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DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS

Doctor of Social Development

2009 – 2018

College of Social Work and Community Development

University of the Philippines

2018

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Table of Contents

Foreword MA. THERESA V. TUNGPALAN, PhD

2014 In their voices: The rights and capabilities of the “Anak ng OFW” MARK ANTHONY D. ABENIR, DSD

Non-state partners in Social Development in Vietnam: Organization, issues and processes

PHAM TIEN NAM, DSD

Livelihood practices of women in the informal economy: Forging pathways towards a Feminist Solidarity Economy NATHALIE AFRICA-VERCELES, DSD

Kaelleuman hap: A Yakan experience of flourishing amidst conflict MATTHEW S. WILL, DSD

Images and voices of citizens’ participation in local governance: Potentials and challenges of Agricultural and Fishery Councils as Participatory Mechanisms PEDRO S. DUMARAOS JR., DSD

2015 Stories women tell: Rural women’s narratives of their lived experiences of poverty, recurrent typhoons and disasters TERESITA VILLAMOR-BARRAMEDA, DSD

Participation in community building among internal migrants in Eahdil Village in Vietnam LE VAN CONG, DSD Examining deaths behind bars: Toward Penal System Policy reforms in the context of human rights PERSIDA V. RUEDA-ACOSTA, LLB, DSD

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Caring for Carers Psychosocial support to humanitarian workers in coping with disaster: The case of the Philippine Red Cross in the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban City

ZENAIDA PAEZ-BELTEJAR, DSD

2016 Social development realities and practices in community governance of selected coastal communities in Pangasinan JULIET C. CAROLINO, DSD

Kahampatan as lived by the Ayta: Affirming indigenous well-being ANGELITO B. MENESES, DSD

2018 Organized women’s responses to urban poor housing: Towards transformation in housing in the Philippines

ROWENA A. LAGUILLES-TIMOG, DSD

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Foreword

The Doctor of Social Development (DSD) Program is celebrating its 10th year (2009 – 2019)

with the theme, “Dekada ng Serbisyo at Dedikasyon”. This is also an opportune time to

review the milestones of the program in its journey towards transformative scholarship.

This collection presents the dissertation abstracts of the twelve (12) DSD graduates from

2009 to 2018. It aims to surface the major research findings as DSD’s contribution to the

current social development discourse and practice. DSD is committed to praxis-oriented

learning and trans- disciplinary development perspectives. To some extent, it has gone

‘outside the box’ of conventional development discourse of the Global North. As a doctoral

program, it encourages its faculty, students and alumni to discover and adapt new pathways

of critical analysis and social action in response to the dynamic character of social

development practice in the Philippines and other South countries.

The DSD Program continues to strive to be relevant both in the academic and public

spheres. By training qualified social development professionals who can influence and lead

in their respective work settings, it is hoped that the seeds for quality public service and

accountability can flourish amidst mounting socio-political challenges.

The dissertations included in this collection are grounded on pro-poor development

perspectives and constructivist methodological considerations. But beyond its conceptual

relevance, these researches also delved on program and policy recommendations in

response to current gaps in social development practice.

The dissertations put forward theoretical and conceptual moorings, methodological

innovations, as well as practical implications of the research findings. More than these,

however, is the hope to influence decisions and actions to make social development policies,

programs and practices more transformative and sustainable for the benefit of marginalized

groups and communities.

This collection includes the first 12 DSD dissertations. There are more dissertations that are

currently in-progress. This collection of abstracts aims to inform and inspire other social

development students, frontline workers, professionals, and policy makers to move forward

in making a genuine difference in people’s well-being.

Ma. Theresa V. Tungpalan, PhD

DSD Program Director November 2018

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In their voices: The rights and capabilities of the “Anak ng OFW”

Mark Anthony D. Abenir April 2014

Abstract

This dissertation makes use of a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) and

Capabilities Approach in expanding and deepening the migration-development discourse in

understanding the lives of the Anak ng OFW. Its main thesis argues that it is necessary to

identify specific Rights and Capabilities that are reflective of the voices of the Anak ng OFW

as basis for what Rights should be secured by organized interest groups in order to

safeguard the Capabilities that are crucial for the development of OFW families. Social

Development in this dissertation is defined as the process of enabling the Anak ng OFW to

expand their capabilities (substantive freedoms) and help them fulfill and claim their rights so

the benefits that they have gained from their parent(s)’ migration; and these to be sustained

so that the negative consequences brought about by family separation can be mitigated.

