kaban galing - front cover - galing pook

34 COMPOSTELLA VALLEY
A Powerhouse of Women
Women Organizing and Empowerment Program
THE spirit of cooperativism is alive and flourishing among livelihood
group enterprises in Compostella Valley.
Woman Power
Lack of livelihood, unemployment, lack of skills and access to capital,
malnutrition, lack of basic services and infrastructure, deforestation,
domestic violence and child abuse, low people participation in
government affairs—these were among the lingering manifestations of
poverty in Compostella Valley, the characteristics of disadvantaged
sectors. These were the problems that confronted Governor Jose
Caballero in his first term.
The governor’s efforts were directed at two major thrusts: (a) to deliver
equitable public services; and (b) to reduce poverty.
The attainment of both goals was made possible by the massive
mobilization of women in disadvantaged sectors. The provincial
government’s capacity to deliver services to the remotest barangay was
enhanced by the participation of the women themselves. The same were
involved in the province’s poverty-reduction program called “Lamdag
Panginabuhi”.
The governor found out that the organized women sector would be
the most effective and reliable. Women, spread out across the 235
barangays and thousands of sitios, if organized, could replicate
successful productive endeavors. Key to tapping and sustaining the
power of organized women is the Compostella Valley Council of Women
(CVPCOW). Under this council, women have been organized from the
provincial to the village level and across various women sub-sectors—
farmers, fisherfolk, labor, youth, Muslims, tribals, professionals in the
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