Manay Liling is a mamumugon (seasonal farm worker) in her forties and she is talking about the plans of their organization: "Tood 'man nga indi pa kami ka-socio-eco kay huyang pa ang amon nga organisasyon. Siling sa akon nga mabungkag man kami kon magsocio-eco ega waay pa makonsolida, ug mas budlay nang mobangon paghiman." (It's true that we cannot create a socioeconomic project at this time, because our organization is still unstable. A friend told me that we should consolidate the membership first or else, the organization will be much more difTicult to rebuild.)

'Nay Liling is the chairwoman of KAMAGNA, a peasant women's group in Naje, a small barrio up in the Arakan Valley in North Cotabato. At the time she said this, the drought had destroyed most of the crops; there was no work, and almost no food left. Their need for a project was obvious, yet her group had committed themselves to stand by a basic tenet of socio-economic work: an organization should be united and strong before any economic project is undertaken.

There are many organizations who started like KAMAGNA, who waited, and worked on their organization before em
barking on a project. In September 1989, some sixteen women representing eleven areas and 19 women's projects met for a consultation called "Women, Aid and Development." Sponsored by Gabriela and WSRC, the topics discussed were: the development of women's projects, the Gabriela guide for socio-economic work, and the Group of 10 paper on "Women, Aid and Development."

Status of the Projects

The projects presented in the forum consisted of ten cooperatives (mostly consumers'), three communal farms, three on poultry and piggery, one sewing project, one mushroom culture and one childcare project. Most were initiated by peasant women's groups who had different levels of development and consciousness about all-women's groups.

The majority of the projects are less than two years old. They are beset by problems of administration, lack of knowledge in women's development concerns and entrepreneurial skills; and lack of capital. There is also a clear need for the organizations to give socio-economic work its proper role in women's over-all development.

Despite the continued emphasis on socio-economic work being a vehicle for women's political participation and education, the reports presented on the status of the projects denied that this was being pursued consciously. The reports focused on financial gains, and two or three said that a major problem of the project was its being "purely economic" in orientation.

The primacy of the need for survival, while being the immediate reason for the economic project itself, has become at the same time a limiting factor. The women's recognition of the twin objectives of economic and political/social development mostly remains at the theoretical level as their concern for the former overrides the latter. Because of the smallness of the project, it cannot answer their daily necessities and this lessens the time that they can devote on it, or even on the organization itself.

Let us take the case of the women of BUGAS (literally, RICE, but the acronym stands for Oppressed Peasant Women Stand Up for Their Rights). Initially, they had a marketing cooperative, which was transformed into a credit coop and a hog dispersal project. Here is a transcription of their oral report:

"BUGAS has 66 members, 12 of which joined the coop at the start. The project started on March 22, 1987. The coop bought sacks of palay from the farmers of Siok, which were sold to a merchant in the town center in Koronadal. They hired a tricycle to transport the palay, and their buying prices were comparable to town prices, which were higher than the local merchants'.

"After a month, their initial capital of P10,000 (which they loaned from the Social Credit Scheme of WSRC) had a net income of Pl,267.30. Of this income, 40 percent went to the fund, another 40% to management, 10% to the local organization and 10% to the provincial chapter.

"During this period, an assessment was conducted on the buy and sell effort. The women concluded that is was a difficult project to pursue because managing it took all of the leaders' time. They could not do other organizational work. Palay prices were also unstable, and controlled by big merchants. In addition, members did not benefit much from the project because they still availed of usurious loans, which ate up all their income.

"In time, the members asked for fertilizer loans, and the project was converted into a credit coop because of clamor from the general membership. A ten percent interest was exacted on the loans for each cropping. By December 1988, they had P15,404.00 in funds, of which Pl,200 was used for a hog dispersal project. Out of the hogs sold later, each participating member got P800.00."

In a separate training on financial management, in was found out that most members had not paid their loans, and the initial capital had dwindled.

BUGAS is an organization of strongly committed women, who have a history of political involvement with the peasant struggle.

But still, strong as they are organizationally, the old systems of usury, landlordism and dependence on costly, high-input HYVs have them tied by the neck. Their poverty creates tensions between the desire to develop their organization and themselves, which they know will meet long-term needs, and their immediate need for sustenance.

On a more optimistic note, projects did contribute much to develop women's confidence and capacity for collective work, and have enhanced/provided them with various skills. Many have learned how to keep accounts, to analyze and arrive at correct decisions, etc. And it is no mean feat for organizations to keep intact while harsh militarization is continually threatening their very lives.

GABRIELA

"Our socioeconomic work is a way of planting the seeds of change, of building alternative roles for women, the family, community and society. We are creating a vision of society where everyone is free, where women are able to transcend the confines of the home, where they are awakened persons with equal rights in all aspects of life."

Sharon Cabusao of the Socioeconomic Projects Department of Gabriela describes how members of Gabriela are to undertake projects. She enumerated some principles/criteria of socioeconomic projects for women. What does socioeconomic work mean if we want it to contribute to the process of liberating women? First of all, it should serve the needs of the community, with identification of women's specific needs. For instance, women may feel that a hog dispersal project is what they need, but often it does not contribute to women's collective decision-making processes, as it is an individual-household type of task.

Second, if women are to benefit, then they must be active in the whole process of decision-making and implementation. They themselves must have control and capacity to manage all aspects of the project. Necessarily, education and training programs must be introduced to develop this capacity. Short courses on literacy and numeracy, as well as management and leadership training, will play a great part in the success of a project.

An integrated approach is also needed. Because the problems of women and the community cannot be solved by one small project, programs such as childcare support, building water systems and issue advocacy must be included in the plan. The skills and capabilities of women for a more comprehensive and effective work should be built slowly.

Third, "projects should lighten women's burdens by incorporating support measures according to their needs. Sharing responsibilities or introducing simple appropriate technologies can ease women's workload."

Thus, socioeconomic projects should focus not only on increasing productivity and meeting economic needs, but also contribute to promoting "an alternative economic order that is oriented towards social and gender equality."

The Group of 10 on Women, Aid and Development

The Group of 10 is composed of Manila-based women's NGOs who seek to help create policy guidelines on the prospect of cooperating with development agencies, particularly on receiving official development aid. GABRIELA, being one of the members, brought this paper forward for discussion nationwide.

The adopted framework defines women's development as creating conditions for women's equal opportunities, particularly for the poor and destitute. This refers to the more than 60 percent of the population who live below the poverty line.

"The problems of Philippine women who belong to this 60 percent are rooted in the intersecting binds of nation, class, gender and ethnicity. As citizens of a Third World country, they suffer from foreign domination and underdevelopment. As members of the marginalized classes, they are deprived of necessary resources to attain a humane and just life. They suffer under structures and mechanisms of control by the patriarchal elite which deepen the realities of their exploited and oppressed condition."

With this analysis, any vision of women's development is inherently a component of the vision for a Philippine society that is sovereign, democratic, just and participatory. The Philippine women's movement then works for the promotion of the rights of women, with expressed option for the poor and their struggles.

The Group of 10 then emphasizes the importance of women's NGOs in asserting "their autonomy within a principled network of cooperation. Funding agencies are not to decide on the projects to be undertaken, but it is the community of women, particularly the poorest of the poor.

"For the Group of 10, it considers cooperation with development agencies as an important political act by a significant bloc of the women's movement toward influencing and directing aid."

Source:
Womennews Oct.-Dec. 1989, no. 4, vol. VI
Published by: Women Studies and Resource Center
Rm. 207, Santos Bldg., Malvar Ext. Davao City, Philippines 800