THE NEGROS ORIENTAL WOMEN IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, 1937-2013: A PERSPECTIVE FOR STRATEGIC GOVERNANCE FROM LOCAL CHIEF EXECUTIVES

The Negros Oriental Women in Public Administration, 1937-2013:A Perspective for Strategic Governance from Local Chief Executives

Dino C. Mondarte, PhDCebu Normal University

Abstract

Since the right of suffrage was granted to Filipino women in1937, Philippine history has already recorded the empowerment ofFilipino women in all aspects of their lives except in politics.However, there are a handful of them who have been lucky enough to getelected or appointed to public office. Hence, as a study in PublicAdministration and Governance, this research paper about women aslocal chief executives in Negros Oriental was conducted not only togive credit to these women but also to share and give prominence tothe personal knowledge they gained in Philippine politics. Thus, this paper seeks to meet the objectives employed in thestudy: the women of Negros Oriental as local chief executives; thepersonal circumstances of these women who have been elected as localchief executives; their profiles revealed from their terms of office,age, marital status, and educational attainment; and the services andachievements they rendered as local chief executives as gathered frominfrastructure projects, health services, peace and order programs,educational services, tourism program, and environmental managementprogram. From the perspective of history, the design of thisinvestigation employed the survey method, document analysis, knowledgefrom key informants, and oral history. The findings of the study showthat majority of the women in Public Administration and Governance inNegros Oriental came from a family of politicians; that they werealready professionals when they joined politics; and that they rankedinfrastructure projects as first among their projects in publicservice.

Keywords: feminism, women empowerment, women in politics, politicalexperiences

1

Introduction

The achievements of women have been actively erased from humanhistory for thousands of years.1 From the dawn of civilization or evenup to the time of Jesus Christ, they have been almost invisible inevery page of history. In her paper on “Women in Philippine History”(1998)2, Maria Luisa Camagay laments that as most historians are male,they also look at history from a male perspective – she notes thathistorians probably believe that man’s experience in history is nodifferent from that of women. Although not much attention has beengiven to writing the history of women; nature nonetheless has revealedthat for each great man the world has witnessed, there is almostalways a great mother in the background. Written history shows thatthere have been a handful of women stories that have helped shape thehistory of the world: Queens Hatshepsut and Cleopatra of Egypt,Catherine the Great of Russia, Queens Victoria and Elizabeth ofEngland and Queen Seondeok of Unified Korea. These women are just afew of the most popular female rulers who date back from the time ofthe emergence of great empires and kingdoms in the ancient world. Verypopular as female political rulers, these are also figures whoexercised their rights as women in political affairs. Whether in politics or in religion, women in the Philippineshad a different set of experiences. History attests that long beforethe Spaniards came to the Philippines, Filipino women were alreadygiven full recognition and acceptance in early Philippine society -most notably as the babaylan, a role bestowed the equal rights or statusof a hara (datu’s wife). The babaylan was also the second most influentialwoman in society then. Usually a sister of a datu or the villagechieftain, the babaylan assumes primary roles that include thespiritual and political counsel of the village chieftain. As babaylans,Filipino women before Spanish colonization also enjoyed a status ofprestige in society where equal rights/value were given to them –where they were participants in decision-making processes, where theyhad equal access to production resources, and where they had equal“inheritance rights”.3

However, when the first antagonist of the native Indio arrived inthe country – the Spaniards – the status of early Filipino women likethe babaylan was suppressed and demoted to the lowest strata in earlyPhilippine society. It was during the Spanish colonization of thecountry when the concept of “patriarchy” was introduced, making theearly Filipino women subordinate to men. Patriarchy is the focus on

2

men’s power, authority and dominance over women. It is loosely definedas male culture or ideology, male choice, male bonding and malepolitical interests in dominating women as producers and reproducers.4

The coming of the Americans made an impact on the lives ofFilipino women. First, they increasingly linked and made the localeconomy dependent on the world capitalist market. This led to theclass division of Filipino society and to the sexual division of laborand gender subordination of women in the home and public work places.5

Second, the Americans were instrumental in re-elevating the status ofFilipino women when in 1937, the commonwealth government passed a lawthat gave Filipino women the right of suffrage. As an achievement,this right was the product of two women’s organizations that wereformed by women calling themselves “feminists”: the Asociacion FeministaFilipina in 1905 headed by Concepcion Felix Rodriguez and the AsociacionFeminista Ilongga in 1906 with Pura Kalaw Villanueva as the head founder.6

The Filipina woman’s right of suffrage also paved the way towardsgranting women full participation in political affairs. Ines Dela ViñaSerion from the Municipality of Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental becameone of the first female candidates to win the local election as mayor.Together with her was Demtria Buslon of Sierra-Bullones, Bohol7 who wasalso elected in the same position. She gained acceptance andrecognition as the first woman to be elected as mayor in the municipalgovernment in the entire province of Negros Oriental and in the wholecountry.8

