WOMEN’S RESOURCE

CENTER OF VISAYAS, INC.

Empowering grassroots women
BAKUD
ISSUE 04 October 2021 – December 2021

Communities slowly recover from Typhoon Odette

Tragedy struck the Philippines when Typhoon
Odette swept through Northern Mindanao, the
Visayas Regions and Palawan on December 16,
2021. Communities with organizations that are
currently partners of the Women’s Resource
Center of Visayas, Inc. (WRCV) in a project were
not spared of its wrath. Of the seven
communities, it is Sitio Lawis in South Poblacion,
San Fernando that suffered the most from the
typhoon. Whereas the other six communities had
their houses partially damaged, in Sitio Lawis, all
74 families lost their houses when sea water rose
and struck their houses. What remained were
only piles of the remnants of the houses. Being a
fishing community, many fishermen lost their
small boats, their means of livelihood due to the
typhoon.
They were evacuated to the South
Poblacion Public Elementary School and stayed
there until January 14, 2022 when they were
able to reconstruct their houses in their
community.
The Women’s Resource Center of
Visayas, Inc., together with other development
organizations solicited relief assistance from
local and international humanitarian agencies,
and distributed several hundreds of packs of
relief goods to affected families in Barangays
Tungkop, Tungkil, Calajoan and Tulay in
Minglanilla, Barangay South Poblacion in San
Fernando, and Barangays Sawang Calero and
Suba in Cebu City.

Bakud is a quarterly publication of the Women’s Resource Center

of Visayas, Inc. This issue features news regarding a project of the
WRCV implemented with the support of the Misereor, the German
Catholic Bishops’ Organization for Development Cooperation that
has supported development projects for over 60 years in Africa,
Asia, and Latin America. It is a three-year project that started on
December 2020.
 Slowly, the communities residents struggled to find the means to reconstruct and
restore their houses and buy essential things to replace those that were damaged or
blown off by the typhoon. For the first weeks after the typhoon, for many poor families,
every day was a struggle to find food, line up with empty gallons in selected places to get
water, find housing materials, and look for whatever jobs were available. Affected families
were already living in difficult situations before the typhoon struck and their conditions
worsened in its aftermath.

Strengthening of the Women’s Organizations Continues

Meetings of the partner women’s organizations of the Women’s Resource Center
of Visayas, Inc. (WRCV) were held on October to December 2021. Meetings of the
officers preceded the monthly regular meetings
The meetings further consolidated their membership and achieved a common
understanding of the issues and problems magnified during the pandemic. The
meetings conducted assessment of their organization’s activities. Plans for the
succeeding months were also laid down.
The WRCV staff also assisted the three committees in each organization, the
Committee on Livelihood and Finance, Committee on Health and Education, and
Committee on Disaster and Violence against Women and Children (VAWC) in their
functions

Noemi P. Padernal, WRCV finance officer speaks during the monthly meeting of the Sitio Luknay
Women’s Organization in South Poblacion, San Fernando on November 14, 2021.

Members of the Calajoan Women’s Organization after their monthly meeting on November 28, 2021.

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 Charlotte Irish Telebroso, President of the Sitio Lawis Women’s Organization in South Poblacion,
San Fernando presides during their monthly meeting on December 12, 2021.

