BRECDAs: Catalysts in promoting women empowerment in far-flung villages

Generally, women in remote communities in Tawi-Tawi have limited options in life: to become a housewife or a teacher. Young girls are tasked to carry gallons of water from deep wells located kilometers away from their homes in their makeshift trolleys. Upon completing elementary education, rarely are they allowed to continue schooling.  

Men have dominated the roster of Barangay Renewable Energy and Community Development Association (BRECDA) chairpersons from day one of the AMORE Program but these few women leaders have outdone themselves in assuming the leadership of their respective BRECDAs:

Taking the lead

Madzrada Ladjabassal is the Barangay Captain and concurrently the BRECDA chairperson of Pamasan.  The barangay can be reached by taking a 4-hour motor launch ride from Bongao proper to Sapa-Sapa proper. People can opt to take a pump boat to their barangay or travel the 2-kilometer distance from Sapa-Sapa proper to Pamasan by foot. 

BRECDA Pamasan has perhaps the highest Operations and Maintenance Fund in the entire province, with Php39,000 in the bank and Php9,000 in its cash box. This is reflective of the effective management of its leader, who also serves as the guarantor to those unable to pay the Php160 monthly charging fee. She says, “Kahit ano, gagawin namin para sa AMORE dahil alam naming sa ikabubuti namin ‘yun (We’ll do anything for AMORE because we understand that it is for our own good).”               

With their BRECDA Chair at the helm, the community celebrated Hari Raya Puasa with song and dance contests coupled with a beauty contest. The residents also staged a cleanliness drive last February 29 in their barangay in celebration of BRECDA Week. They even “composed” a song on AMORE by changing the lyrics of the traditional folk song, “ Tawi-Tawi Beach ”. The song dramatizes the benefits brought by AMORE to their barangay, from electricity to training.

Overcoming difficulties

One empowered woman leader is Hja. Rebecca Hussam, the Chairperson of the BRECDA of the remote village of Laud in South Ubian in the far island of Tawi-Tawi .  Residents have to take the seasonal 8-hour motor launch trip from Bongao proper to reach Laud. Facing the open seas, the waters are rough in the area, making travel by pump boat not advisable. The strong currents can send water vessels to nearby Indonesia .

 Hja. Hussam is also the chairperson of the BRECDA federation in the municipality of South Ubian . She is currently pursuing several projects for her community, saying that “If I do not take care of their needs, who else will?” Her leadership skills are not going unnoticed by others. She was offered key positions in the provincial BRECDA federation but had to decline because of her work in the municipal court.  

Winning the challenges

Though a Filipino, Hja. Winnie Nang Wait had been living in Malaysia for several years when her brother invited her to settle in the Philippines . Here, she ran for the position of barangay captain in the last barangay elections and won. She defeated the hegemonic powers of the political leaders and took a stronghold in the community.  

Her service to the people is unquestionable. She took Php60,000 from her own pocket to start the building of wooden bridges that would connect the coastal land to their homes in stilts. Now, residents do not have to worry about unsafe wooden bridges. Residents are also assured of health services with her newest project, a barangay health center.

More than initiating these social services, Hja. Wait has been acting as host to the community development workers (CDWs) of AMORE. She provides escorts for them whenever they are traveling in critical areas and readily offers her speedboat for free. The CDWs have to pay only for the gasoline.  

She also exposed the fictional barangays of Kalang-Kalang and Baliungan in Tandubas so that the renewable energy systems assigned to them are given to the rightful beneficiaries. She also motivated nearby Tapian Sokah, another AMORE-assisted barangay, to pay in full the Php160 monthly charging fee for the operation and maintenance of their systems. At present, Tapian Sokah has the second highest collection of Operations and Maintenance Funds, at Php47,000.  

The BRECDA of Sallangan is assured of good management with their proactive leader, Hja. These are three of Tawi-Tawi’s women leaders—leaders in the truest sense of the word.