Through the use of mixed methods design, qualitative and quantitative results were drawn

from 2446 survey questionnaire respondents, 50 small group sharing participants, 70

interview respondents, and five (5) years of ethnographic exposure of working with the Anak

ng OFW. The study demonstrated praxis-oriented learning and theorizing from the ground in

identifying the five specific rights and three important capabilities that are reflective of the

voices of the Anak ng OFW. This dissertation ends with a summary and insights of research

findings, a discussion on the contribution of the dissertation on the field of Social

Development agenda that will befit the Anak ng OFW and their families and the families of

the non-migrants as well.

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Non-state partners in Social Development in Vietnam: Organization, issues and processes

Pham Tien Nam February 2014

Abstract

Social enterprises (SEs) place social mission as the top priority by using business

activities, fair competition as tools to meet social objectives and reinvesting profit generated

from business activities into the organizations, communities and social objectives. In a

country like Viet Nam, where there is strong social work thrust, SEs are non-state partners

and supportive of government in its social welfare delivery system. SEs can become

effective partners of the State by supporting the State to achieve its social development

agenda.

This study seeks to answer the question: How do social enterprises as non-state

partners in social development share and render social services to young people, especially

the disadvantaged youth and communities in Viet Nam? This study was mainly qualitative

and descriptive. It focused on three social enterprises in Ha Noi City, Viet Nam as case

studies: Hoa Sua School of Economics and Tourism, Know One, Teach One (KOTO), and

Tea Talk.

Findings show that SEs are considered as vehicle for economic solidarity in pursuing

social development. SEs appear to be humane than the capitalist market, being more

people-oriented rather than profit-centered. SEs use business model processes to generate

specific social solutions for vulnerable people who in turn contribute back to the business

model process. This model supports the State’s national building program. Social capital,

invested resources, management structures, and relationship with the State are significant

contributors to SEs in Viet Nam’s social development efforts, particularly in terms of

providing social services to disadvantaged youth and communities. This study also

recognized the typical characteristics of SEs in Viet Nam. It was noted that SEs also

confronted some problems: coping with financial issues and absence of State policies and

legal frameworks that promote the development of SEs in Viet Nam.

To sum up, SEs as non-state partners could play a central role, with support from the

State, in the provision of social services to young people, especially disadvantaged youth

and communities in Viet Nam. Thus, there is an urgent call for advocacy on the significance

of SEs in the halls of decision-making assemblies from the district to the State as a social

policy agenda for sustainability purposes and mechanisms.

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Livelihood practices of women in the informal economy: Forging pathways towards a Feminist Solidarity Economy

Nathalie Africa-Verceles

March 2014

Abstract

This research focuses on women in the informal economy, specifically self-

employed/own-account micro-entrepreneurs and sub-contracted workers. Three case

studies in three field sites were accomplished, and these covered, in each of the field sites,

the solidarity livelihood enterprise, its women participants, and the supply chain within which

production is embedded. Data were generated through multiple research methods:

participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and focused group discussions.

Through gender analysis using Naila Kabeer’s (1994) Social Relations Approach

combined with Bina Agarwal’s (1992) Feminist Environmentalism, it strove for a deeper

understanding of the persistent nature and simultaneity of women’s subordination and

marginalization in reproduction, production, and in their interactions with nature. Another

gender analysis was conducted, this time of the solidarity economics initiatives, with the

intent of examining how they were able to address and rectify the subordination of women

informal workers through their own practices. This was supplemented by an analysis of the

supply chains within which the production activities of the solidarity enterprises were

embedded in order to determine to what extent the segments were animated by solidarity

principles. Lastly, the effects of participation in the solidarity livelihood projects on the

situation of the women within the household, community, market, and on their relations with

the state/local government were investigated.

