Seeking to establish more gender sensitive cooperatives in Cavite, almost 200 coop leaders gathered at The Junction in Tagaytay City on October 26, 2018 for the 6th Cavite Cooperative Leaders Conference, which focused on Gender and Development Mainstreaming as part of stepping up with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Caviteños warmly welcomed guest and keynote speaker, Senator Risa Hontiveros, Chairperson Senate Committee on Women and Gender Equality. Senator Hontiveros put emphasis on women’s rights and the big role that women play in cooperatives. With this, the lady senator asked cooperatives to support the implementation of the Expanded Maternity Leave providing 55 more days on paid maternity leave, from 60 to 105 days. Likewise, Senator Hontiveros disclosed that the bill includes provision of seven days transferable leave to men, to be known as the “daddy quota,” which can be an example of GAD mainstreaming that promotes shared responsibility on child care and equal parenting.
Mr. Alvin S. Mojica, Provincial Cooperative Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development Office (PCLEDO) head, who introduced the senator prior to her keynote speech, took the opportunity to thank Senator Hontiveros and everyone who attended the event , making the occasion a huge success.
Meanwhile, Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) former Administrator Mercedes Castillo provided a holistic overview on the theme “Cavite Cooperatives: Stepping up with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through Gender and Development Mainstreaming,” linking women and the development process towards a stronger organization that could successfully contribute to economic progress. She even encouraged participants to be GAD advocates and must take the initiative to incorporate GAD activities in their respective cooperatives.
In order to help coop leaders on how to begin their GAD plans, Cooperative Development Specialist from CDA, Ms. Jeramel Valdez shared their agency’s framework on gender and development, showing different matrix on diverse activities centered on GAD including capacity building as well as linking with partners and service providers. According to Ms. Valdez, coops are a reminder to the community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.
Furthermore, coop stories of two successful cooperatives in the country added inspiration for everyone to focus on gender equality towards building resilient cooperatives. Ms. Maide Obdianela Jader, GAD Focal Point System Technical Working Group and Chairperson of Government Employees of Tayabas (GET) Multi-purpose Cooperative, talked about their journey as they incorporate GAD activities to their flourishing organization and how it helped them reach their goals. Ms. Jader also underscored the importance of using gender-fair languages in the organization.
On the other hand, Mr. Alexander Raquepo, Chairperson of Sta. Cruz Savings and Development Cooperative and Vice President-Gender Equality Resource Center Inc., proudly shared how GAD affects their coop in a very positive way. Mr. Raquepo, being one of the first male GAD resource speakers in the country who has been in various countries for GAD advocacy, emphasized that gender equality should start at home with families. He even stressed out that men must be involved in achieving absolute gender equality, telling his experience in Sweden when he encountered men babysitting instead of their wives. Mr. Raquepo emphasized that even doing household chores does not make one less a man. He also happily revealed that the statistics of Sta. Cruz Savings and Development Cooperative showed and proved how having gender sensitive family members have increased their collection and encouraged more participation of members to every assembly and other activities.
Atty. Khervy Reyes, Head, PCLEDO Cooperative Division, led the awarding of certificates and tokens to resource speakers and thanked them for lending their time and skills for the benefit of cooperatives in the province, on behalf of Governor Boying Remulla and PCDC Chairperson Fr. Arturo Balagat.
The event continued with the Koop Awards Night, which highlighted cooperative excellence and gave wider recognition to coop leaders. Among the awards granted include The Most Promising Cooperative, Best in Assets, Best Coop in Micro, Small and Medium-scale Category, Most Diversified, and Most Participative Local Coop Development Officer and other special citations.
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