Since then, many more Filipino women have been elected todifferent political positions from the barangay level up to thenational level. This makes the Philippines a different country when itcomes to women’s political participation and representation ascompared to other countries where patriarchy always plays a role.Filipino women have gained and enjoyed equal rights with men. Theyhave been elected too, as leaders in the different sectors such as inthe academe, business and industry. In political affairs, women havebeen elected as local chief executives. The Philippines has alreadyelected two female presidents: Corazon C. Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Such changes in the Philippine political landscape profile theFilipino woman – especially from Negros Oriental – as havingtranscended their roles as housewives, from a babaylan to the modelMaria Clara, and to a modern and an empowered one.

In the Philippines, women in general have been well representedin the various sectors in society. Except in politics, they have beengenerally successful in various careers such as the academe, business,

3

performance arts, law, and medical fields, among others. The knowledgegap about women in politics is the reason why this research has beenundertaken to connect the knowledge gap about women political leadersin the province of Negros Oriental. This is also in the researcher’sinterest to write about women who are in politics. In this way, thewomen of Negros Oriental who are in the field of politics are givenprominence in the history of Negros Oriental as they too, have helpedto shape the province’s history especially on gender concerns andwomen empowerment. When recalling various stories about women inpolitics and about their struggle for identity, recognition cannot befar behind. Thus, the history of feminism in the Philippines beginswith the suffrage movement that was led by the National Federation ofWomen’s Clubs in the 1920s.9 Women activists have claimed that Filipino feministtheories were homegrown, based on the analysis of the women’ssituation in the Philippine context as influenced by the experiencesof women survivors of exploitation. On the other hand, Quindoza-Santigao (1996)10 said that many have considered feminism in thecountry as a product of Western ideology. Although there is no recordin Negros Oriental about how the feminist movement started, themovement - which in general started in the national level through theefforts made by some earliest known Filipino feminists like PuraVillanueva Kalaw, Concepcion Felix Rodriguez, Maria Paz Guazon andJosefa Llanes Escoda - bore fruit through the right of suffrage thatbrought positive effects for all Filipino women.

From the national front, the result of that struggle for theright of suffrage in the country also cascaded down to the women inNegros Oriental. Proof of this is Ines Dela Viña Serion who in 1937right after the law was signed giving full rights of women to exercisesuffrage and participate in political affairs, won a seat as localchief executive. Her victory in the election at that time was aturning point for all Filipino women in the province and in thecountry - being one of the first elected woman local chief executiveswho served for seven years in the Municipality of Vallehermoso. Thepolitical victory of Ines Dela Viña Serion however, was notrepresentative of the voice of all Filipino women – for despite thissingular political feat, there is no doubt that women have been farless represented as compared to their male counterparts.

The question then begs to be asked: Why is it that there havebeen only a handful of women in Negros Oriental who engaged inpolitical affairs? The answer can be traced back 300 years ago to the

4

Spanish colonization of the country when the concept of “patriarchy”was introduced to Filipino culture. When this acculturation happened,the shift from the native culture to the male-dominated Spanish‘patriarchy’ became embedded in the lifestyle of the Filipino.Moreover, just like another Spanish tradition, the community tax, thisculture of male dominance also left a negative impact on the lives ofFilipino women most especially in the aspect of politics.Additionally, because of this cultural upbringing in which the male isacknowledged as the leader in both the family and in the church, onlya handful of women in Negros Oriental get into politics up to today.Such indoctrination of women as only fit for farm work, for takingcare of the children, or for pandering to the needs of the husbandalso instilled in the minds of Filipino women that politics is notreally for them. In contrast, aside from the old tradition and beliefsystem, men have been entrusted the right to run in any kind ofleadership position particularly in political affairs because of theirmasculinity. It is no longer an exaggeration to conclude that becauseof their diminished strength in a patriarchal household, women inelective positions have not only found politics as expensive but alsobereft of support from people and their political parties. So instead,they prioritize their families over their political ambitions.

Since being granted the right of suffrage due to early feministmovements in the Philippines, women have been engaged in politics.Statistically however, there is still only a handful of themespecially in the province of Negros Oriental. To connect the gapbetween the political participation and representation of womenpoliticians then and now in Negros Oriental was the underlyingrationale for this study. By focusing on their coming to power aslocal chief executives and their major accomplishments andachievements during their terms, this study was an attempt to providethe essential statistical profile of women who have ventured intopolitics in Negros Oriental thereby demystifying the patriarchalnature of the Filipino family.

