Rizal 2nd District Rep. Fidel Nograles lauded the launching of a gender-sensitive COVID-19 database, saying this could help local government units tailor-fit their response to the pandemic.
Citing a need to “draw gender-specific insights based on COVID-19 epidemiological and socio-economic data,” the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), recently announced the creation of the COVID-19 Cases Monitor (CCMon) database.
“This database could provide LGUs with deeper insight into the pandemic from a gender-specific lens.”
The NRCP said that the “health, social, and economic risk brought about by the COVID-19 disease have associated gender-specific aspects, such as the role of gender in the healthcare system, sex-dependent health vulnerabilities of individuals, and gender-related occupational hazards.”
“This database could provide LGUs with deeper insight into the pandemic from a gender-specific lens. This could help LGUs ensure that there are no disparities in our pandemic response,” Nograles said.
A gender-specific response is required as the pandemic has worsened gender disparity in the country, with more women dropping out of the labor force because of household duties and illness, among others, the neophyte lawmaker said.
Based on the Labor Force Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, over 19 million women aged 15 and older are not part of the labor force. Around 19.745 million women were out of the labor force in January this year, which was higher than the 18.708 million in January 2020.
“This could help LGUs ensure that there are no disparities in our pandemic response.”
“Sa bilang pa lang ng mga kababaihang hindi nakakapag-trabaho dahil sa pandemya, nakikita na nating kailangang targeted ang approach natin lalo na sa recovery efforts,” said Nograles.
With increasingly limited resources, he added that “there is little room for error and we must make sure our programs are effective.”
The Harvard-trained lawyer said he would urge local executives in Rizal to tie up with the NRCP on how to better use the database.
“Napakalaki ng potential ng database na ito, at sayang lang kung hindi gagamitin. Makikipag-ugnayan tayo sa mga local executives ng Rizal para makapag-likha tayo ng mas maganda at epektibong programa na tutugon sa iba’t ibang isyung dala ng pandemya.”
