KRIS-CROSSING MINDANAO Bridging gaps on gender and climate justice (1)
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:15 AM April 30, 2024
I am here at Miriam College, at the 7th National Women’s Summit (NSW), with the theme, “Accelerating Gender Equality in the Midst of Multiple Crises: Toward 30 Years of Beijing Platform for Action.” The two-day event started yesterday. One of the crises identified in this summit is what we are experiencing now—extraordinarily scorching heat every day of our lives, with daily temperatures averaging 40-45 degrees Celsius.
I was invited to speak at a panel on “bridging the gap on gender and climate justice,” which took place yesterday afternoon. I think this invitation is based on recent research I have done on the intersections of climate change with conflicts, gender inequality, and social exclusion in selected Bangsamoro communities in Mindanao.
The summit started with keynote speeches from prominent women leaders in the country, bringing to the forefront significant roles female policymakers and implementers play as they navigate predominant practices and perspectives like misogyny and gender unequal relations that have defined government bureaucracies in the country, both in the past and the present.
Such perspectives and practices have given rise to multiple crises that have affected women and girls just because of who they are, as members of the more “vulnerable” sectors of society. But when these identities overlap with being members of already marginalized sectors like indigenous communities, or part of the nonbinary gender identities of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and others (LGBTQI++) or having disabilities of any kind, individuals become even more subjected to discrimination and emotional, mental and physical and, in some cases, sexual abuse.
I want to highlight my presentation at this summit, on the need to understand the intricacies of understanding climate change and various intersections with the multiple crises facing women, girls, and members of nonbinary gender identities and of other “vulnerabilities” listed above; and on what has been popularized in academic and civil society circles as “climate justice.”
I just finished writing the report on the latest exploratory research I led in selected communities in the Bangsamoro mainland on the intersections of climate security, gender inequality, and social exclusion. Just a disclaimer: given the limited funds for this project, our study locales were limited to some barangays in three distinct areas in three provinces: Maguindanao del Norte and del Sur, and Lanao del Sur. (We have to constantly cite this as a serious limitation in our study, but at the same time, it is an opportunity open to those interested in pursuing these issues further).
Our study findings showed how climate stressors like droughts and flooding have exacerbated existing vulnerabilities or weaknesses among community members, especially those already marginalized and impoverished. Vulnerabilities are not only based on gender and nonbinary gender identities, like being gay or being a member of the LGBTQI++ community, and other outcomes of a confluence of social exclusion markers, like being poor, being a member of a “second-order” minority groups like indigenous peoples, and having some types of disabilities, whether physical or emotional and mental.
Our study areas are also prone to violent conflicts in the past and present, leading one of my co-researchers to note that the Bangsamoro region is considered an “epicenter” or a major arena of violent conflict. And we saw these happen during our fieldwork held at the time of the barangay elections. At one point, my team of field researchers had to return to their homes in General Santos City when they learned that the house of one of their local coordinators was hit by an M-79 grenade launcher.
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Just last week, a violent encounter occurred in Kitango, a small barangay in an area designated by the Philippine military as the Salbu-Pagatin-Mamasapano-Shariff Aguak (SPMS) box. In this newest rash of violent conflict incidents, more than 10 alleged members of a faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Forces, the Karialan faction, were killed by Philippine army elements.
The SPMS box has earned notoriety as a “deadly” territory, that stemmed from its being the location of the infamous “Mamasapano” tragedy in 2015 that killed 44 Special Action Forces of the Philippine National Police and seven civilians, including women and children. At present, motorists avoid the highway built within this complex, as a shortcut in traversing the Cotabato City-General Santos route, especially during “critical times” of the day, like late afternoon or early morning.
(To be concluded next week)
Comments to rcguiam@gmail.com
Source: https://opinion.inquirer.net/173312/bridging-gaps-on-gender-and-climate-justice-1
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By: Rufa Cagoco-Guiam - @inquirerdotnet Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:15 AM May 07, 2024
Climate change has shown to be a “threat multiplier” as it exacerbates existing weaknesses among governments and their constituents. Climate change events like droughts and floods can seriously challenge financially- and (human) resource-poor local government units (LGUs).
Local government units classified as fourth to sixth class, based on their incomes and their shares from the national government through the Internal Revenue Allotment, struggle to deal with the adverse consequences of droughts and flooding. In these LGUs, many of the required facilities and equipment, as well as pre-positioned goods and assistance packages, are either absent or inadequate. Capacities of local government functionaries assigned in a town or a barangay’s disaster risks reduction and management offices are also wanting; indicating a shallow bench of both skills and experience in dealing with climate change events. Many times, deaths from drowning (during floods) or from starvation (during a very long dry spell) happen, although these could have been prevented had LGUs been fully capacitated (and equipped) to prevent, mitigate, or reduce their constituents’ vulnerabilities to extreme weather events.
These are among the findings in the recently concluded qualitative study on the intersections of climate change, conflicts, gender inequality, and social exclusion in selected communities in three provinces that are part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)—Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Maguindanao del Sur.
Aside from vulnerabilities to climate change weather events like flooding and droughts, the communities studied in the three provinces are also perennially exposed to violent conflicts, in the past and present. The three provinces are among the most conflict-affected compared to other areas in the BARMM.