The solidarity initiatives covered by the case studies were benchmarked against a

vision of a feminist solidarity economy in order to identify areas of improvement and provide

recommendations towards the practice of a more explicitly solidarity economy.

The research methodology was qualitative and guided by “feminist beliefs and

concerns” (Brayton, 1997) with the aim of “transforming and empowering women” (Guerrero,

1997, p.2). This research endeavored to “generate knowledge about women that will

contribute to their liberation and empowerment…” (Guerrero, 1997, p.2), “improve women’s

daily lives and influence public policies and opinion” (Maguire, 1987, p.121 as cited in

Guerrero, 1997, p.3).

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Kaelleuman hap: A Yakan experience of flourishing amidst conflict

Matthew S. Will July 2014

Abstract

This research explores a concept of flourishing and its implications for social

development among ethnic Yakan people, a group of indigenous people in the Philippines

who have adapted their lives to the ebb and flow of conflicts and disadvantages.

Undergirded by gross domestic product, self-interest as the sole justice and economic

motivator, and problem solving as a primary means of development, traditional development

was considered congruent with local ideals of good life. Contrasting the typical development

focus, Yakan research participants, who compose the majority population on Basilan Island,

Mindanao, developed and explored domains that lead to flourishing. The research was done

using multi-methods of qualitative and quantitative approaches using focus group

discussions, nominal group techniques, key informant interviews, and survey in Lamitan, Al-

Barka, and Isabela, Basilan.

Basilan typically is portrayed as fraught with conflicts and poverty. A 2005 Philippines

human development report found that Basilan province had among the highest numbers of

armed encounters between 1986 and 2004 (Human Development Network [HDN], 2005, p.2)

and was ranked among the bottom five provinces in terms of human development indicators

(p.19). As a result, people living outside of Basilan customarily label the Yakan majority as

“terrorists” or “rebels”. Yet, most Yakan are peace-loving people. Rather than embody

hopelessness, study participants expressed a love of life through positive stories about

people helping one another, respecting those at other “power” levels, governing one another,

and securing work. They also shared stories of children learning and communities, finding

peace during a conflict. A framework was constructed from these stories.

Domains reflecting flourishing were created and compared. The comparison revealed

that the following domains, starting with the strongest, would more strongly affect the good

life: the ability to have fear of and faith in Allah, to love and help one another, to respect one

another, to have peace in community, to be educated, to work, to have a shelter, to have a

good health, to take part in governance, and to travel. Participants connected these domains

to international and context-specific rights and obligations.

Recommendations were forwarded regarding increasing respect, addressing the

disproportionate effect conflicts have had on women’s domains, creating positive change in

other domains by working through the domain of fear and faith in Allah, building on the circle

of care and concept to increase feelings of security on Basilan Island and to form similar

frameworks of a good life in other contexts.

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Images and voices of citizens’ participation in local governance: Potentials and challenges of Agricultural and Fishery Councils

as participatory mechanisms

Pedro S. Dumaraos, Jr. December 2014

Abstract

This study revolves around the actual community experiences of small farmers and

fishers’ participation in policy formulation and administration and local governance through

the Provincial Agricultural and Fishery Councils (PAFCs) and Municipal Agricultural and

Fishery Councils (MAFCs) as enabling mechanisms. It presents cases about the lives,

experiences and struggles of the marginalized citizens from farming and fishing communities

to improve their lives and find solutions to their problems through direct participation in local

governance. It describes how these marginalized groups, through their own initiatives,

develop strategies and internal mechanisms to ensure the responsiveness of policies and

programs to their needs. The study also identifies key factors and elements in sustaining

citizens’ participation, and shows how they are empowered. It also presents the challenges

and barriers they encountered from which policy recommendations were drawn from the

actual experiences and observations of the AFC officers and members. The study ends with

a recommended operational framework of citizens’ participation based on the good practices

drawn from the case studies of the PAFCs of Benguet and Iloilo and MAFCs of La Trinidad,

Benguet and Leon, Iloilo.