Why then is women’s representation in political affairs thatimportant? There are several reasons. First, truly democraticgovernance requires the participation of all the citizens of thecountry whether men or women. Second, stable governance demands theparticipation of qualified men and women and thus legitimizes thegovernment because it enjoys the support of its people. Third, all menand women are endowed with talents for leadership which may benefit

5

both the political institution in society if given equal opportunityto assume political leadership roles.11

It is important for women to be counted as among a country’spublic officials for symbolic reasons as well. If children grow upseeing women and men in the political sphere, each sex will likelychoose from the full array of options when preparing for their adultlives. Finally, it is important for women to have full access to thepublic sphere because they have different life experiences that areuniquely their own. Because men and women have varied exposures in

1 ? http://www.heroinesinhistory.com/word/html

2 ? Maria Luisa Camagay, “Women in Philippine History”, Review of Women Studies, (1998).

3 ? Luz Lopez Rodriguez, “Patriarchy and Women’s Subordination in the Philippines”, Review of Women Studies Vol. I, No. 1 (1990).

4 ? Thanh Dam Trung in Rodriguez, “Patriarchy and Women’s Subordination in the Philippines”, Review of Women Studies, Vol. 1, No.1 (1990).

5 ? Ibid., 19.

6 ? Lilia Quindoza – Santiago, “Roots of Feminist Thought in the Philippines”, Review of Women Studies, Vol. VI, No. 1 (1996): 165.

7 ? document provided by National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP)

8 ? History from the People, Vol. 7, 78.

9 ? Women’s Movements and Womanhood.

10 ? Lilia Quindoza – Santiago, “Roots of Feminist Thought in the Philippines”, Review of Women Studies, Vol. VI, No. 1 (1996): 159.

11 ? Sue Thomas and Clyde Wilcox, eds. Women and Elective Office: Past, Present, & Future (NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1998), 1.

6

cultural upbringing and talents, they tend to have different lifeexperiences and points of reference. This can translate into adistinctive way of viewing existing legislative proposals that canlead to writing and advocating different agenda. It is important then,that women inhabit local and executive offices so that their concernscontribute to policy agendas.12

Through this study, it is hoped that women’s political participationand representation in the province of Negros Oriental maybe fullyunderstood as a representation of their capabilities in serving thelocality as political leaders. Such a study also paves the way tounderstanding the political status of women in Negros Oriental and, ona wider scale, can contribute to a deeper understanding of women andpolitics in Philippine society.

This study is about women who actively joined in and representedthe political affairs of Negros Oriental. Thus, through theories andphilosophies that deal with feminism and empowerment, the relevance ofthis research is given structure that provides the essentialsystematic approach to this investigation. Women’s activeparticipation and representation in the different social movementslike political affairs is an offshoot of feminism, a term that carriesmany nuances of meaning. In a narrow sense, feminism refers toattempts to attain equal legal and political rights for women; in itsbroadest sense, it refers to any theory which sees the relationshipbetween the sexes as one of inequality, subordination, or oppression.13

On the other hand, the feminist theory is also the theory thatexamines women’s social roles and lived experiences. Moreover, it isconcerned not only with equality between men and women but also equalopportunities and freedom for all women around the world.

Feminism in its broadest sense is then the theory that underpinsthat this research on women in political affairs is investigated. Assuch, the social roles of women in Negros Oriental as elected orappointed political leaders are examined guided by the followingquestions: What family influence made them decide to join politics inthe political life of Negros Oriental? As local chief executives,what are their profiles in terms of term of office serve, age, marital

12 ? Ibid., 2.

13 ? Ted Honderich, ed., The Oxford Companion To Philosophy (NY: Oxford University Press, Inc, 1995) , 270.

7

status and educational attainment? What services and achievements didthey render as local chief executives as gathered from infrastructureprojects, health services, peace and order programs, educationalservices, tourism program, and environmental management program? Inthis study, two perspectives on feminism are used: the Western and thelocal thought of feminism.

Two Western schools of thought are used in this study: theclassic works of Mary Wollstonecraft in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman(1792), and the American feminist philosophy of Elizabeth Cady Stantonfrom her work, The Woman’s Bible (1895).

Mary Wollstonecraft – Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights ofWoman (1792) articulates what is considered to be the first majorfeminist theory in history which remains a classic. Imbued withrevolutionary passion, its rhetoric still rings today in stirring andconvincing tones. Mary Wollstonecraft whose ideas on feminism becamethe precursor to the first wave of the feminist movement arguedagainst Rousseau’s view that women’s education should be designedentirely to make them pleasing to men. She added that educating womenas playthings of men would have bad consequences for society and forwomen. Most important, she argued that women were as capable as men inattaining the “masculine” virtues of wisdom and rationality if onlysociety would allow those virtues to be cultivated. In the samemonumental work14, Wollstonecraft also pointed out that by limitingwomen’s participation, society was wasting its assets. Instead, sheadvocated that girls should be encouraged to develop their mental andphysical abilities alongside boys at co-educational schools, to enterinto diverse careers, and to vote and to sit in Parliament.Wollstonecraft also saw men as imposing sexual identity upon women –and viewed sexuality’s only value in parenthood, calling marriage as“legal prostitution”.15

Elizabeth Cady Stanton – Stanton’s powerful work, The Woman’s Bible,(1895) illuminates this study on the condition of women who have beendesignated as inferior to men. This book illustrates the radical

14 ? Mary Wollstonecraft, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” (NY:Oxford University Press, 1993).

