SULU (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 16, 2013) – The Sulu Provincial Government has inaugurated a newly-constructed two-storey building that will house the Women and Children’s Center in the capital town of Jolo in the southern Philippines.
Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Deles graced the occasion led by Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and First Lady Nurunisah Tan and attended by top provincial and municipal officials, and women groups.
Gov. Tan said the construction of the center was completed in just a little 10 months. “Thus far it is the most beautiful building in the town of Jolo, but not as beautiful as the ladies of the Sulu Provincial Women’s Council led by its Chairperson, Hajja Nurunisah A. Tan, the inspiration who drove us to undertake a labor of love for the construction of this building.”
“For many years this particular site housed the Sulu Provincial Jail where hardened criminals and other misfits of society occupied its dark and filthy cells. Now in its stead rises this building, beautiful both in appearance and purpose. Rising from the ruins and ashes like the proverbial phoenix, this building is analogous with our espousal for the changes we envisioned for Sulu. The transformation of this site from a house of social rejects to a halfway home for women and children is poetic justice taking its course,” he said in his inspiration speech.
He said the past can be an inspiration in shaping the present that can fulfil the promise of a better and secured future. “We refer to our glorious history as a people and a civilization not out of pride or vanity, but as a bridge to facilitate our steady and unfaltering crossover to the modern world. Our character as a people was put into acid tests in many instances in our history. The bravery shown by our forefathers and the resolve and determination they displayed assured our survival as a people. We have weathered many storms that swept over our province, and now that same spirit is again called to fore; not to survive another war but to survive in peace with our dignity intact,” he said.
Gov. Tan said many buildings rising in the landscape, including the new center, underline the growing confidence of the people and the business community that normality is steadily returning to Sulu which suffered not only from war and clashes, but also from the unkind perceptions which shackled her as a typecast.
He said the time is rife for the local people to break out from the box and transcend the curtailing limitations which stunt their growth, blunt their capabilities and hamper their march to excellence. While some misgivings harbored by the people are effects of the turn of events in history or what some sector termed as “historical injustices”, but “the real enemy is within us, residing in our minds.”
“I am not calling for the all-out reinvention of the Tausug, but call on their traditional boldness and resolve to muster the strength to realigned their focus towards a more positive and progressive target. There is no need for us to organize a revolution or a rebellion for independence or autonomy. With our abundant resources, fertile lands and rich marine life, let us rather struggle for economic self-sufficiency where true freedom can be achieved; freedom from hunger, poverty, illiteracy and the freedom to advance as a people with a glorious past and a secured future,” Gov. Tan said.
“If we have sown the seed of something beautiful like the Sulu Provincial Women and Children’s Center and allowing it to rise and bloom from the soil of filth and discards of society, there is no reason then, on why we cannot make a difference and prove to the world that we can be better. Let us take the bull by the horn; swim against the tide of misperceptions and let Sulu come out from the shadows which for a long while kept her in the dark,” he added.
For her part, Mrs. Tan said the new center is a good start for the Sulu Provincial Women’s Council as their efforts and services are recognized and appreciated in the most concrete and tangible way by the construction of this building through the combined efforts of the Sulu Provincial Government and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process to which Sec. Deles heads.
She said the rights of the most vulnerable sector in our society, the women and children, are at times not given due attention or appreciation, especially so in what is perceived to be a tradition-centered community.
Gender equality is already a non-issue in this time and age and the related issue of the rights of women and children are already enshrined in international protocols and local laws, she said.
“But on the other hand, it is the lack of knowledge on the laws governing the rights of our young citizens and the responsibilities of society itself as a whole to nurture and protect them, that are still lacking and in want. A civilized society is measured by the way it takes care of its children and others who are still considered susceptible to abuse and maltreatment,” Mrs. Tan said.
She said economically, there are still a large number of people, especially women who are struggling to make ends meet in sustaining their families that they may live a decent life.
Even with both parents working, she said, it is still insufficient when considering the costs of education and other daily expenses. “Imagine how a single parent who is left to fend for herself and for her children living under such a condition. Added to that is the stigma that she will carry as an additional burden to an already heavy load. There are parents who cling to the traditional thinking that they carry a blank check when disciplining their children, forgetting the fact that there is a thin line between a disciplinary scolding or spanking and child abuse,” she said.
Mrs. Tan said those and other facts of everyday life are not given due attention owing to ignorance and the absence of an institution that will take extra effort to develop social consciousness about the rights of women and children and the responsibilities of society and the state.
She said the Sulu Provincial Women and Children’s Center will serve as a half-way house for those who felt transgressed, traumatized and violated and will counsel and offer advices on the options open to them.
“We will engage the services of trained counsellors who are professional enough to lend sympathetic ears to those who are in need to talk about their problems. Financial independence will go a long way in alleviating the hardship of women who are left on their own, abandoned and in a state of helplessness. The center will coordinate with concerned agencies concerning livelihood training and other programs designed to offer even just a glitter of hope,” Mrs. Tan said.
She said the many wars and clashes which swept the province left scars upon the lives of many and created a generation of widows and orphans giving roots to social problems. All efforts geared towards resolutions of the offshoots of the war are part and parcel of the peace process, which is a continuing and open-ended process, she said.
“We hope that the Sulu Provincial Government and national government agencies like the OPAPP, will continue to render support and assistance to the Sulu Provincial Women and Children’s Center, as we in the Sulu Provincial Women’s Council commit to continue to partner with the government and share in the responsibilities in the service to society and fulfil our obligations to the people,” Mrs. Tan said. (Mindanao Examiner. With a report from Ahl Salinas)
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