Innabuyog, Philippines

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The Innabuyog General Program of Action covers the entire breadth of the women's lives. This includes political, economic, social, cultural and environmental concerns. Human rights is a major concern and area of work. Documentation of women-specific human rights violations in militarised areas have been done. Some of these have been published in TEBTEBA, a journal of the Cordillera Women's Education and Resource Centre (CWERC). It has sent participants in human rights education seminars in order to enhance the awareness of the women on their basic rights and their rights as indigenous peoples. Coming mostly from remote areas, these are also needed when they have to face the military who often accuses them of being rebel supporters. Testimonies have been presented on violations of Cordillera indigenous women's rights in different fora both nationally and internationally.

The lack of basic services such as a waterworks system is a major problem of Innabuyog women. After taking a basic leadership training seminar one organisation negotiated with government agencies and officials, and landed a contract for a waterworks project in their villages. They implemented the project beyond the specifications defined by the government agency. As a result of village politics, mainly through male village officials, the women lost financially but gained an important learning experience.

Many women set-up their own day-care centres before asking for assistance from government. In order to improve the capability of caregivers and the women themselves, Innabuyog organised three early childhood education seminars and accessed books to equip day-care centres and schools in the villages.

Innabuyog holds lessons from history. Many village women have been active participants in the defence of their land and resources. Land surveys, mining prospecting, open pit mining operations, and logging have been actively opposed by women since the beginning of the century- a militant tradition which Innabuyog continues.

As community mangers, Innabuyog organisations are doing advocacy work at the village level. Drunkenness, which leads to increased domestic violence and wastes money, moved many Innabuyog organisations to lobby for bans on liquor and gambling where regulations existed, the women lobbied to be given police powers to be able to patrol the village and to arrest violators. Some village organisations, through the efforts of women, have made domestic violence a ground for expulsion.

Innabuyog had been active in peasant concerns. It participated in rallies, fora and other activities during Peasant Week and Day for the past several years to give a woman peasants perspective to issues raised. The impact of SAPs, GATT and other policies will continue to be of concern to the women. Innabuyog has taken the lead in the anti-pesticide campaign in one of our provinces. This will be a continuing concern with deepening analysis and education for the women.

Education to raise the awareness of women on their situation as Filipino citizens, as poor peasants, workers, or urban poor, as women, and as half of the indigenous peoples, is a major component of the program in Innabuyog. These are done in the villages with local resource persons as much as possible. The CEDAW, the Draft Declaration of Indigenous Peoples Rights, and other pertinent national laws which affect the women are included when necessary. The objective is to provide the women with a forum with other women where they share their experiences, knowledge, concerns, problems and issues, and how they dealt with these.

This collection of small successes provides big lessons. From these small victories, small struggles, Innabuyog derives its strength. Our concern is to empower the women to change their lives at their own pace, from their own initiative and resources. These are not earthshaking achievements, but they mean a lot to the poor, voiceless and disempowered indigenous women of the Cordillera.