|
BACOLOD City: The city now has a Gender and Development Code. It
aims to ensure that both women and men, and children benefit equally
and participate directly in the city’s development.
It particularly makes women equal
partners of men in nation-building.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia signed
before year 2006 ended City Ordinance 423 principally authored by
Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, chairman of the Committee on Women
and Gender and the Bacolod City Gender and Development (GAD)
Council. The co-authors were Councilors Dindo Ramos and Lyndon Caña.
The Code provides a policy
framework for gender main-streaming in development planning,
programming, and budgeting.
To the highest degree, Bacolod
City is committed to enforce and protect the rights of its women,
men, and children, promote their total health and nutrition, provide
equal access and opportunities for economic, social, political, and
spiritual development of all its constituents, and encourage active
community-based and multisector participation, said Leonardia.
The Code defines important
concepts such as violence against women and children,
discrimination, commodification, sexual abuse, mail-order bride,
sexual harassment, pedophilia, commercial exploitation of women/men
and girls/boys.
It also has a provision on the
non-discrimination of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.
The Code said it is the policy of
the city government to respect the rights, welfare and dignity of
women, and shall ensure the prevention and elimination of violence
against women, provision of services to victims; and punishment as
well as rehabilitation of offenders.
It contains articles on education
and trainings, and advocacy programs, conduct of regular
gender-sensitivity training for schools, family and child health and
nutrition, food safety, AIDS awareness, participation of women in
business, commerce and trade, entrepreneurship and small and medium
enterprises, informal economy, economic independence of victims and
women with disabilities and domestic workers.
The Code underscores wo-men’s
participation and representation in the Barangay and City
Development Council, Barangay Gender and Development Committee, as
well as in the promotion of arts, culture and sports.
It sets parameters for the
conduct of adolescent sexual health education, promotion and
protection of children’s rights, surveillance, rescue,
investigation and prosecution, protective custody and psycho-social
intervention, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims.
--Panay News
|