The study showed that citizens’ participation was practiced in the four AFCs. Based

on the actual accounts of AFC officers and members, local citizens and their government

counterparts, they agreed first on the structures of their AFCs suited to their conditions and

needs. In the course of their working together, they ended up strengthening the partnership

between the local citizens and the LGUs. Further, the study revealed key factors that

contributed to the local citizens’ commitment to work voluntarily and sustain their

participation in the AFCs. They put value to clarity of roles; why they are there; what they are

doing; having a common vision to improve their lives and the freedom to create their own

destinies.

The study also showed the following key factors and elements that sustained the

operations of the four AFCs: the sense of ownership and commitment to serve; the value of

organizing; the importance of leadership; and the trust and confidence that evolved in their

working together to ensure that policies and programs were responsive to and reflective of

the conditions and needs of the small farmers and fishers.

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Stories women tell: Rural women’s narratives of their lived experiences of

poverty, recurrent typhoons and disasters

Teresita Villamor Barrameda June 2015

Abstract

How did recurrent typhoons and disasters impinge on the lived experiences of rural

women living in poverty and on social relations in households, and how did these social

relations based on gender and class produce both vulnerabilities and capacities?

To shed light to this problem, the life stories of ten women-storytellers living in

poverty in rural Barangay Monbon in the municipality of Irosin in Sorsogon Province were

examined to understand women’s experiences of recurrent typhoons and disaster risk

reduction and management programs from their own perspectives. To surface their

experiences of poverty in the different stages of their lives mediated by recurrent typhoons,

five areas of their lives were examined: (1) division of labor in the household; (2) allocation of

resources, benefits and entitlements; (3) women and family health; (4) distribution of power

and authority; and, (5) community participation.

In analyzing women’s lived experiences of poverty, recurrent typhoons and disasters,

two theoretical frameworks were used - the Social Relations Approach (SRA) and the

Rights-Based Approach (RBA). Applying the SRA, the study examined gender and class

relations through the (1) rules; (2) activities; (3) resources; (4) people; and, (5) power of

three social institutions – (a) the household; (b) the State/barangay government unit; and, (c)

the community – in which women’s lives ware embedded and were influential in producing,

maintaining and reinforcing gendered vulnerabilities and capacities in situations of recurrent

typhoons and disasters. Based on women’s stories of their experiences of disaster risk

reduction and management (DRRM) programs, the RBA was used as a frame in analyzing

how these programs facilitated or hindered the realization of their human rights as women.

The processes, focus and utilization of this study subscribed to feminist principles

and values of feminist standpoint epistemology, feminist grounded theory and feminist ethics.

Adopting a feminist approach to research, three levels of research (empirical, interpretive

and analytical) attempted to shed light on the problem of the study. At the empirical level of

research, women’s lived experiences of poverty, recurrent typhoons/disasters and DRRM

programs were examined as well as their views about these concerns. At the interpretive

level, the relationships of factors that mediated women’s lives in relation to poverty and

recurrent typhoons were examined. At the analytical level, the findings from the two levels

were further analyzed in terms of the micro-macro contexts and the structural relations that

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influenced not only the situation of women in a local context but also the macro context of

Philippine society.

Findings from the study point to the following conclusions: (1) poverty reinforces

women’s vulnerability and their households’ pre-disaster vulnerability; (2) poverty and

recurrent typhoons/disasters have gendered effects on rural households; (3) DRRM

programs implemented by the State and community reinforce gender and class biases; (4)

with climate change, welfare-oriented DRRM programs are no longer enough to respond to

recurrent typhoons; and (5) the life story is a very appropriate method in surfacing women’s

experiences and perspectives. From here, the study explored the timeliness and relevance

of women’s rights-based approach to DRRM programs as an alternative towards the

realization of the human rights of women. At the same time, the study proposed some

recommendations, incorporating the women-storytellers’ and the researcher’s

recommendations, for the three social institutions – the household, the community and the

State to address pre-disaster, during and post-disaster vulnerabilities. Alongside these

recommendations, the implication of the study to policy and to the social development

discipline was presented through a preliminary review of the current Philippine DRRM law of

2010 (RA10121).

