Tagum coop envisions to be gender resource center

An institution developing gender equality and development programs will soon rise in town as Tagum Cooperative (TC) envisions to soon become the Gender Equality Resource Center in Mindanao.
In the Kapihan sa Kapitolyo held Wednesday morning at Tagum Cooperative, TC chairperson of the Board of Directors Norma R. Pereyras expressed optimism that the Cooperative can become such institution having been a Gender Equality advocate for 25 years.
Once a resource center on Gender Equality advocacy, Tagum Cooperative will extend technical assistance to local government units and national government institutions to come up with their own gender programs.
“They have a gender budget but they don’t have gender programs,” Pereyras said referring to NGAs and LGUs.
Some of the gender equality advocacy aspects that that the Cooperative can extend is its technical expertise on economic empowerment of women, family relationship, girl-child protection from abuse, family financial literacy and wealth management.
The Cooperative rolls out projects for marginalized women, teaching them to build and manage their enterprise. “We give them livelihood skills to make tocino, chorizo and even on simple bookkeeping. We empower them to earn so that their families will be happy,” she said.
On top of educating families on gender roles at home and in the community, the Cooperative also puts emphasis on the importance of paying loans and of using loans for priority needs of the family.
“Ang loan ay para sa pamilya. If may problema sa pamilya may problema sa Tagum Cooperative (The loan is for the family. If the family is wrapped in problem, Tagum Cooperative has a problem),” she said of how the Gender Equality and Family Enrichment Program of the Cooperative has brought down delinquency rate from as high as 68 percent in 1990s to 7.02 percent as of December 2015.
Tagum Cooperative for the third time hosted the Kapihan sa Kapitolyo produced by the Provincial Information Office of Davao del Norte with the assistance of the Philippine Information Agency DavComval Information Center. (PIA 11/Jeanevive Duron Abangan)