National College of Public Administration and Governance

University of the Philippines Diliman

Diliman, Quezon City, 1101

AN OVERVIEW OF GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT IN QUEZON CITY

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

Public Administration 151:
Local Government and Regional Administration

Submitted by:
Anuta, Benedict H.
Bolina, Loren Mae
Calabia, Thaddeus Martin
Carolino, Jeric Renz
Conti, Adrian

Submitted on:
21 May 2019
I. INTRODUCTION

These days, much focus has been given to the fast-paced development of how the
world sees and perceives gender. The World Health Organization (2019) defines gender
as “socially constructed characteristics of women and men – such as norms, roles and
relationships of and between groups of women and men”. Traditionally, this refers to a
person being either “male” or “female”, but gone are those days when the identities of
each individual is restricted to two categories, giving way to much more diverse ways of
expressing oneself towards other people and the world.

With this new modes of awareness, it is undeniable that gender is a divisive

concept for many. People who are and those who chose to be stuck in the traditional
perception of gender tend to be dismissive of the new emerging concept, if not outright
condemning it. Perpetuated gender stereotyping and gender roles which dictate how
people should act based on socially-defined norms continue to be the bane of true
development and progress in gender awareness and acceptance. The Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2019) defines gender stereotyping as the
act of “ascribing to an individual woman or man specific attributes, characteristics, or
roles by reason only of her or his membership in the social group of women or men”.
Excessive stereotyping can be detrimental to a person’s pursuance of their dreams and
capabilities.

Gender and development around the world

Issues pertaining to gender are something that permeates each nation. The Council
of Europe (2017) published their report on the state of women’s rights and how it is being
addressed. Identified within the report are cases of sexism which comes in different
forms, one of which is the imbalance between men and women in the field of politics and
public administration, violence against women, and blatant disregard to women’s
reproductive health and rights, among others. United States of America (USA) state
Alabama recently made headlines following its Republican-dominated Senate’s approval
of a measure that bans almost all forms of abortion and criminalizes the procedure for
doctors (Williams and Blinder, 2019). This has been met with fury by Democrats and
even some Republicans alike, most notably the current President Donald Trump, who
wants exceptions where the procedure should be allowable (Bado, 2019).

Gender and development in Philippine context

World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Gender Gap report shows that the
Philippines ranks at 8th place as one of the most gender-equal countries worldwide. Ever
since the GGG started in 2006, the country has been consistently ranking within the top
10. This year, the report claims the retention to the country’s developing equality in the
field of political and economic leadership (ABS-CBN News, 2018).

That said, reports of gender discrimination in the Philippine are still present, with
the Philippine Institute for Development Studies claiming that while women are starting
to get the same work opportunities as men, that does not equate to similar working
conditions. It was also found that 76 percent of women experience prejudice in the
workplace, even starting as early as the interview for hiring process (Ladrido, 2018).

In September 8, 1995, former President Fidel V. Ramos issued Executive Order

No. 273, which introduced the Philippine Plan for Gender and Development for
1995-2025. It seeks to provide and achieve equality and development for both men and
women. It succeeded the Philippine Development Plan for Women, which spanned from
1989 to 1992 (Biodiversity Management Bureau, 2016). Along with this is the focus
given to gender equality as a means to solve poverty in the Millenium Development
Goals in 2000 (Fortaleza, 2019).
 A few years later, Republic Act No. 9710, or the Magna Carta for Women
(MCW), was passed into a law on August 14, 2009. This empowered women through
their participation in national, regional and local development, and advocated
non-discriminatory and pro-gender equality and equity. In 2013, Joint Memorandum
Circular 2013-01 was issued to all local government units regarding the localization of
the MCW, an act which sought to incorporate the law into local programs and plans.

Despite efforts in trying to curtail gender discrimination, cases of gender-based

harassment are still prevalent in the country. A 2016 Social Weather Station survey
showed that three out of five women have experienced sexual harassment at least once in
their lifetime. Out of the 800 respondents in Quezon City, one out of seven claim that
they get sexually harassed at least one every week for the past year. Contrary to
traditional belief, these acts of sexual harassment are reported to happen in broad daylight
(Cabral, 2017).

Ordinances such as the Quezon City GAD Code define sexual harassment as
those acts specified in the Revised Penal Code under Acts of Lasciviousness and Unjust
Vexation, such as persistent telling of offensive jokes such as green jokes or other similar
statements, taunting a person with sexual innuendos, offensive or sexual pictures or
similar publications, persistent interrogation to someone about their sex life in
inappropriate times, making inappropriate hand or body gestures at someone, stalking,
persistence towards a person despite verbal rejection, touching, pinching, or brushing up
against someone’s body unnecessarily, performing sexual acts to someone against their
will, requesting sexual favors in exchange for something, and other acts as specified by
law.