Climate change stressors have pushed gender gaps or inequalities based on gender identities to the surface, and these have caused tensions within families and community members. In highly patriarchal-oriented and conservative families in the communities we studied, behavior associated with nonbinary gender identities is still considered “not normal.” There is a popular belief that calamities brought about by extreme weather events are the result of “fitna” (Arabic for trial or civil strife) or what Cebuano-speaking Visayans call “gaba” or curse. A number of our informants said that droughts, typhoons, and flooding are caused by nature, or are expressions of the wrath of God after people have become remiss of their religious duties and responsibilities. They cited the case of a hurricane happening after a community staged a gay beauty pageant, that led to a mass exodus of gay men in a small community in Maguindanao del Norte to Cotabato City. The local chief executive in that community reportedly ordered all gay men there to be castrated. One informant also disclosed how he “put some sense” into the mind of his niece, who used to behave like a lesbian. He was proud to disclose that he beat her up until she “realized” that she needed to behave like a regular woman.
Climate justice refers to the moral and ethical dimensions of climate change events. The disastrous effects of climate change are the results of the action of a group of elite “polluters” by destroying forests and mountains through excessive logging and mining. Members of impoverished communities who contributed the least or even did not contribute at all are the ones suffering from the ravages of typhoons, flooding, or droughts. This is climate “injustice.”
Logging and mining can lead to soil erosion and the weakening of a mountain’s walls, causing it to crumble during excessive rainfall after a strong typhoon like what happened when Typhoon “Paeng” struck the seashore areas of Maguindanao del Sur. Several people died in the flood, with some of them buried alive under rocks and mud that came with the landslide after the heavy rains. The deaths of the victims, all members of the indigenous Teduray, could have been avoided if Mount Minandar still had its forests and if it had not been mined for gravel for the construction of houses and resorts near the seashore in Kusiong. They died as a consequence of the actions of business persons who benefited from their logging concessions in Mount Minandar that started more than 50 years ago.
Gender gaps and inequalities are aggravated in times of both violent conflicts and extreme weather events. Forging climate justice can start with collaborative and collective action animating communities to demand their voices be heard in climate change decision-making policies.
Comments to rcguiam@gmail.com
Source:
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/173489/bridging-gaps-on-gender-and-climate-justice-2#ixzz8a4tT1K2b
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KRIS-CROSSING MINDANAO Bridging gaps on gender and climate justice (2)
By: Rufa Cagoco-Guiam - @inquirerdotnet Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:15 AM May 07, 2024
Climate change has shown to be a “threat multiplier” as it exacerbates existing weaknesses among governments and their constituents. Climate change events like droughts and floods can seriously challenge financially- and (human) resource-poor local government units (LGUs).
Local government units classified as fourth to sixth class, based on their incomes and their shares from the national government through the Internal Revenue Allotment, struggle to deal with the adverse consequences of droughts and flooding. In these LGUs, many of the required facilities and equipment, as well as pre-positioned goods and assistance packages, are either absent or inadequate. Capacities of local government functionaries assigned in a town or a barangay’s disaster risks reduction and management offices are also wanting; indicating a shallow bench of both skills and experience in dealing with climate change events. Many times, deaths from drowning (during floods) or from starvation (during a very long dry spell) happen, although these could have been prevented had LGUs been fully capacitated (and equipped) to prevent, mitigate, or reduce their constituents’ vulnerabilities to extreme weather events.
These are among the findings in the recently concluded qualitative study on the intersections of climate change, conflicts, gender inequality, and social exclusion in selected communities in three provinces that are part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)—Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Maguindanao del Sur.
Aside from vulnerabilities to climate change weather events like flooding and droughts, the communities studied in the three provinces are also perennially exposed to violent conflicts, in the past and present. The three provinces are among the most conflict-affected compared to other areas in the BARMM.
Climate change stressors have pushed gender gaps or inequalities based on gender identities to the surface, and these have caused tensions within families and community members. In highly patriarchal-oriented and conservative families in the communities we studied, behavior associated with nonbinary gender identities is still considered “not normal.” There is a popular belief that calamities brought about by extreme weather events are the result of “fitna” (Arabic for trial or civil strife) or what Cebuano-speaking Visayans call “gaba” or curse. A number of our informants said that droughts, typhoons, and flooding are caused by nature, or are expressions of the wrath of God after people have become remiss of their religious duties and responsibilities. They cited the case of a hurricane happening after a community staged a gay beauty pageant, that led to a mass exodus of gay men in a small community in Maguindanao del Norte to Cotabato City. The local chief executive in that community reportedly ordered all gay men there to be castrated. One informant also disclosed how he “put some sense” into the mind of his niece, who used to behave like a lesbian. He was proud to disclose that he beat her up until she “realized” that she needed to behave like a regular woman.
Climate justice refers to the moral and ethical dimensions of climate change events. The disastrous effects of climate change are the results of the action of a group of elite “polluters” by destroying forests and mountains through excessive logging and mining. Members of impoverished communities who contributed the least or even did not contribute at all are the ones suffering from the ravages of typhoons, flooding, or droughts. This is climate “injustice.”
Logging and mining can lead to soil erosion and the weakening of a mountain’s walls, causing it to crumble during excessive rainfall after a strong typhoon like what happened when Typhoon “Paeng” struck the seashore areas of Maguindanao del Sur. Several people died in the flood, with some of them buried alive under rocks and mud that came with the landslide after the heavy rains. The deaths of the victims, all members of the indigenous Teduray, could have been avoided if Mount Minandar still had its forests and if it had not been mined for gravel for the construction of houses and resorts near the seashore in Kusiong. They died as a consequence of the actions of business persons who benefited from their logging concessions in Mount Minandar that started more than 50 years ago.
Gender gaps and inequalities are aggravated in times of both violent conflicts and extreme weather events. Forging climate justice can start with collaborative and collective action animating communities to demand their voices be heard in climate change decision-making policies.
Comments to rcguiam@gmail.com
Source:
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/173489/bridging-gaps-on-gender-and-climate-justice-2#ixzz8a4tT1K2b
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