Taking the Lead: A Woman’s Journey to Development

Mrs. Gomez: Preparing Rice Cakes for a Customer

It is in between an urban and rural setting. This is the situation of a village in Bubog, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro,Philippines. It is still a rural village because a large tract of its land area is still devoted to farming, husbandry and fishery. It is an ideal village because its wide area is along the shore. However, it is also an urban area due to its integration into a first class municipality, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro.

Organizing is not new to the people of Bubog. The village has a long history of struggle against the giant corporation known as AQUAFIL or Filipinas Aquaculture Corporation. The company was engaged in tiger prawn(s) farming and salt processing and exported its products to European countries during the 70’s until the 80’s. When the company went bankrupt, the former workers and settlers wanted to own the vast hectares of land that stretched to two barangays of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, San Agustin and Bubog. After decades of petitioning the Department of Agrarian Reform and other government agencies, and the shedding of blood, it was only recently that the 448 hectares of land were granted to the petitioners and the processing of titles is on-going.

Hence, organizing did not pose any problem, especially to groups who wanted to uplift the present condition of the community. However organizing a women’s group poses an entirely different challenge.

This was a challenge Ma. Jesusa C. Gomez wanted to take on when she migrated to Bubog on 1998.

The Association

After decades of struggle to own the land they till, many people are still in poverty. The once organized peasants are no longer active and have become lukewarm to social and political issues. After the pull-out of the NGO that led in the organizing sometime in 1994, the people had nowhere to turn to but to several politicians who promised them help through welfare i.e. giving them rice or a few hundred pesos. Although the area was won by the petitioners through fierce legal battles, due to political interventions, many petitioners lost their rights to the land. The area became a relocation site from other villages. They are now called the urban poor, whereas the petitioners are categorized as rural poor.