At the second Gawad Kasarian of the UP Diliman (UPD) Gender Office (DGO), the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA) Gender and Development (GAD) Committee received the highest honor for its active involvement in DGO activities and projects.

The OVCAA GAD Committee received the Gawad Kasarian 2022 for its active participation in UPD’s celebration of  Women’s Month in 2021 and 2022, and in UP Pride Month 2021, and its projects such as the formulation of “Protocol for Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response,” a significant document responding to the needs of individuals who experienced or are experiencing gender-based abuses.

The OVCAA GAD Committee also inaugurated the “Needs Assessment Research Project,” which aims to promote needs-based projects that will directly address and respond to the current needs of the OVCAA staff. The committee also conducted the “Kalusugan ng Kalalakihan” webinar on April 28, 2021, a breakthrough activity since it was the first time a health discourse among male UPD constituents was conducted.

Gawad Kasarian was established by the DGO in 2021, and is given in recognition of successful and sustained gender mainstreaming efforts and GAD work by the GAD Committee of a college, unit, or office, including its high officials as de facto GAD members.

Kris Tarca, OVCAA GAD Committee chairperson, thanked all who have been part of OVCAA’s GAD activities.

“Lubos at higit naming kinikilala at pinasasalamatan ang pinuno ng aming yunit, at ating Bise Tsanselor para sa mga Gawaing Pang-Akademiko, Dr. Theresa Payongayong, at ang lahat ng director mula sa iba’t ibang opisina sa ilalim ng OVCAA para sa kanilang paghimok sa mga kawani ng OVCAA, na maging aktibo sa gawaing GAD at walang tangging pagsuporta sa aming mga gawain at tunguhin,” Tarca said.

Meanwhile, in honor of her works for women, the Gawad Kasarian 2022 para sa Natatanging Indibidwal was posthumously conferred on poet and activist Kerima Lorena Tariman.

Her father, poet Pablo Tariman, accepted the award on her behalf.

“Mga limang buwan na rin nang namatay ang aking anak. I didn’t realize she has done so much. [She] Wrote poetry a lot and fought fiercely for the poor in the last 20 years,” Tariman said.

Kerima died on Aug. 20, 2021 during a clash with military agents.

The awarding-giving body also recognized the UPD School of Statistics (STAT) GAD Committee and the UPD University Student Council (USC).

The STAT was awarded the Gawad Kasarian para sa Natatanging Institusyon for its research works that provide data and studies for crafting gender-related policies.

According to the STAT dean Joseph Ryan G. Lansangan, PhD, as one of the country’s leading institutions of statistical sciences, the school recognizes its role in achieving a gender-equal society through the development of statistics.

“These are crucial to our work in gender and development because good policies and programs require good data and studies. Through our contribution as statisticians, we are able to guide our universities and our countries in crafting of policies, setting priorities, and tracking of progress towards gender equality,” Lansangan said.

Meanwhile, the USC received the Gawad Kasarian 2022 para sa Natatanging Student Organization in recognition of its programs and activities geared towards gender equality.

Gawad Kasarian para sa Natatanging Student Organization is one of two categories introduced this year. The award recognizes the successful and sustained gender mainstreaming efforts and GAD work by a UPD student organization.

“We started to work in the gender committee after the transitionary period of the USC last term around August 2021. Since then, we started planning our GAD work and activities where we focused on leading the call for a gender-sensitive UP community that ensures the genuine freedom of every individual from discrimination, harassment, and violence, and the community that struggles for national democracy and social justice to fight against misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, and other forms of discrimination, violence based on gender especially during a time of a crisis,” said Latrell Felix, USC gender councilor, who received the award.

Both the STAT and the USC were honored with the Gawad Kasarian para sa Breakthrough Activity. The STAT for the research “Researching the Rainbow” and the USC for its UP Pride Protest.

The Gawad Kasarian para sa Breakthrough Activity is the other new category, and is in recognition of a breakthrough activity, landmark achievement, or institutionalization of a practice, activity, or policy in GAD work by a GAD Committee, a college/unit/office, a UPD organization, or student organization.

This year’s Gawad Kasarian panel of judges were UPDGO Coordinator Kristel May Gomez-Magdaraog, RSW, MAWD; DGO GAD Officer Cindy Cruz-Cabrera, PhD; UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies director Nathalie “Natsy” Africa-Verceles, DSD; UPD Office of Anti-Sexual Harassment Head Teresa Paula S. De Luna, PhD; and guest judge Mary Barby P. Badayos-Jover, PhD of UP Visayas and a certified member of the Philippine Commission on Women’s National Gender and Development Resource Pool.

The initial version of the DGO Taunang Ulat 2021 was also introduced during the awarding ceremony, alongside the “FILIPIN/AS: Women in Philippine Society” module, a collaborative work of DGO and select faculty of the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts of the UPD College of Arts and Letters. The module is intended to be a preliminary resource for gender education that zooms in on experiences of Filipino women. It was pilot-tested at the UP Integrated School.

Gomez-Magdaraog hopes that more units and individuals will be actively involved in future GAD efforts, not mainly for the award, but for the essence of the advocacy which promotes gender equality. The awarding ceremony was held virtually on March 31 via Zoom.