15 ? Juliet Gardiner. ed., The History Today – Who’s Who in British History (Great Britain: Collins & Brown Ltd. And Cima Books, 2000).

8

purposes to which a natural doctrine could be pitted against. Beingcloser to God than the Bible, Stanton establishes in this work thatnatural rights principles are on a higher moral plane. Thus, shetherefore uses natural rights theory to repudiate the validity ofbiblical ethics and, indeed, that of the entire ensuing Judeo-Christian tradition. She cannot accept any code or creed thatuniformly defrauds a woman of all her natural rights. With thesewords, Stanton dismissed the Ten Commandments as being unworthy of andirrelevant to women. Her overall position is that the Old Testament isan expression of a tribal morality of centuries past and has little orno contemporary ethical relevance.16 The Woman’s Bible (1895), a collectionof essays by a committee of women intellectuals on passages of theJudeo-Christian scriptures17, was started by Stanton who asserted thatit is the Bible that is the ultimate source to which anti-feministsalways refer: “the Bible is used to hold woman in the ‘divinelyordained sphere’, prescribed in the Old and New Testaments” (1:7).“Creeds, codes, scriptures and statutes, are all based” on thepatriarchal idea that woman was made after man, of man, and for man,an inferior being, subject to man” (1:7). Stanton’s strategy was thenclearly seen to discredit the authority of the Bible where negativeideas about women are given; to laud its positive images of women;and, to develop alternative religious traditions more congenial towomen. She commented on Genesis, for example, that this book includestwo contradictory stories of the creation: focusing on the first storyfrom Genesis 1:26-27 while dismissing the second, Genesis 2:21-23 inwhich God made Eve out of Adam’s rib - an expression of the malesupremacist ideology of its author. Traditions have mainly focused onthis version in which it posits the female inferiority, but she urgedthat everyone has to return to the first story where God created manand woman equally “in His image”. 18 In rejecting the Bible, therefore,Stanton is rejecting the patriarchate to advocate the creation of anew society in which mothers and other women too will rule, or atleast participate in ruling.19 The Philippine influence. Concepcion Felix Rodriguez, PuraVillanueva Kalaw, and Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB are the great mindsbehind local feminist schools of thought in this study who pioneeredin the study of women empowerment and the women’s movement in thePhilippines. Their monumental works include the foundation of AsociacionFeminista Filipina (1905) How the Filipina Got the Vote (1952), and The Woman Questionin the Philippines (1997).

9

Concepcion Felix Rodriguez – Like other Western thoughts on feminism,Concepcion Felix Rodriguez’s Asociacion Feminista Filipina20 also aimed atequal treatment for her fellow Filipino women during her time. Alongwith other fellow feminists, the club worked on the following:proposed reforms in prisons especially on behalf of women and minors;recommended labor reforms in shops and factories employing men andwomen; worked for educational reforms through lectures and conferencesfor women; encouraged drives against prostitution, gambling anddrinking; conducted religious and moral campaigns in schools andfactories; established recreational facilities; persuaded governmentto appoint women to municipal and provincial boards of education.

Pura Villanueva Kalaw – “What man can do, a woman can do as well” wasthe credo of Pura Villanueva Kalaw’s club, Asociacion Feminista Ilonga. Oneof its aims was to enfranchise Filipino women. Villanueva-Kalaw wasalso instrumental in producing a book compilation about the chronologyof Filipino women who attained their rights of suffrage. This book,How the Filipina Got the Vote (1952)21 chronicles the fight for woman suffragewith the help of noted personalities during her time: CongressmanFilemon Sotto of Cebu who lobbied for the first bill on the suffrageof women together with Senate President Manuel L. Quezon, SergioOsmeña and Manuel A. Roxas until its victory with the final acceptanceof Filipino women’s right to vote in 1937.

Sr. Mary John Mananzan – With a degree in Doctor of Philosophy inLinguistic Philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome,Italy, Sr. Mananzan, an OSB (Order of Saint Benedict) missionary nun,16 ? Josephine Donovan, The Feminist Theory, p. 52.

17 ? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/stanton.

18 ? Ibid, 53.

19 ? Ibid, 54.

