Written by Cecilia B. Gulla, Consultant of PKKB, for the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women.

Originally published in Gender-Responsive Local Governance at Work: LGU experiences in using the GAD budget

This case illustrates how a provincial-level machinery for women's integration in development can effectively carry out its mandate by directly reaching out to grassroots women's organizations. The experiences of the Panlalawigang Komisyon para sa Kababaihan ng Bulakan (PKKB) show that working with community-based women's groups is an effective strategy for expanding one's resources and reach.

Overview

The Panlalawigang Komisyon Para sa Kababaihan ng Bulacan (PKKB) is the provincial machinery for GAD and is mandated "to provide leadership and direction to the integration of women" in community development. The PKKB's principal strategy for operationalizing this mandate is to reach out directly to organized women at the grassroots and, through capacity building, empower them to direct their lives and become partners in economic development and political decision making.

This grassroots strategy has resulted in the creation of 135 women's organizations in the 22 towns and two cities in Bulacan. Because PKKB is basically a policy advisory and monitoring body, these grassroots organizations become its implementing arms, as well as its vehicle to concretize and sustain its work at the community level. The PKKB's economic programs benefit largely the poor women, providing them with additional income of as much as P3,150.00 per month. The other PKKB programs have taught women to be more enterprising and resourceful, independent, and more confident of their abilities. The women have also learned to work together towards a shared goal.

In 2003, PKKB garnered for Bulacan the Gawad Galing Pook Award for Top Ten Outstanding Programs. The PKKB has many lessons to share with local government units intending to establish a similar local machinery for women. To ensure the success of such machinery, it is important to have a supportive Local Chief Executive, GAD champions in the different levels and sectors of decision-making, and strong alliances with those that have resources and human power. Most of all, it is important to involve women and their families in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of GAD activities.

The PKKB's mandate, structure, and linkages

The devolution of resources, services, and decision-making powers to local government units brought about by the 1991 Local Government Code inspired then Bulacan Governor Roberto M.Pagdanganan to create an advisory group to assist in formulating policies and plans for the integration and mobilization of women in national development. He believed that given the right orientation, training, and opportunity, women as individuals and as cohesive groups can make a very positive difference in their own lives and that of other women. They could be Bulacan's active partners in addressing poverty in many depressed areas and thus help propel the province towards social, political and economic growth.

Through Executive Order 94-02, Governor Pagdanganan created the Panlalawigang Komisyon para sa Kababaihan ng Bulacan (PKKB) on February 22, 1994, the anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal's historic letter to the women of Malolos. Guided by RA 7192, PKKB sought to help make Bulacan "a province where women achieve their full potentials and participate meaningfully in… development…" Its main function is to serve as a vehicle between government agencies and other entities in the mainstreaming of women as collaborators in the pursuit of peace, equality, and sustainable development.

The PKKB is a policy recommendatory and advisory body. As adviser to the provincial governor, it leads in the identification of gender issues and recommends appropriate programs for women. The PKKB relays all its feedback and recommendations through the Office of the Governor, who in turn endorses these to concerned departments or LGUs and ensures that needed directives are issued and funds are allocated. This approach has been found to be effective because local leaders are more receptive to inputs if they come from the provincial chief executive.

Directly under the Office of the Governor, the PKKB is governed by a Board of Commissioners and headed by a Chairperson. The Commissioners elect from among themselves their officers. The PKKB's members, who represent the different sectors and municipalities in Bulacan, are appointed by the governor based on certain criteria (i.e., resident of Bulacan, a recognized leader, has a good track record in implementing programs for women). While they are appointed for a term of one year, they are usually reappointed to allow for continuity in their program. The PKKB has an Executive Director whose main functions are to manage its activities and to serve as consultant to the Board. The Office of the Provincial Administrator provides administrative support such as fund disbursements and additional personnel for province-wide activities like the Women's Month celebration and the Search for Gintong Medalya Awardees.