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Participation in community building among internal migrants in Eahdil Village in Vietnam

Le Van Cong

June 2015

Abstract

This paper attempts to locate internal migration in Eahdil village, Dak-Lak province,

Vietnam within a capacity building framework, both theoretically and empirically. This

dissertation argues that partnership in capacity building resulting from the partnership

between the development agents and migrant families in a socialist state can lead to a multi-

layered positive result besides mere economic growth. It can also help to improve the well-

being of migrant families, to shape and shift to the new pattern of economic development

which encompasses socio-economic growth in favor of the poor, enrich socio-cultural

diversity with a sense of sharing, enhance the sustainability of environment, and deepen the

sense of human dignity.

Through the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods and by combining

different data gathering methods, i.e., semi-structures interviews with 30 respondents

(migrants), focus group discussions (FGDs) of 10 respondents, participant observation, and

documents review, it described the historical struggle out of poverty and the journey of

migrants through community partnership in capacity building and the outcomes of this

partnership in improving the well-being of migrant families. Consequently, through the Eahdil

experience on partnership in capacity building, community participation can guide social

development, policy review and advocacy. This study adds to the theoretical discourse and

empirical data on capacity building by introducing a flexible form or element of community

participation under the socialist state: This was done by (1) summarizing the situation and

the problems of the internal migrants upon their arrival; (2) by describing the partnership

between the development agents and migrant community in the capacity building process to

address community issues and the outcomes of this partnership in improving the well-being

of migrants; (3) by identifying lessons from Eahdil experiences in terms of capacity building

partnerships and community participation in the development process; and (4) by

recommending policy reforms regarding migrant community participation in state-initiated

development agenda. This study hopes to benefit the Eahdil village as well as other internal

migrants in Vietnam.

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Examining deaths behind bars: Toward Penal System Policy reforms in the context of human rights

Persida V. Rueda-Acosta

June 2015

Abstract

This dissertation is a mixed-method study which aims to determine the extent, types

and causes of deaths in Philippine prisons and analyze them using a rights-based approach

towards forwarding recommendations for penal system reforms.

Its main argument is based on the guaranteed right of inmates as rights bearers or

claim holders to retain their rights as human beings with the exception of those that have

been lost as a specific consequence of deprivation of liberty (Section 1, Article III, 1987

Philippine Constitution). Hence, inmates may be dispossessed of their liberty but not their

humanity, and certainly not their lives.

Using a rights-based approach, it analyzed the causes of the deaths of inmates in

prisons and the commitment of the prison management as duty holder to accepted

standards of treatment of prisoners and the goals of corrections on rehabilitation and

reintegration. It described the prevailing conditions in prisons which contributed to the

occurrence of diseases and deaths of inmates. It identified the effects of these situations in

correctional institutions to inmates by gender, i.e, female, male, lesbian, and gay. The study

underscored the need to advocate for a fortified and proper information dissemination

campaign for inmates, for them to be informed and become empowered rights holders.

The survey of 566 inmates provided qualitative and quantitative data regarding the

provision of basic needs, the treatment they receive as persons deprived of liberty (PDL),

and the mortality and morbidity (incidents of sickness among inmates) in the correctional

institutions where they were serving their sentence. More than twenty one percent of these

inmates were political prisoners. There were also questions about accounts of

marginalization among certain sectors in the prison population. In addition, the stories of and

about deceased inmates were gathered through the narratives of their family members to

whom they shared their plight as PDLs, and their observations as well on prison life as a

whole.

As its contribution to Social Development, this study identified the gaps which hinder

the proper and complete delivery of the corrective and rehabilitative services to inmates, and

recommended penal policy reforms to address these unearthed disparities and voids. These

recommendations were made to improve the inmates’ well-being in prison as they prepare

for reintegration to the society once they have served their sentence, or granted pardon, or

other forms of clemencies.