20 ? http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Asociacion_Feminista_Filipina.

21 ? Pura Villanueva Kalaw, “How the Filipina Got the Vote”, (Manila,1952).

10

was also the national chairperson of GABRIELA, a broad alliance ofwomen’s organization for 18 years (1986-2004).22 Sr. Mananzan’s work,The Woman Question in the Philippines (2001) focused on the experiences ofFilipino women as victims of gender oppression. Her work also providesthe chronological accounts of the movements formed by Filipino womenwhich date back from its first wave phase during the neocolonialperiod of the Americans up to the contemporary periods. In order toaddress the main goal of her work, Sr. Mananzan identifies several keywomen’s social issues which include inequality, discrimination,violence, and the trafficking of women’s bodies. Furthermore, thephilosophy of women’s organization such as GABRIEALA as well as theliberation from gender and other forms of oppression have also beenadded to this work.23 Sr. Mananzan maintains in her work that “thecurrent situation of women can be understood only from within ahistorical context”.24 Since patriarchy was introduced into Philippinesociety by the Spaniards for over three centuries already, Sr.Mananzan compares and contrasts the status of the independent Filipinowomen during pre-Hispanic times to their sexual and domesticenslavement during the Hispanic period in the Philippines. She furtherwrites that the mujer indigina once enjoyed the rights and privilegesregardless of her virginity that like the men, she could own land andother properties after marriage. The babaylan, according to Sr.Mananzan was also the most prominent of women during pre-colonialPhilippines. However, with the arrival of the Spaniards in thecountry, this privilege of prominence in women was taken away whenpatriarchal customs were introduced in the country. Since then, theparticipation of Filipino women in the public sphere became restrainedand much limited.25

Sr. Mananzan pointed out that the type of patriarchy that evolvedin the country is Western especially in terms of political setup,educational system, and primary religion. She further said that hadthe Spaniards not colonized the country, the practice of patriarchywould have come under Islamic rule. However, according to Sr.Mananzan, it is empowering to know that Filipino women before onceenjoyed a powerful status in society. This hidden history shows thatone’s bloodline carries the legacy of a great matriarchal culture thatis analogous to the Celtic civilization in pre-Christian Europe.26

Feminist perspectives also carry messages of empowerment thatchallenge knowledge as claimed by those who occupy privilegedpositions.27 This thinking and practice requires taking steps from the“margins to the center”; while eliminating boundaries of division that

11

is the privilege of dominant forms of knowledge-building - theboundaries that mark who can be a knower and what can be known. ForVirginia Woolf, who was an English novelist and essayist and regardedas one of the modernist literary figures of the of the twentiethcentury, it is the demarcation between the “turf” and the “path”; forSimone De Beauvoir, it is the line between the “inessential” and the“essential”; and for Dorothy Smith, it is the path that encirclesdominant knowledge, where women’s lived experiences lie outside itscircumference or hurdled at the margins.28

One concept derived from studies in feminism is that women areequal with men as human beings. For women, it is in these ideas whentheir self-worth as women are acknowledged and highly recognized insociety. As proof, many women have already been active in differentcareers, including politics. This is one sign that women have alreadybecome the “empowered ones”. They are empowered in the sense that, aslocal chief executive leaders, they have the power to decide andimplement laws as policymakers in their respective jurisdictions. What then is women empowerment? Women empowerment, fromfeminist notions, sees women as acting agents and not as

22 ? http://www.catherinecollege.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69%3Asr-mary-john-mananzan-phd&catid=36%3Asponsors&Itemid=59&showall=1

23 ? Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB, “The Woman Question in the Philippines” (1997)

24 ? Noelle Leslie Dela Cruz and Jeane Peracullo, eds. “Feminista – Gender, Race, and Class in the Philippines” (De La Salle University: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2011), 28

25 ? Ibid., 29.

26 ? Ibid., 30

27 ? Sharlene Nagy Hesse – Biber, ed., “Handbook of Feminist Research” (CA: Sage Publications, 2007), 3.

28 ? Ibid

12

beneficiaries, clients, or participants. These are women who are inconstant interaction with the question and influence of power.

The philosophy of empowerment acknowledges that women arecompetent and offers her support, resources, advocacy, information,and education while always striving to equalize power between a womanand her environment.29 It is in this idea that the elected womenpolitical leaders of Negros Oriental, as models of empowered women,show their capabilities in running the political affairs of amunicipality or a city by using knowledge gained from their educationin support of advocacies for the development of their respectivejurisdictions.

When the issue is empowerment for women, there are now many greatminds who have turned as influencers considered in this study.