There is a Commissioner assigned to each municipality in the province. It is through the Commissioners that the PKKB networks with the women NGOs based in the municipalities. In turn, the women NGOs become the mechanisms through which the PKKB is able to work directly with grassroots women. The NGO leaders also serve as members of the Konsehong Pambayan para sa Kababaihan or KPK, which acts as the PKKB's LGU counterpart and the local chief executive's policy advisors on gender and development.

Apart from its grassroots linkages, the PKKB also has ties with the GAD focal points of the line departments in the province. The PKKB coordinates with these focal points towards engendering department programs. Likewise, the organization links up with the LGUs and the line departments for the conceptualization and implementation of their respective programs for women.

Planning and implementation: the PKKB in action

To provide direction to its activities, the PKKB prepares an annual work plan that begins with consultations with women NGOs at the municipal level. The women NGOs' inputs are relayed to PKKB through the Commissioners assigned to the different municipalities. Apart from these inputs, the previous year's plan and the priorities lined up by the Governor's Office for the current year are also considered in formulating the PKKB's work plan. This plan is then integrated into the province's strategic plan, and thus indirectly contributes to the shaping of the LGU annual plans.

Although the PKKB is a policy recommendatory and advisory body, it is also actively involved in the implementation of a number of projects. Among these are projects for grassroots women, which the PKKB implements through the Commissioners, who in turn coordinate the project implementation with the concerned NGOs and line agencies or LGUs. The PKKB also supports – again through the Commissioners – projects of women's groups based in each of the four districts of Bulacan. Specific forms of assistance extended to the women NGOs include capability building, project conceptualization, and facilitation of access to government or private resources available for the NGOs' projects. Finally, the PKKB and its Commissioners conduct activities and extend services, in Bulacan's 22 towns and two cities, relating to advocacy on women's issues and women's rights, gender mainstreaming, strengthening the family, and maternal and child health.

There are two elements crucial to the success of the PKKB's efforts: the networking with grassroots women and the resources allocated for women's programs.

The PKKB networks with the women at the grassroots through first, the Commissioners and second, through the women NGOs. It is, however, through the latter that the PKKB is able to work directly with the women in the communities. PKKB equips these NGOs with GAD skills and information; they, in turn, provide training, do organizing, assist in project development, provide technical assistance, and link women to resources for their projects. In 2003, there were 135 women organizations working with PKKB and with grassroots women. Securing a budget for women's programs did not come easy for PKKB. The male officials of the province initially questioned the GAD budget because they wanted a similar budget for men.

Despite attempts to advocate and explain, it was difficult for them to understand that the GAD budget was intended for both women and men. As a political strategy, the PKKB and Gov. Josefina de la Cruz (who used to Chair the Committee on Women before she became Governor) mandated the planning and budgeting for gender-responsive programs (through PKKB, PSWDO and other departments) without necessarily labeling them as GAD project or GAD budget. The PKKB happily notes that evident results have enabled them to overcome the initial resistance and are slowly and steadily gaining the support of everyone. In 2002, the budget for women's programs was estimated at P25.4 million; in 2004, it was P40.2 million.

The PKKB has no direct participation in the budgeting process; as such, ensuring adequate budget for women's programs still rests on a supportive governor. The agency is thus gearing towards gender mainstreaming in the next few years to sustain support for women's programs by integrating gender issues in department and LGU concerns.

Making women more visible

The results of PKKB's work can be seen in the number and diversity of women's programs now existing in the province. Aside from gender sensitizing programs for provincial and municipal officials, economic and social programs are now in place. Mechanisms and resources for these programs ensure their sustainability. In more concrete terms, PKKB's efforts have led to the following:

• Higher level of awareness on gender issues: Gender sensitivity and development trainings were provided to members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Council), Sangguniang Pambayan (Municipal Council), women NGOs, women municipal employees, and women barangay officials. As a result, two towns have drafted their gender legislation. The PKKB is also advocating for the use of disaggregated data for planning at provincial and municipal levels, gender integration in the Five-Year Development Plan, and creation of the Konsehong Pambayan para sa Kababaihan.

