Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 78

Philippines

The Advocate
Andrea Maria Patricia M. Sarenas
Andrea Maria Patricia “Pat” M. Sarenas prefers to be described
as a retired grandmother who remains involved and noisy with
her advocacy. “Pat” as she is simply known was a party list
Congresswoman for the 11th and 12th Congress from 1998 to
2004. She continues to sit as Chair of the Philippine national
NGO platform, the Caucus of Development NGO Networks
(CODE-NGO), and the Mindanao Coalition of Development
Networks (MINCODE). She is the only party list representative
who championed the passage of three landmark laws in Congress
covering the trafficking of persons, violence against women and
children and support for single parents.

=10.000.000

Interconnected insecurities

Through my work [as an advocate and
Congresswoman], I have begun seeing the factors
affecting society, the many dimensions of true
poverty. Many of my old assumptions about
poverty changed. I began to learn more about the
root causes of poverty in the Philippines. People
had no education, many were marginalised, and the
two were interconnected. Through the work I got
to see how these realities were affected by political
decisions, even global trends. All were connected
with the various processes and systems, even the
business world. There were connections to these
sources of insecurities.

”
Many of my old
assumptions about
poverty changed.”

EVELOPMENT
3

Poverty is a manifestation of the complex problems
faced by the poor. Then, once poor, they spawn
more problems that manifest in further social ills.
This population has no access to opportunities
or any enabling mechanisms with which to
change their fate. The poor will continue to have
more children, building pressure on our social
infrastructure. This perpetuates the imbalance and

78 stories of Human Security | The Philippines

insecurity we continue to feel about society overall.
There is too great a push to ‘unrich the rich,’ for
society to take back some of the excess they now
have; instead there should be a greater effort to
‘unpoor’ the poor, to concentrate more on uplifting
them from their present condition.
I am also frustrated with the military protecting
vested interests like businesses, particularly in the
remote areas. But I am supportive of the ongoing
efforts with security sector reform. We can see
some results of this, but the fear of the military
remains dominant. There is still a distance between
security forces and the people. Ideally in a secure
society, there should be no need for any marked
police or military presence.

” find it ironic that
I
some countries that
come across as
rich and abusive
on the one hand,
continue to provide
development aid on
the other.”

Lessons in anti-trafficking and gender advocacy

Some of the insecurities we women had long
faced were addressed through legal reform. We
learned how difficult it was to work with the
male-dominated legislature. The need for closer
networking with like-minded NGOs became more
pronounced. So I also got involved in organising
NGO/CSO networks, both local and national.
As long as our work was guided by our coalition
work, we persevered, even if it was a difficult
struggle.

point of awareness wherein they were raising issues
on sexist language, work hours and the like, within
the legislative branch.
Our legislative work also prepared us to work even
with the opposition. The practical benefit of linking
with the opposition is a smoother process. By
having them informed on the issues and processes,
we got a better grasp of the questions they’d raise,
and where they were coming from. Such work
emphasised the need to always be consultative
and meet with people and allow them to make the
decision themselves.

Aside from legislative work, we needed lobbying
to get support in solving the insecurities we
addressed. We lobbied and advocated and won
victories by having sexual harassment declared a
crime. We also undertook the further detailing
of Violence Against Women (VAW) laws,
lessening the opportunity for the male-dominated
judiciary to interpret these details by themselves.
We basically made clear to them what the key
definitions, issues and roles concerning women
were.

Public participation and empowerment

Ultimately, people should be involved in the
solution. They should know the dimensions of their
situation and enabled to act for themselves. The
purpose is not to make them angry but to seek and
develop solutions to the issues. We saw the need
to demystify the lawmaking process to the people
and educate them. We had the people attending
sessions and consultations and showing them the
details that were important.

Even within Congress, we began with defining
a common understanding of trafficking when
we worked on drafting and passing the AntiTrafficking in Persons Act. We organised gender and
development committees. We involved the rank
and file of the House, to check and monitor the
mainstreaming of gender concerns in legislation and
even the processes within the legislature.
These internal groupings and mechanisms became
the driving forces within the committees and
the House. In a microcosm of organising, we
strengthened t