Jo Rowlands. In analyzing the literature on empowerment, JoRowlands30, a senior global programme adviser, governance andinstitutional accountability in the United Kingdom who studied issuesof power and the concept of ‘empowerment’ based on community levelfield research in Honduras has made the following classifications ofpower: power over: controlling power over someone and something;response to it can be compliance, resistance, or manipulation; powerto: generative or productive power that creates new possibilities andactions without domination; power with: power generating a feelingthat the whole is greater than the sum of individuals and action as agroup is more effective; and power from within: a sense of one’s ownself-acceptance and self-respect enables the acceptance of others asequals.

Jill M. Bystydzienski. On the other hand, Bystydzienski,31 a professor ofwomen studies in the College of Humanities at the Ohio StateUniversity has this claim: empowerment is taken to mean a process bywhich oppressed persons gain some control over their lives by takingpart with others in development of activities and structures that

29 ? http://sojournercenter.org/go2/index.ph/aboutus/empowerment-philosophy-mainmenu-67.

30 ? http://www.scribd.com/doc/19166610/Empowerment-of-Women-Conceptual-Framework.

31 ? Bystydzienski in Oakley and Mitchell (1997) , 78.

13

allow people increased involvement in matters which affect themdirectly. In its course people become enabled to govern themselveseffectively. This process involves the use of power, but not ‘powerover’ others or power as dominance as is traditionally the case;rather, power is seen as ‘power to’ or power as competence which isgenerated and shared by the disenfranchised as they begin to shape thecontent and structure of their daily existence and so participate in amovement for social change.

Bystydzienski and other feminists who have written aboutempowerment see empowerment as a process which breaks the boundariesbetween the public and the private domains from the personal into thesocial which in turn, connects the sense of the personal and thecommunal. Empowerment can be felt momentarily or can be transformativewhen it is linked to a permanent shift in the distribution of socialpower. Great emphasis is put on autonomous grass roots activity whereoffering subordinate group’s new knowledge about their own experiencescan be empowering. But revealing new ways of knowing that allowsubordinate groups to define their own reality has far greaterimplications.

Michelle Lopez Alvarez, a Planning Officer III of the PhilippineCommission on women (PCW) made a study as her thesis, From UnheardScreams to Powerful Voices: A Case Study of Women’s Political Empowerment in thePhilippines32 (2013) that is aimed at understanding how the Philippinestries to close the gender gap in politics. Her study is descriptive-narrative which also looks into how women in the political arena areempowered by the Philippine government through their politicalparticipation in executive initiatives, legislative initiatives, andagency and local government initiatives in which the outcome of thesegender policies on women’s political empowerment was explored. Inaddition, the study’s objectives are as follows: to identify thedifferent initiatives of the Philippine government to address thegender gap in Philippine politics; to explore and assess the role ofthe national machinery for the advancement of women, specifically inwomen’s political empowerment; to examine the effectiveness of theinitiatives for women political empowerment; and to providerecommendations and future perspectives to close the disparities ingender inequality in Philippine politics.

32 ? Michelle Alvarez, “From Unheard Screams to Powerful Voices: A Case Study of Women’s Political Empowerment in the Philippines” (2013)

14

This study by Alvarez was also anchored on the followingframeworks: Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach (1980s)33 which highlightsthe empowerment of women that would lead them to be catalysts ofchange while also empowering other women; the United Nation’s GenderEquality Framework that conceptualizes gender equality as having threedimensions: capabilities domain, access to resources and opportunitiesdomain, and security domain; World Bank’s Promoting Women’s AgencyFramework; and Operational Framework.

This study by Alvarez has also provided many insights in thisinvestigation of women in politics in Negros Oriental since one of thetheories employed in this social research is about empowerment. Forthis research, such insights lend substance as it examines theempowerment of women in Philippine politics - an aspect of their liveswhere they are least represented in Philippine society. Moreover, thesame study has also enlivened this endeavor when to the researcher,new knowledge is arrived at about the Philippine government’sinitiatives to empower Filipino women in politics. Furthermore, thestudy also serves as a point of reference to this endeavor especiallyon the accessibility of women in electoral politics and the challengesthey face in electoral politics as applicable to women politicalleaders in Negros Oriental.

Framework of the Study

33 ? No exact year was given if when was Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach was conceptualized

15

Objectives of the Study

Within the timeframe of almost eight decades from 1937 to 2013,this research study explores the political experiences and thefactors that influence women of Negros Oriental to join andparticipate in the political affairs. This problematique is furthersorted out into the following research questions: Who are the womenwho have been elected as political leaders in Negros Oriental as localchief executives (city/municipal mayor)?; As local chief executives,what are their demographic profile in terms of term of office, age,marital status, and educational attainment? What influences, factorsor conditions have contributed to make these women decide to join inpolitics based from the following: roles in the family of politicians,reasons for seeking public office, and hope to accomplish for seekingpublic office; and lastly, having been elected to the position, whichservices, projects or programs have they accomplished, and implementedas gathered from infrastructure projects, health services, peace andorder strategies, educational services, tourism program, andenvironmental management program?