• Increased number of, and allocation for, women's programs/projects: The challenge posed by the Governor to the PKKB Commissioners was the number of programs and resources that they could mobilize for women. Indeed, this year, they were able to mobilize P40.2 million for 24 programs, an increase from 2002's level of 13 programs with budget estimated at P25.4 million.

  • One example of a successful socio-economic program is the Sikap Angat Program, an anti-poverty program implemented in Bulacan municipalities. In the munipality of Pulilan, it was implemented with the support of the local chapter of Soroptimist International, the barangay and municipal governments, and the local agriculture and health offices. The project covered 25 indigent families, who were given an interest-free loan of P 2,000 each that they invested in a business of their choice. From their business, the beneficiaries realized an increase in income of Php 105 per day or P 3,150 per month. When asked who audits them they said, "Kami-kami na lang po ang nagbabantayan. Mahalaga po na hindi kami masira sa aming mga pangako."

  • Another project is the Women's Livelihood Support Fund or WLSF, a micro financing project of the Provincial Government and the Coop Rural Bank. Some 1,412 beneficiaries of the program reportedly realized savings in the amount of Php 706,000.

  • One of the more successful NGOs working with PKKB is the Kababaihang Barangay ng San Miguel, Bulacan (KBB), pioneered by its first chairperson, the late Ms. Emma Sta. Ana. The KBB implemented a swine dispersal project with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency and the United Nations Fund for Women. The project was recognized at the Nairobi International Conference on Women as the Best Rural Project in the World. From swine dispersal, the KBB turned to stuffed toy manufacturing, producing 100,000 dozens of toys each month in 45 barangays. To adjust to changes in the world market, it was eventually converted into a garment training business for 3,000 high-speed sewers, turning women into entrepreneurs. The KBB also initiated jobs for 1,500 knitters who worked on export quality sweaters for 10 years until the market dwindled. Walang Gutom Sa Bakuran was another KBB project, wherein the women and their families were encouraged to plant vegetables and mangoes in their backyards.

  • In Marilao, women NGOs led the project called Women in Services for the Differently-Abled of Marilao (WISDOM). WISDOM addressed the need for special education for differently-abled poor children who have difficulty being accepted in and/or coping with the public school education system. The project was successfully implemented through inter-agency support: the donation of the 200 sq.m. lot donated by an NGO; Php1M from the governor for the building; DPWH for the building construction; DepEd for the teachers; the MSWD, Philippine Pediatric Society, Holy Infant Jesus Hospital, and St. Michael Hospital for the children's health and nutritional needs.

• Creation of mechanisms to ensure sustainable programs and projects for gender and development: The PKKB as a provincial mechanism, along with concomitant legislations and policies, will ensure that GAD efforts will continue to achieve results for the women and men of Bulacan.

  • With the PKKB's support and the appropriate resources from government and other sources, the various women NGOs actively working at the community level will continue to spearhead women's activity and empowerment, and expand their services to all areas of Bulacan.

  • The creation of the Konsehong Pambayan Para Sa Kababaihan (KPK) in seven pilot municipalities will likewise support the sustainability of the PKKB. The KPKs are PKKB's counterpart in the municipalities. Their task is to formulate and recommend policies to the local chief executive to support women's advancement. KPK officers come from the different women NGOs in the municipality. As in the PKKB, KPK committees are created as needed, and fund assistance is provided by the municipal government. For 2004, the PKKB will work with 15 municipalities and 2 cities to organize the KPK.

  • Increased community and women's involvement in development activities: The PKKB's efforts have galvanized communities into organizing and working together in programs and projects for the common good. As of 2003, there were a total of 135 women's organizations involved in development activities in the province.

• Increased recognition of women's achievements and contributions: The Gintong Medalya is an award program supervised by PKKB to recognize, reward, and motivate women and women organizations who do worthwhile endeavors for women. At the provincial level, the program has awarded seven (7) outstanding women's organizations and 32 individual women achievers in the following categories: Natatanging Babae sa Pulitika, May Edad, Mangangalakal, Makakalikasan, OFW, Edukasyon, Solo Parent, PNP Women's Desk, Tagapangulo ng Sangguniang Bayan, Kabataan, May Kapansanan, Ilaw ng Tahanan, Pilantropo, at may Kahanga-hangang Kakayahang sa Teknikal. At the municipal level, 250 women have been awarded as Natatanging Kababaihan sa mga Bayan.