Among the plethora of cities in the country, Quezon City boasts to be at the forefront
of gender and development, with their initiatives on maintaining a safe space for
everyone to live in, regardless of gender. They claim that their GAD Code which has
 been in effect way before R.A. No 9710 was passed proved to be a good backbone for the
localization of the Magna Carta for Women.

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Women and Adjustment Policies in the Third World &

The Political Economy of Gender of the Philippines
In the study, one of the major analysis is centered towards the state-of-the-art
review and the gender-specific costs in the movements of the World Bank towards
economic restructuring programmes for women. This shows increased moves of Third
World countries to ‘open-up’ the economy in order to enhance the provision of welfare
and public services. This involves cuts in government expenditure and changing levels of
unemployment. In this analysis, they further go deeper into the governments and their
development plans, through the lens of gender issues, and summarizes in the notes:

“While these strategies have exacted huge costs from many sectors of the
Third World population… women in general and the poorest among them
in particular have borne to a disproportionate extent, the brunt of ensuing
hardships.

It shows that women do not enjoy the same opportunities and despite the
government’s actions to improve the way of life of every citizen, women are not offered
similar chances and are chained to a cycle of hardships. This asserts a necessity of a
single body to focus on the marginalized sector of women.

Eviota’s the Political Economy of Gender in the Philippines is one of the main
gender courses in the country involving the historical milestones concerning the
oppression of women that lead to the events and issues as they are today. It introduces
several theories such as the gender differentiation in employment and the exploitation of
female sexuality. In a cumulative assessment of the two studies, it proves that the
marginalization of women is interrelated with the discrimination in the workplace and the
inappropriate capitalization of the female sex.

B. Trends, Developments and Studies in Gender Studies and Legal Practices

As gender awareness and sensitivity progressed to be a vital progressed to be a
vital point in examining the law, a wide range of gender issues had thrusted advocacies
towards proposals for a gender-sensitive society. It necessitates laws and policies that are
rooted from gender-sensitive values. This is also to highlight the importance of an
engendered sense of justice and its pressing influences on the society’s current and future
policies.

One of the examples Dr. Mesina presents is the responses to Violence against
Women: Overcoming Legal Challenges in Anti-Violence against Women and Their
Children Act (Republic Act No. 9262) as authored by the Women’s Unit of the Sentro ng
Alternatibong Lingap Panligal (SALIGAN). SALIGAN’s women’s unit shared
experiences in ligation of cases involving domestic violence, under the movement of
Anti-Violence against Women and Children (Anti-VAWC). On the issue of human
trafficking of women and children, the Philippines undertook legal measures to fight
these atrocities. The Responsive Law Enforcement Approach to Combating Child
Trafficking (Republic Act No. 9208) or Anti-Trafficking in Persons of 2003.

To fully combat these issues, there is a need to look into Human Rights, Culture
and Development Assistance Programs in the lens of gender-sensitivity. This is done by
examining gender equality discourses within the human rights and culture framework.
Through this, controversial topics such as contraceptive and its availability among
women and women’s rights, are tactfully discussed.
 C. Philippine Plan for Gender Responsive Development (1995-2025)
The Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development (PPGD) is one of the
latest in a series of government initiatives meant to give Filipino women a more active
and participatory role in the development process. This is a renewed mandate superseding
the Philippine Development Plan that expired in 1992.

The PPGD is a 30-year framework that ensures that women-friendly policies can
be legislated and flourish in the society. It is made with the general context of the
existence of traditional altitudes and stereotyping prominent in the country. The aim is to
wear down the resistance and redefine policies in the lens of gender issues, both discreet
and mainstream. The plan spells out gender-related goals and objectives shared
throughout all government agencies, NGOs, and the private sectors to address identified
issues such as: lower average pay of women compared to men, lower representation of
women in decision-making authority positions, and the propagating sexual abuse and
exploitation as overseas contract workers.