Methodology

A qualitative paradigm has been chosen for this study. Thisdecision is based on the design of this research that describes,explores, and interprets empirical data to understand and get a

16

comprehensive profile of the political life of Filipina women who haveparticipated and represented Negros Oriental as local chiefexecutives.

As this investigation into the politics of Filipino women inNegros Oriental is in a natural setting, this research is an attemptto analyze and interpret meaning that is due the Philippine electoratethrough the governance practices, pains, and paeans of elected orappointed women political officials in Local Government Units (LGUs).Taking a small slice of the country in Negros Oriental as the settingof this study, this research wants to make visible the bigger world inthe Philippine national sphere. Thus, in this qualitative approach,the personal involvement and empathic understanding from theresearcher himself is necessary for this study. Moreover, thequalitative approach is employed in this study as it seeks answers toquestions that examine various social settings and the individuals whoinhabit these settings. These individuals are the elected womenpoliticians themselves. There are three elements of this researchdesign: its research methodology, the research instrument and datainterpretation This study used four methods of data collection: thesurvey method, document and key informants, oral history, andhistorical analysis. To collect primary data, the survey method hasbeen utilized in this study. Such primary data came from the womenthemselves - the women who have been political leaders of NegrosOriental as local chief executives covered in this study from 1937 to2013 or a span of almost eight (8) decades and who, at the time ofsuch collection, are still living to share their stories. In theirabsence due to death or unreachability however, other informantsbecame sources of secondary data. For this research, secondary datacame from archival materials, local history books, journals, andelectronic sources that document any of these womenparticipants/respondents. Key informants were the main sources ofprimary data, the people who have direct knowledge about the saidwomen political leaders in Negros Oriental covered in this study suchas their respective family members and their living constituents whilethey were still in office. Oral history is defined as gettinginformation about the past by interviewing selected key informants whowere witnesses to the period or the phenomenon being studied.34

Employing such method in this study has given voice to ordinary people

34 ? Sylvia Guerrero, ed., “Gender – Sensitive and Feminist Methodologies”, (University of the Philippines Press, 2002) , 122.

17

who do not figure in the written documents authored mainly by theelite. The discipline of History is best understood not as aseries of facts, but rather as a series of competing interpretivenarratives. Thus, the treatment of data gathered in this study relieson historical analysis. On the other hand, statistical treatment ofdata is also used in this study to shed enlightenment on the dataprovided in a quantitative approach.

The women political leaders from the period of 1937 to 2013 aslocal chief executives identified are the sources and respondents inthis study. All in all, there are 19 women political leaders coveredin this study. On behalf of the deceased women political leaderscovered in this study, secondary source was utilized to get pertinentdata about their political leadership in the province.

The province of Negros Oriental is the research site of thisstudy. Geographically, Negros Oriental is located in Region VII orCentral Visayas along with the other provinces of Cebu, Siquijor, andBohol. Quantitatively, the elected women politicians were studiedaccording to the legislative districts they belonged with thecorresponding terms or years they served as local chief executives. The province of Negros Oriental has three legislativedistricts each composed of cities and municipalities where some ofthem had been politically ruled by women. These legislative districtswith their corresponding cities and municipalities are District I – Canla-on City, Vallehermoso, La Libertad, Guihulngan City, Jimalalud,Tayasan, Ayungon, Bindoy and Manjuyod; District II – Bais City, Mabinay,Tanjay City, Pamplona, Amlan, San Jose, Sibulan and Dumaguete City;District III – Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita, Siaton, Sta.Catalina, Bayawan City and Basay.

Results and Discussion

The Women Who have been Elected as Political Leaders

In this study, an attempt was made to examine the performance ofthe Negros Oriental women political leaders from 1937-2013. From thegiven periods, there were nineteen (19) women political leaderscovered in this study as local chief executives in which 10.52% or twoof them were appointed during the incumbency of Pres. Aquino and89.47% or seventeen (17) were elected. Additionally, two were electedas city mayors while seventeen (17) were elected as mayors in the

18

municipal level. It is noticeable that since Negros Oriental has onlyfew cities, hence, the study revealed that most of the women electedas mayors were from the municipal level.