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The dissertation proposed measures for the State’s positive and urgent actions

regarding the enactment and strict implementation of laws guaranteeing the entitlements of

inmates in consonance with the Anti-Torture Act of 2009; the revision of those which are

inimical to their welfare and recognition of earned rights like their good conduct time

allowance (GCTA); and, adherence to proper accountability in the discharge of duties for

inmates, and the efficient utilization of funds for their rehabilitation and safekeeping.

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Caring for Carers Psychosocial support to humanitarian workers in coping with

disaster: The case of the Philippine Red Cross in the 2013 typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban City

Zenaida Paez-Beltejar

December 2015

Abstract

This study presents the difficult experiences and stressors encountered by

humanitarian workers in disaster operations, and sheds light on their coping systems. Using

the case of the PRC humanitarian workers, the study looked at the capability of an

organization in providing psychosocial support programs and services, as well as the

policies that can be accessed by humanitarian workers.

A survey was conducted among 75 humanitarian workers involved in the emergency

phase as a result of the disaster wrought by 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban Leyte. It also

delved into the cases of PRC personnel who were deeply involved in the humanitarian

response. The results showed that there are more female humanitarian workers between the

ages of 22-30 and more male aid workers ages 36 years old and above. Higher educational

attainment levels are required of humanitarian workers as they move up in the career ladder.

The respondents experienced great difficulty as a result of being repeatedly exposed to

gruesome scenes, dangerous situations, and difficult and physically demanding working

conditions. They were cognizant of the limitations of their working conditions and were able

to handle and cope with the pressures and stress in their jobs on a daily basis. The

responsive ways of coping included their strong sense of spirituality, peer support, asking

help from family, socialization, and self-care.

The PRC has moderate capability to provide Psychosocial Support Programs,

Services and Policies to its aid workers. However, the PRC humanitarian workers are

seldom able to access these. Based on these, policy recommendations are proposed to

improve the working conditions of humanitarian personnel and enhance the delivery of

responsive disaster management. Recommendations include: adoption of the IFRC policy

on psychosocial support; implementation of the UN IASC Guidelines on Mental Health or the

MHPSS and indigenize its operationalization to suit the context of Filipino culture; allocation

of funds and manpower resources for the operationalization of the psychosocial support

policies; and forging of enhanced partnership within the Red Cross and Red Crescent

Movement, LGUs and academe for mutual support, knowledge sharing and expansion of

resources.

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Social Development realities and practices in community governance of selected coastal communities in Pangasinan

Juliet C. Carolino

March 2016

Abstract

This study aims to address how social development is being articulated in community

governance and how it can be enhanced using social development strategies as reinforced

and framed within rights-based principles through research in coastal communities in

Pangasinan.

The study focused on the case analysis of Barangays Imbo, Patar, Lucap, and

Pugaro utilizing mixed methods research through the combination of qualitative and

quantitative methodologies. KIIs, FGDs, participant observation, and survey questionnaires

were used for data gathering. Documents review was also conducted.

This study analyzed the realities and practices of social development in relation to (1)

community governance in terms of resource management, service delivery mechanism, and

decision-making mechanism, and (2) the rights-based principles of participation, inclusion,

and fulfillment of obligation. It explored the experiences of the communities in community

organizing, social policy formulation and adoption, and institution-building as social

development strategies. It analyzed their situational context and norms in community

governance vis-à-vis social development.

The findings showed that the communities have their own articulation of social

development based on their prevailing situations, realities, practices, experiences,

mechanisms, and norms. And, in general, they have “satisfactorily” utilized these in

achieving desired outcomes towards self-reliant, self-sustained, self-governed social

development as further embodied in their practices of community leadership, community

ownership, and community empowerment.

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Kahampatan as lived by the Ayta: Affirming indigenous well-being

Angelito B. Meneses December 2016

Abstract

This study aims to explore the experiences of kahampatan based on the Ayta context

of indigenous well-being. It attempts to describe and illumine the Ayta lived experiences as

accounts to affirm indigenous well-being. Likewise, it was the intention of the study to

construct a kahampatan model of social development based on the insights shared by the

research participants. The study sought to answer the following specific questions:

1. How does the experience of indigenous well-being be described in terms of

subjective and community experience?