The Suba Women’s Organization,

the Sawang Calero Women’s
Organization and the South Poblacion
Women’s Organization have applied for
their Certificates of Recognition from
their respective barangay local
government units (LGUs). Until today,
they are still waiting for the release of
the certificates. They are also preparing
for the documents for accreditation by
the Department of Labor and
Employment.
The Tungkop Women’s Organization,
Tulay Women’s Organization, Calajoan
Women’s Organization and the
Nagpakabanang Kababayen-an sa
Tungkil had already obtained Barangay
Above: Rosita Sabal, President of the Calajoan Women’s Certifications of Recognition that their
Organization presides over their officers’ meeting on barangays recognize them as legitimate
November 21, 2021. and representing the women’s sector.
They had also obtained their Certificates
Below: Ma. Azucena T. Simene, President of the of Accreditation from DOLE.
Nagpakabanang Kababayen-an sa Tungkil and her fellow
officers in their monthly meeting on December 3, 2021.
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 Forum on the Minglanilla Reclamation Project
A forum on the Minglanilla Reclamation
Project was organized by the Women’s Resource
Center of Visayas, Inc. (WRCV) at the Calajoan
Covered Court last November 12, 2021.
Atty. James Abadia, general manager,
and Mark Leo M. Chang, Assistant Vice-
President for Strategic Land Banking and Permits
of the Cebu Landmasters, respectively,
discussed details of the project.
The new project will cover 100 hectares
of reclaimed sea in the coastlines of Barangays
Tulay, Calajoan and Tungkil. It will have an
integrated mixed-use development that will
house light industries, commercial, residential
and port facilities, and parks, among others. It is
a Public-Private Partnership between the
Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) and
other government agencies and the Ming-Mori
Development Corporation (MMDC) which will
develop the project.
Atty. Abadia said that the project is an
“island type” of reclamation, which will be
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connected by two bridges to the mainland. The
100-hectare land area will be divided into two
islands, one will span 75 hectares while the
other will cover around 25 hectares. There will
be 15 meters from the shoreline to the
reclamation land and 30 meters distance in
between the two small islands. Land for the
reclamation will be extracted by quarrying
from the mountains of Minglanilla or other
parts of Cebu.
Residents asked the two speakers if there
would be displacement of the residents living
along the coastlines. Atty. Abadia said that
since the reclamation project is an island type
and will be located 15 meters from the
coastline, no houses will be demolished and
the fishermen can still have their fishing
vessels pass through the 15-meter waterway.
He also said that fishermen can continue to get
seashells and fishing bait from the seashore.
Three natural springs in the coastline of
Calajoan that provide the communities with
fresh water will also be preserved.
 Cebu Landmasters Inc. officials Mark Leo M. Chang and Atty. James Abadia and WRCV Chair Leny G.
Ocasiones.
Representatives of women organizations air out
their fears of possible dislocation during the
open forum.
In terms of environmental impact, Mr. Chang
said that the mangroves in the coastline of
Calajoan will be preserved and the company will
plant more mangroves. In terms of urban impact,
the reclamation project will generate 75,000 jobs
after completion. He said that the Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is
currently conducting a house census to identify
the skills of the people which can be tapped for
jobs in the reclamation project.
Mr. Chang also said that the CLI has signed a
Memorandum of Agreement with the Minglanilla
LGU that 80% of the employees in the business
establishments in the business park will come
from their municipality. He also said that civil
construction works shall start in the first quarter
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Hon. Jenny Zafra-Young, member of the
Sangguniang Bayan of Minglanilla, and
Nagpakabanang Kababayen-an sa Tungkil
President Ma. Azucena T. Simene speak
of 2022, together with various infrastructure
improvements surrounding and leading
towards the site. The Public Employment
Service of the municipality will post job
vacancies in public announcement sites.
Mr. Chang also said that there shall be a Task
Force composed of company and municipality
representatives to address problems that will
arise. Upon recommendation of the residents,
Mr. Chang said that the Task Force will include
representatives of the civil society
organizations.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new
project was held on October 26, 2021.
 Leadership trainings held
Leadership seminars were held last
November and December 2021 for the women’s
organizations in order to enhance the knowledge
of their leaders on leadership.
Topics included the meaning of leadership,
the characteristics of good leaders, principles of
good collective leadership, how to prepare and
conduct meetings and the different types of
meetings. Project coordinator Dr. Erlinda Posadas
was the resource person.
Other topics included planning, that is, the
importance of planning in an organization in order
to achieve the goals and activities decided upon
by the organization in a systematic and effective
manner, the principles in planning based on
concrete existing situations, and how to come up
with goals that are specific, measurable, achiev-
able, relevant and time-bound. Other aspects of
leadership including evaluation, budgeting,
reporting and recording were also discussed.
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Following the talk on the aspects of
leadership was the talk on advocacy, that is how
the leaders can speak up or draw the attention
of the general public and local government
officials about an issue or problem that affects
the community, or try to influence policy-makers
in favor of a specific cause.
This was then followed by a talk on
community mobilization that uses campaigns
and information drive as forms of advocacy.
Workshops then followed the lectures
where the participants brainstormed on issues
currently affecting the organization and how
these can be addressed in terms of a campaign
and advocacy for support from government
officials to address these issues.
Photo above shows Dr. Erlinda Posadas talk to
members of the Sawang Calero and Suba
Women’s Organizations in a leadership seminar
on Nov 27, 2021. Photos below show
workshops during the said seminar.
 Participants in the seminar on leadership in Sitio Lawis, South Poblacion, San Fernando on
December 5, 2021.

Monitoring and Evaluation of the Project

During the three-month period,
weekly staff meetings were held and there
were also special meetings to discuss urgent
issues to be addressed.
Staff project assessment and planning
was done every last Friday of the month.
These meetings noted how the activities
were implemented and any factors that
enhanced their implementation and any
barriers that hindered them. Problems were
then noted and properly addressed. This was
to ensure the smooth implementation in the
next week’s activities that were then
planned during the meetings.
Regular monthly meetings with the
members of the people’s organizations also
assessed the past month’s activities, taking
note of the quantitative and qualitative
data.
Clockwise: Armel Pontillas, Sarah Dayoha,
Noemi Padernal, Erlinda Posadas, Juliet
Abing, and Jerhald Agcang.
 Women’s Resource
Center of Visayas, Inc.
Empowering grassroots women
The Women’s Resource Center of Visayas, Inc.
Is a non-government organization based in Cebu City
which provides support services to organizing and
education work among grassroots women through
awareness raising, capacity building, resource
building, and popularization of their concerns in
selected marginalized communities in Metro Cebu
and other parts of Cebu Province
and the Visayas.

Office: 2681 V. Rama Ave. Tel. no. 032-261-0171

Guadalupe, Cebu City email: wrcv_cebu@yahoo.com
Philippines