The PPGD has outlined programs and strategies to span the duration of the
development plan. In this, they call for GO-NGO cooperation to maximize the
effectiveness of the programs and services addressing the GAD concerns as well as
establishing and upgrading the costs of ​crisis intervention centers a​ nd shelters in each
municipality for victims of VAW and other social conflicts. The plan promotes a better
and a more inclusive labor field with an overseas employment program that stresses
decent wages and low-risk placement in priority countries and an expansion of
participation of women in the process of developing programs and projects. The plan also
seeks to revise textbooks and curricula at all school levels accordingly to ensure gender
sensitivity as well as involving men in family-planning programs. The movement of
increasing the number of women in policy-making posts in both elective and appointive
positions is also thrusted forward, as well as reviewing the pending bills on women’s
concerns.
D. Magna Carta for Women
On the year 2009, the Magna Carta for Women or the Republic Act No. 9710, was
legislated. It is a law recognizing one of the prevalent issues in the Philippine society- the
marginalization of women and the ways these affects women economically and
politically. RA 9710 was made to battle the discriminations against women in all forms
and reaffirms the right of women in all sectors.

The law formally defines ‘women empowerment’ as the availability and

accessibility of opportunities, services and the observance of human rights which
encourages women participation. ‘Discrimination against women’ is formally referred to
any gender-based distinction, exclusion or restriction that violates their rights
irrespective to their marital status. The state, the private sector and the general society is
bound by the Magna Carta of women. The Philippine Government acts as the primary
duty-bearer that ensures the implementation of the law. Their responsibilities include
refraining from discriminating against women and violating their rights, protect the
women from discrimination and violations of their rights, and promoting and fulfilling
the rights of all women in different spheres.

The law mandates the renaming of the National Commission on the Role of
Filipino Women to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW). The PCW is the
overall monitoring and oversight body to ensure that the intentions of the law are kept
throughout the implementation. The commission operates as an agency under the Office
of the President and shall act as the primary policy-making and coordinating body for
women and gender equality concerns. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is also
mandated to act as the Gender and Development Ombud ensuring that the
responsibilities of the PCW are seen through. The Commission on Audit (COA) is tasked
to oversee the government offices’ use of the delegated budgets for the gender and
development sections of each unit. Additionally, the law is encouraged to develop and
pass a gender and development code to address the issues in their respective localities.

Upon violation, the government agency or office is held responsible. By law, the
local chief executive or the agency head is liable for any overlook of the Magna Carta. In
government units, the sanctions are recommended by the CHR to the Civil Service
Commission (CSC) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The penalties are considered depending on the severity of offenses. In cases where the
violation is committed by a private entity or an individual, the person is directly
responsible to pay damages. The offended party can also pursue other remedies and can
invoke the provisions of the law that protects the rights of women.

E. The Quezon City Gender And Development Code and GAD Council
In order to fulfill the mandate given to them as a local government unit by the
Magna Carta for Women, The Quezon City local government established their own
Gender and Development (GAD) Council. The city has had a similar unit before, called
the GAD Resource and Coordinating Office, which existed under the creation of the
city’s own GAD Code in 2004, through Ordinance No. SP-1401,S-2004. The ordinance
was amended following the passage of the MCW, leading to the formation of the GAD
Council and the GAD Technical Working Group.

The GAD Council is primarily tasked with the sustained implementation of the
city’s GAD Code. They are responsible for providing technical and coordinative
assistance to the mayor in the formulation of programs and projects related to GAD,
producing and disseminating GAD-related informational and educational materials, as
well as keeping a record of of the city’s Gender Profile in coordination with concerned
departments and offices. It is comprised of the city’s (1) Mayor and (2) Vice Mayor as
Honorary Chairperson and Honorary Vice Chairperson, respectively, the (3) Chair of the
City Council Committee on Women, Family Relations and Gender Equality, (4) Chair of
the Committee on Appropriations of the City Council, (5) Chair of the Committee on
Children’s affairs, (6) President of the Liga ng mga Barangay, QC Chapter, (7) City
Administrator, (8) City Planning and Development Officer, (9) City budget Officer, (10)
City Health Officer, (11) City Personnel Officer, and other members from related
committees and departments.
 The GAD TWG, on the other hand, is in charge of overseeing the efforts of the
QC local government in GAD planning and budgeting. Aside from primarily assisting the
GAD Council, they coordinate with the Human Resource Development Office in creating
and implementing GAD-related programs for the workplace, while also ensuring that
proper support for GAD is garnered from elected officials, department heads, staff, and
stakeholders. The unit is composed of, but not limited to, a (1) TWG Chair elected among
its members, (2) key staff from different offices, departments, and committees to be
appointed by their respective Heads, a (3) representative from the Local Chief
Executive’s office, and a (4) Secretariat.

Along with the GAD Council in Quezon City is the Pride Council, a body whose
mandate focuses on the LGBTQIA+ community. However, little attention has been paid
to it, aside from traditional festivities done to celebrate the sector.