2. How can indigenous well-being be analyzed in relation to the bio-psycho-social-

spiritual-ecological dimensions of well-being?

3. How can indigenous well-being be analyzed from a gender and development

perspective and amidst social change?

4. What eidetic insight can be gleaned from the lived experiences of kahampatan?

5. What model of social development can be drawn based on the findings and insights

of the study?

The study utilized the phenomenological approach and indigenous research methods

to gather the data involving 12 key informants from LAKAS Pamayanan and Sitio Alibang

who provided accounts for the subjective well-being. PRA methods were also used to

gather the data for the community well-being in Sitio Alibang involving two groups: the

older generation and younger generation.

The study revealed that the experiences of subjective well-being described

kahampatan as an attitude of care and concern for kapwa or shared identity, as a good

pagkatao or shared nobility, as food, as health, as aspiration for a good life through

education, as sharing the blessings of Apo Namalyari, as showing compassion to

lowlanders, as respect for the land, as symbiotic relationship with other beings and as

self-sufficiency and abundance or kainomayan. These individual themes were

categorized into four common themes which include health, relationship, land, and rights.

The study also revealed that kahampatan is consistent to the satisfaction of needs of

the bio-psycho-social-spiritual-ecological dimensions of well-being.

Oppression against women is not embedded in the cultural practices of bandi

according to the research participants. Kahampatan nurtures right relationships which

promote equality across gender, age and status in life in the three areas of productive,

reproductive, and community work activities. The persistence of kahampatan amidst

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social change was found to be instigated by three factors: first is due to the effective

adaptation; second is due to positive inculturation; and third is due to the affirming

enculturation of their identity and indigenous knowledge system.

The eidetic statement depicted that kahampatan is an appropriate attitude and act

towards relating positively with others to the realization of goodness of life for all. A fern

was used as the symbolic representation of kahampatan because it grows in positive

relationship with the land. The fronds symbolize the creative adaptation of the Ayta to the

changing times while preserving their cultural identity. The unfurling of the fronds

represents new life, new growth, and interdependency of the web of life towards

experiencing the goodness of life for all.

A kahampatan model of social development was constructed based on the insights

and findings. It illustrates that total human development could be fulfilled through the

satisfaction of the bio-psycho-social-spiritual needs. Ecological conservation ensures the

satisfaction of the bio-psycho-social-spiritual dimensions of well-being. The framework

offers understanding on the interlocking and interrelation of Welfare, Being Well, Fare-

Well and Well-Being as a comprehensive strategy to social development.

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Organized women’s responses to urban poor housing: Towards transformation in housing in the Philippines

Rowena A. Laguilles-Timog

January 2018

Abstract

In 2016, the Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council (HUDCC)

identified a total need of 5.8 million housing units, while the Philippine National Report to the

Habitat III noted that only 84.8 percent in the country had access to potable water in 2011,

only 83.8 percent had access to sanitary toilets in 2016, and only 79.12 percent had access

to electricity as of 2013 (A New Urban Agenda, 2016, pp. 102-104). Both in terms of quantity

and quality, the national housing system cannot seem to effectively ensure that every

Filipino benefits from decent housing, especially those living in the cities. Considered an

urban phenomenon, inadequate housing has become characteristic of urban poverty.

Among those affected by the phenomenon are women, who make up at least half of

all urban populations and are greatly disadvantaged when it comes to accessing housing,

and furthermore, carry much of the burdens of inadequate housing. Urban poverty, in fact,

has a strong gender dimension that pervades the lives of all urban poor women. Filipino

women’s right to housing is recognized by the state not only through international documents

to which the Philippines is signatory, but also in local laws. Preliminary studies show,

however, that women are mostly still left out in most housing policies and programs

(Laguilles, 2017). And while it is most common in Philippine urban areas for women to be at

the forefront of housing projects, their role as part of the solution to the housing problem are

largely unrecognized.

