was also reached on the topic of “women consumerism”, wherein it was agreed that ‘a mindful consumption is also a must”, especially since it was acknowledged that the many things bought by households can become a disposal problem.
The sustainable livelihood of women is also among the key areas still to be addressed as there still exists a clamor of women for sustainable livelihood.
A summary of the VAWC cases reported to IGDD revealed that in the year 2023, economic abuse totaled 1,439 cases and is the highest among all forms of abuse
under RA 9262. This is followed by psychological or emotional abuse with 755 cases, 463 cases of physical abuse, and 50 sexual abuse cases. All of these indicators in 2023 are higher compared with the 2022 data.
Mandin said that 2023 recorded the highest number of cases compared to those recorded in the past 18 years of IGDD. She said that during the pandemic, the number of cases dropped and the assumption is that the increase in 2023 cases is piled up reports. The pandemic years of two and a half provided very limited access to intervention.
“Some cases na nadelay for several reasons ang mga babae man gud muantos siya ba na i-prioritize niya ang pagkaon or nagahatag siya’g hope nga mag ok siya sa iyahang spouse until maybe later na mag seek siya og help (Some cases were delayed for several reasons because women chose to endure because they tend to prioritize food and they might be hopeful that their relationship with their spouses will improve until they seek help later),” Mandin said.
She added that the cases may be high due to a high level of awareness as the IGDD office has been working with several agencies
and duty bearers such as the Women and Children Protection Desk of the Police, Women and Children Protection Units in hospitals, especially at the Southern Philippines Medical Center, and the Violence Against Women desks in barangays, which the IGDD trains.
“Ang taas nga awareness ug comprehensive man pud na response sa Davao no murag tanang kinahanglan, tanang facilities, tanang mandated agencies available mana siya, in fact, strengthened ang atong coordination with several offices so ang taas nga awareness would lead to taas nga cases kay daghan ang magreport, so ingon ana, duha ang atong pagtan-aw sa kaso. Ang challenge is for us to continually respond and to make innovations, dili pwede hayaan nga sige’g taas at a certain point in time dapat mu drop gyud pud siya, hagit nga giatubang namo sa among opisina along with other partner agencies (The awareness level is very high and Davao City also have a comprehensive response and almost all of the needs, all the facilities, all the mandated agencies are already available, in fact, we have strengthened our coordination with several offices, so the awareness is high and this would lead to a high number of cases because of the high number of cases reported. So that is the two ways we perceive it. The challenge is for us to continually respond and make innovations, actions should be taken to lessen the high number of cases, and at a certain point in time, it should drop and this is the challenge we are facing right now in our office along with other partner agencies),” Mandin said.
The IGDD, also in time of Women’s Month, conducted on Thursday, a paralegal training for VAW desk officers of the barangays, especially since it is being run by newly elected barangay officials.
“Tudluan sila unsa pag handle in a gender-sensitive manner ang mga cases. (They are taught how to handle in a gender-sensitive manner, the cases),” Mandin said.
A Women’s Walk is set on March 8 from Roxas to Rizal Park to mark the International Day of Women and it will be attended by women’s groups from barangays all over the city, concerned offices, stakeholders, and partners. CIO