F. Quezon City GAD Programs and Recognition

On March 2019, the Philippine Commission on Women awarded the Quezon City
government for implementing comprehensive gender and development (GAD) programs
(Pilapil, 2019). The city received recognition for the enactment of GAD ordinances that
upheld human rights, gender equality and women empowerment.

The Quezon City (QC) government was awarded by the Philippine Commission
on Women for implementing comprehensive gender and development (GAD) programs.
The city government was recognized for its enactment of GAD ordinances that uphold
human rights, gender equality and women empowerment along with six other local
government units (LGUs).

Vice Mayor Josefina “Joy” Belmonte received the award and provided an
overview of the programs the QC GAD Council boasts. With the city government being a
pioneer for a QC Pride Council that oversees all city programs and projects for the
LGBTQ+ community, Belmonte said that through the GAD council, their operations are
promoted down to the barangay level with GAD focal persons in each office. Through
this, the city combats the pressing issues of gender-based violence and abuse with the
establishment of help desks and measures to spread awareness on the issues. The city’s
Social Hygiene Clinics that were established to provide free, safe and non-discriminatory
and confidential HIV testing and counselling services is a response program for the rising
number of HIV patients. This was acknowledged as a model for other cities by the United
Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.

Vice Mayor Belmonte had said that Quezon City continues to provide progressive
gender equality programs under gender-responsive governance.

Quezon City Protection Center

The Quezon City Protection Center is an establishment located in ​Quezon City
General Hospital, Seminary Road, Barangay Bahay Toro, Quezon City. It was
established in December 12, 2011 to serve as a protection center for women, children and
members of LGBT community who are victims of abuse and different forms of
harassment. It is open from 8:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M. from monday to friday.

Klinika Bernardo
The Bernardo Social Hygiene Clinic-Primary Care Hub or Klinika Bernardo is
located along EDSA near Munoz. The clinic began in 2012 with a small group of staff
and volunteers. Through the years, the clinic has grown in staff and with media attention,
grew in the number of volunteers as well. The clinic provides various services such as
HIV prevention, testing and treatment services. These services primarily cater to men
who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people. Klinika Bernardo operates from
3pm until 11pm, allowing a maximum number of clients to visit. This is the cause of why
it is popularly known as the Sundown Clinic Despite it being funded by the Quezon City
Only 40% of its clients are from Quezon City.
III. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

For the purpose of achieving the study’s objectives and to fulfill a cohesive analysis, the
researchers focused on the government of Quezon City, NCR. Included in the analysis are the
programs and activities implemented in the past year (2018-2019) and all ongoing projects
therein.
The researchers further narrow down the study to focus on two of the QC GAD
programs, namely, the Quezon City Protection Center and Klinika Bernardo.

IV. METHODOLOGY

Necessary data for this study was obtained through secondary sources such as internet
articles, journals, existing laws and ordinances, and relevant reading materials from the Quezon
City local government. The researchers also conducted interviews with related institutions and
persons to gain additional insight as to the extent of GAD in Quezon City.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Quezon City GAD Council

In order to obtain more information on the topic, the researchers sought an official
of Quezon City’s Gender and Development Council to interview regarding the unit and
their programs, projects, and plans for gender and development in the city. Mr. Jose Rey
Espina, the Head of Quezon City Gender and Development Technical Working Group
(QC GAD TWG), shared his knowledge and experience on gender and development, a
field he has been on ever since starting in 2013.
 Espina started by recounting the formation of the Gender and Development
Council, which started when the city had formulated and passed Ordinance No.
SP-1401,S-2004, an ordinance providing for the formulation of the GAD Code, on
February 3, 2004. In its principle to “ensure both women/girls and me/boys benefit
equally and participate directly in the development programs and projects of its various
departments and ensure the full participation and involvement of both men and women in
the development process”, the Quezon City local government established the Gender and
Development Resource and Coordinating Office (GAD RCO). It is comprised by GAD
Focal Persons coming from each department.

When Republic Act No. 9710, or the Act providing for the Magna Carta of
Women (MCW) was passed in 2009, Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2013-01 followed,
providing guidelines on the localization of RA 9710 throughout local government units.
With this memorandum came provisions that introduced institutional mechanisms to
implement the MCW, facilitating the creation of the GAD Council, the GAD TWG, and a
Secretariat.

Mr. Espina noted that the challenges in gender and development can be chalked
down to the lack of acceptance by people when it comes to gender. Barangay government
units would also at times be reluctant to abide by GAD programs as it would necessitate
them to allot a portion of their budget to it, which they do not seem to see as important.
Mr. Espina noted that there still are LGU officials who are not fully accepting the state of
affairs when it comes to progressive gender and development.