The Demographic Profile of the Respondents

As to their profile in terms of term of office they serve, 63.2% ortwelve (12) of them have served from seven months to five years or oneterm while 31.57% or six (6) of them have served from six to ten yearsand 5.3% or one (1) has served from eleven to fifteen years. Theresults showed that most of them sought only for one term. It wasobserved that this was the case in Negros Oriental as theserespondents chose to serve for only one term and in the event ofseeking the second term, they were not reelected. As to their age,57.9% or eleven (11) of them got elected during their early forty’s tofifty’s while 5.3% or one (1) in age brackets 25-30 and 71-80 wereelected in office. The results imply that most of them were alreadyestablished and accomplished their responsibilities at home and totheir families. Therefore, their motherly functions andresponsibilities are transformed as natural extensions of theirgenerativity towards community and public service. As to their maritalstatus, 68.4% or thirteen (13) of them are married at the time of theirelection in office, 21.05% or four (4) are widowers, and 10.52% or two(2) are single. In like manner, the marital status revealed that sincemost of them are wives, daughters and sisters of politicians, thatinfluenced and motivated them to join politics. As to their educationalattainment, 57.9% or eleven (11) of them are baccalaureate degreeholders. This means that as they entered politics, they were alreadyprofessionals and educated to handle strategic governance.

Influencing Factors in Joining Politics

Influencing factors are considered to be aspects that conditionedthe mindset of the women political leaders to join politics. Theseinclude roles in the family of politicians, reasons for seeking publicoffice, and hope to accomplish for seeking public office.

Roles in the family of politicians showed that 57.9% or eleven (11) of themare wives of politicians. On the other hand, 15.8% or three of themare daughters and at the same time self emerged individuals. Selfemerged individuals are women who do not have immediate family members

19

in politics such as husbands and parents whereas there were 10.52% ortwo respondents who are sisters of politicians.

Reasons for seeking public office revealed that 36.84% or seven representswomen’s likelihood to serve the people. Also, a similar result isfound on people’s demand as women’s reason for seeking public office.Moreover, 15.78% or three of the respondents identified others (dream orambition, replacement of husband, and continue the work of husband)while 10.52% or two have been appointed.

In the women’s vision in joining politics, 89.47% or seventeen (17)of them have expressed to accomplish their term that concentrates onthe fulfillment of programs and initiatives that directs to people’swelfare such as uplifting the economic and social conditions of theNegrense populace. Being able to transcend as steward of the thingsthey have been blessed with and to continue the family politicallegacies are only a few or 10.52% of the intrinsic outcomes that therespondents expressed.

Service Initiatives of the Women Political Leaders

The women political leaders in this study have accomplished the following as their output during their respective term as local chief executives:

Infrastructure projects or the opening and concreting of roadsespecially in the rural areas, construction of public buildings suchas market and beautification of town plaza, electrification in therural areas and implementation of water systems. This sector has atotal of 62 projects implemented making it the most numbered sectorserved by women political leaders.

In health services which has a total of 53 projects implemented, theyfacilitated medical missions especially in the rural areas, providedmedicines and financial assistance to indigent patients, hired healthworkers, and upgraded health and medical facilities.

In peace and order, they hired police personnel, sent them tovarious seminars and trainings and coordinated with the ProvincialCommand especially in areas with insurgency problems. This sector hasa total number of 21 making it as the least priority of the womenpolitical leaders

In educational services in which it has 39 total projects implemented,they led in the construction of school buildings and daycare centersespecially in the rural areas, the hiring of teachers and teacher

20

aides and the sending of teachers to various seminars and trainings.This sector has a total number of 39 projects implemented.

In tourism programs which has a total number of 20 projectsimplemented, they initiated the development of areas into potentialtourist spots, institutionalizing the Buglasan Festival.

In environmental programs, they spearheaded the implementation ofthe solid waste management program and conducted treeplanting/reforestation programs especially in the mountain barangaysto prevent flooding. This sector has a total number of 39 projectsimplemented.

In addition, out of the six sectors they have served during theirterm of office, infrastructure projects ranked as the number onesector they have served. This is because, projects under this aspectare their monumental legacy and serve as basis for them to be re-elected. This is followed by health services, educational services andenvironmental management program, peace and order and tourismprograms.

Conclusion

Women political leaders in Negros Oriental are embodiments ofempowerment in the field of politics, executive decision-making andstrategic governance. Their political experiences such as theiraccomplishments in the different sectors they served are testament oftheir personal independence to their womanhood. The emergence of thefeminist movement paved the way for women especially in NegrosOriental to be given the opportunity to prove their capabilities inmaking a difference in community and public administration. It is butsignificant to give merit of their considerable amount of effort toaccomplish beneficial outcomes to the province and to the people thatbelongs to it. In the fulfillment of their duties and responsibilitiesas local chief executives, they have grasped a sense of theirwomanhood and empowerment as contributors to their social and economicwelfare.

Recommendation

The strategic governance model as an output of this study shouldbe implemented through conducting a forum involving women political

21

leaders, the CSO’s (Civil Society Organizations), PO’s (People’sOrganizations), and the academe in partnership with the ProvincialGovernment of Negros Oriental utilizing the budget allocated for GAD(Gender and Development).

22