Outcomes of PKKB's efforts

• More directed and responsive assistance from women NGOs: From stereotyped programs like clean and green, painting of fences, and beauty contests, women's groups have shifted to more gender-sensitive programs addressing poverty alleviation, micro-financing for poor families and other social needs. From dependence on outside funding, they have stirred women into being more entrepreneurial and self-sustaining. As in the case of the women of Pulilan, they have now begun to look inward, among themselves and within their own municipality and local government, for resources and partnerships.

• Stronger and more cohesive women's movement: From being hesitant and unsure, women NGOs have become aggressive and confident organizations. The Inner Wheel Club of Meycauayan and Pandi won local and international awards. Women have become proactive and assertive co-creators of change. From working alone, they have learned to work in groups and networks. Women have learned cooperation and mentoring, and recognition of each others' strengths and contributions. Their united efforts have resulted in increased social spending on programs and projects for women.

• Perceived improvement in the socio-economic condition: The situation of women and men of Bulacan is perceived to be generally improving: the Provincial Planning and Development Office record shows that Bulacan is composed 73% middle class families. The National Statistics Coordinating Board records show that poverty has gone down from 17% in 1994 to 5.4% in 2000. These improvements are attributed to the presence of a more responsive governance and the increased involvement of women and men in socio-economic and political activities in the province. The PKKB believes that women's increased social awareness and increased economic activities have also helped fostered these changes.

Lessons and challenges

After 10 years, the PKKB asserts with confidence that there are now more, better equipped and stronger women NGOs, and over 80,000 women have benefited from their services. There are now more funds and more programs that respond to women's issues, and the PKKB has earned the respect of its clientele and its partners in the province. Looking back, the PKKB credits its success to the following strategies, which it now would like to share with other individuals and entities interested in gender work:

• Working with organized women expands resources and outreach. Women NGOs enabled the PKKB to multiply itself and reach the countryside. There is such a strong spirit of volunteerism in Bulacan that women NGOs implement projects using their own resources, or else raise their own funds without expecting much from the government. Aside from overcoming its limitations in resources and manpower to reach all of Bulacan's 22 towns and two cities, the PKKB was thus able to implement more responsive and participatory programs because the women NGOs immersed in the areas afforded better environmental scanning and identification of beneficiaries.

• The strong support of the governor and the legislative office is important. The LGUS and other agencies are more receptive if the proposals and recommendations are channeled through the local executives. With this strategy, the PKKB has been able to work closely with its partner agencies in the province.

• Collaborating with women community leaders strengthens the grassroots networks and enhances the organization's credibility among various stakeholders. In selecting and appointing the commissioners for the municipalities, the PKKB sees to it that the women 1) are leaders of their own organizations, 2) represent different municipalities, 3) have a strong network, and 4) have a high credibility in both the government and the private sectors.

• Holding special events and providing incentives and reward mechanisms contribute greatly to creating and sustaining interest in gender issues and programs. The yearly celebration of the Women's Month has helped attract more advocates for women's causes, while the Medalyang Ginto Award has fired and sustained the enthusiasm and creativity of women's organizations and women leaders. These activities inspire women to work harder and increase their selfconfidence.

One of the major challenges that the PKKB has yet to address is to put in place a monitoring system that will help determine the extent to which the budget for women's programs is allocated and utilized as planned for by the departments and LGUs. This is a difficult and challenging task for which technical assistance from an agency such as the NCRFW is needed, but the organization is committed to carry it out because it believes that such system is critical in determining the improvements in the situation of women and men in the province.

Another challenge is in sustaining the initiatives towards gender-responsive governance. Such will only be possible if there are enough committed women who are willing to give time to the cause, women who know their rights and are willing to work for these rights. In particular, the PKKB needs to look into strategies that will motivate younger women to get involved in the women's cause, as commissioners and activists.

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