When asked about future plans, Mr. Espina had one goal in mind. He said that
with the programs and projects that the GAD Council had done, there is currently a
certain degree of tolerance that people have towards different genders. However, he
thinks it is not enough, as he believes that the true end goal should be an accepting
community, not just a tolerant one. The GAD Council, with the upcoming change in
administration with Joy Belmonte assuming office as the new Quezon City mayor, is
optimistic that more programs and projects are to come, as one of the priorities of the
new mayor is about gender and development. One of these projects is the planned
unionification between the city’s GAD and Pride Council into one body that will tackle
gender and development in a much wider scope.

Quezon City Protection Center

Quezon City Protection Center is an establishment mandated to give free legal,

medical and psychological services to women and children which are victims of
harassment. According to Mayor Joy Belmonte, QCPC serves a s a “one-stop shop”
because victims are free to avail services of doctors, lawyers, social workers etc.

From 2011 to 2018, the QCPC helped more than 1,000 women, children and
members of LGBT community who were victims of domestic violence. Physical abuse
was the number one form of violence, the second was sexual abuse, like rape and
molestation, the third was psychological abuse and the fourth was economic abuse.
QCPC’s youngest victim was a 7-day-old male infant, he is a victim of physical abuse,
the oldest victim was a grandmother aged 77 years old.

Klinika Bernardo
 ​Klinika Bernardo operates from 3pm until 11pm, allowing a maximum number
of clients to visit and avail of the services there. These services primarily cater to men
who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people but despite this the clinic also
receives patients from all levels of society. ​During the regular hours of the day, (8am to
3pm) the clinic caters to a number of female sex workers, and from 3pm to 11pm the
clinic caters to the MSM and transgender communities. The clinic customizes the hours
of service for their patients to make them more accessible. Klinika Bernardo does HIV
testing monthly, and the results may to take up to a month to be processed. This delay
becomes a challenge where patients tested positive may receive ​antiretroviral therapy 
(ARV) treatment. Due to the delay, majority do not come back. The goal of the clinic is
to maintain a clear line of communication to those affected for better treatment and care.
The delay also affects the data pool which in turn delay health planning and policies

The clinic has bimonthly training sessions for the educators in Klinika Bernardo.
In addition, educators are given condom training to teach our patients about the
importance of condoms. There’s a lot of stigma with buying condoms ​Between regular
partners, then use of condoms remains very low, this is the case even though people are
generally aware of its importance. There are few staff who are trained in reducing the
stigma which is causing the individual to perform risky behavior. Klinika Bernardo is
also partnering with church groups, police and government officials to make them
understand the importance of reaching out communities from a public health point of
view. ​The clinic also offers psychosocial counselling and presents various health
insurance schemes for the future of the clients.

VI. RECOMMENDATION

The Quezon City Protection Center’s main strength is their one-stop-shop concept. Other
protection center in the country might also apply this concept. The weakness is in their schedule,
QCPC might extend their office days during the weekend to accommodate students when they
have no class. Publicizing QCPC to more people is one opportunity to expand the number of
people who would use their service, they can promote to break the stigma so that people would
be more encouraged to seek help. The compensation of the professionals that the center employs
is the main challenge in making the center sustainable and expand in the future, since the
professionals that the center employs are mostly high-profile like lawyers and doctors.

Klinika Bernardo’s main strength is its flexible time, the schedule makes it accessible to
those who need it. The main weakness that Klinika Bernardo faces is the time that it takes for
the HIV testing result to take, one month is a long time so clients are discouraged to come back
after that time and within a period of one month, they might transmit the disease to other people.
Klinika Bernardo has an opportunity to expand their services to non-MSM and non-transgender
people.

VII. CONCLUSION

Quezon City Protection Center and and Klinika Bernardo, are two of the programs which
greatly promotes gender and development in Quezon City. These two GAD programs are unique
compared to other GAD programs in the country.

QCPC serves as a one top shop where you can find lawyers, doctors, social workers etc.
This lessens the burden in their clients in going from one place to another. This also makes
clients not hesitate to use their services.

Klinika Bernardo’s flexible time allows clients to use their service in their most
convenient time. Since there is a stigma to MSMs and transgender people, clients may choose to
come at evening when there is a less chance that they might be seen by others. The flexible time
also allows sex workers to come in the afternoon since their work is mostly at evening, this
widens the scope of clients that are able to access their services.
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