Perceptions of the role of Tinguian women in peace and development in the Cordilleras: An ethnographic study

• Main Author: Madriaga, Leticia P.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1997
• Subjects: Perception; Women and peace; Women in development > Philippines > Cordillera; Ethnology > Philippines; Tinguian (Philippine people); Peace and Conflict Studies
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/782
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study is about the Tinguian women's perceptions of the causes of armed conflict in their communities and their role in peacemaking and development in the Cordillera, particularly in the province of Abra. Abra, specifically its Tinguian municipalities has been the site of armed encounters between the NPA and the military especially during the Martial Law years.The study is exploratory-descriptive in design. It is ethnographic in approach. It used fieldwork, interview and participant observation in gathering the data. Thirty women from six mountain Tinguian municipalities were taken as respondents. Simple frequency count, content-analysis and noting down the similarities and differences were applied to analyze the data.The study proved that peace and development are attained most possibly in the Tinguian communities if women's roles in these two areas are duly recognized and given credit. Further, the study found out that Tinguian women were not very much involved in the policy and decision making in their communities. It also proved that the end or cessation of war is not a guarantee to peace and development to the Tinguians. According to the Tinguian women, armed conflict and its root causes like poverty, abuse of the environment and the failure of government in delivering basic services are the main reasons for war and underdevelopment in their communities. As part of the population who suffer mostly the consequences of war and its effects, they do everything in their power and capacity as women to improve peace and development prospects in their areas. In times of war, the work they do include nursing and treating the sick and the hurt, burying the dead and initiating dialogues between factions. To help themselves cope in troubled times, they keep silent, befriend the military, initiate dialogues and spearhead reconciliations. However, women's roles are not duly recognized since, culturally speaking, their lot in society is only subordinate to the male. Decision and policy making on areas that matter are left to the men. This situation makes the Tinguian women no different from most women in the world despite their high educational attainment. Although the Tinguian women are peace-loving individuals as shown by the way they deal with their neighbors and the way they manage their households, their social standing in the community, as determined by their culture, is still overshadowed by the men.