This research aims to address the need for an examination of organized women’s

experiences with urban poor housing, surfacing both their situations as well as their

responses. More than surfacing their experiences, it sets out to analyze them in order not

only to critically reflect on the housing system, but also to put forward possible ways the

housing system can be transformed. Three main points of inquiry are at the core of this

study as it looks into the persistence of the housing problem in the Philippines. First is to

look into how the housing system considers and determines gender issues in housing.

Second is an examination of the structural nature of gender issues in housing. Third is an

analysis of how organized women’s responses can transform the housing system.

The Social Relations Framework by Naila Kabeer (1994a, 1994b) guided the analysis

of data in this research. This framework basically considers that development must be about

people’s well-being, particularly survival, security, and autonomy. Three corresponding tools

of analysis were used in this study: Policy Review, which was used to analyze the housing

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system from a gender perspective; the Institutional Analysis, which was used to analyze

women’s housing situations through different institutions; and an adaptation of Analyzing

Interventions, which was used to analyze the women’s responses to housing.

Standpoint feminism guided the design of this research. This research perspective

gives primacy to women’s voices, both as views on reality and as participants in the

research process. Most importantly, this research was designed for the purpose of

contributing to the transformation of women’s oppression, which in this context finds

expression in women’s exclusion in the debate on housing. The conduct of case studies was

deemed most appropriate in representing their experiences of a current phenomenon. In

doing so, the following data-gathering methods were employed: in-depth interview, focus

group discussion, key informant interview, and documents review.

Three case organizations were included in this study. All of them are feminist, or at

least women-led and were constituted as well as worked to address women’s issues; all

were based in an urban poor community; and all have an ongoing housing initiative. For the

documents review, documents on housing policies and programs, current housing

frameworks, and relevant Gender and Development guidelines were included.

Findings from the organized women’s experiences with urban poor housing point to

the following:

First, the housing system needs an upheaval of its most searing value for the

market’s role in housing the urban poor. It is recommended that the housing system take a

radical approach to housing for the urban poor and make it unconditional: identified urban

poor individuals and communities must meet no requirements in order to access and remain

in housing programs. As shown in all three cases of this research, imposing financial

requirements for access and tenure does not benefit the urban poor; in fact, the burden of

having to meet them only discourages them to continue in the program – not because they

do not value the housing provision but because they do not have the capacity for it. Without

the burden of rent or mortgage, the urban poor are actually able to focus better on improving

their homes and their lives.

Secondly, different shelter agencies also need to become more aligned and

coordinated. The housing system also and specifically needs to have consistency in its

perspectives on and approaches to gender issues in housing. The National Shelter Program

must be updated to reflect the most progressive policies concerning gender, from the Magna

Carta of Women to the Gender and Development guidelines. It goes without saying that

these pro-women policies need to be implemented more strictly.

Thirdly, more than simply integrating gender, the housing system should work

towards transforming gender. This entails an appreciation of urban poor women’s situation,

or their material condition and social position. This also means working with organized

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women from the urban poor. These participatory consultations must also be continuous,

from preparation to evaluation stages of the housing program or project, to cover any

possible issue over access, security of tenure, physical design, and mechanisms of

participation.

Fourthly, the idea is for the housing system to reflect the perspectives that organized

women have of housing – in terms of why it must and how it can achieve quality living

conditions. This privileging of women’s vantage point comes with the findings of the study

that their socialized role as care takers for the family and community lie behind what makes

them effective community leaders. Not only do they seek the welfare of their families and

communities with the ultimate goal of having adequate housing, they also carry this sense of

concern for others in the way they run their organizations. With this, the burden of caring

becomes lighter for women. Additionally, the housing system needs to put in place

mechanisms directed to other institutions that redistributes women’s roles as carers for the

family and the community.

Finally, the housing system must work with other systems, such as health, education,

and employment, to address current gender issues as they cut across other systems and to

sustain whatever gains it may have with transforming gender in the context of housing. The

housing system will become most effective in addressing gender issues in housing if the

state as a whole becomes more consistently and strictly gender-transformative as well, all

working towards people’s well-being.