On June 8, 2023, MSC’s Gender and Development (GAD) Office held its one-day GAD Capacity Building 2023 among the GAD Coordinators of the college at MSC’s Office of the President Conference Room. The event was facilitated by the different committees comprised of the GAD Coordinators and is headed by Dr. Gerald G. Gutierrez, the current GAD Focal Person of the college.
To start the event, participants were asked to register and retrieve their respective IDs from the Committee on Registration and Certificates once they arrived at the venue. It was exactly 9 a.m. when the event commenced, emceed by Ms. Nikka Mae J. Adling, CIT GAD Coordinator. The event began with a prayer followed by a song number from Ms. Sheryl M. Podra, CASS GAD Coordinator. The song was specially dedicated to the former GAD Focal Persons of the college who were present at the event and who will be awarded and recognized later on in the program. After the song number, the event commenced with a tribute to the former GAD Focal Persons who were able to come and join the event. One by one, they were awarded a Certificate of Commendation, which was directly given by Dr. Gerald G. Gutierrez, current GAD Focal Person, and the event’s guest speaker, Ms. Lovelyn L. Chen, Education Supervisor II of CHED MIMAROPA GAD. Among the former GAD Focal Persons present were Dr. Virginia M. Sotto and Dr. Grace Anne M. Labatete, represented by Ms. Ma. Katrina E. de Mesa, Ms. Maria Victoria M. Miciano, Ms. Conchita M. Leyco, Ms. Teresita M. Tubongbanua, Mr. Gerald M. Pajanustan, Mr. Raoul J. Magcamit, and Dr. Randy T. Nobleza.
After the tribute, Mr. Armando H. Reyes, IHS GAD Coordinator, proudly introduced our invited speaker, Ms. Lovelyn L. Chen, Education Supervisor II of CHED MIMAROPA GAD. She was so delighted with his introduction and even commended him for that. Once everything was in place, Ms. Chen began sharing her expertise among the attendees about the following topics:
- Introduction to GAD Concepts and Legal Mandates
- Harmonizing Gender and Development
- Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Mainstreaming GAD Programs, Projects, and Activities of the College
- Use of GAD Required Forms and Allocation of 5% GAD Fund Strategies on Integrating GAD Components in Research and Extension Activities
During the talk, some attendees raised their respective queries with Ms. Chen. Among them are Ms. Mylen B. Ortega, Ms. Maria Victoria M. Miciano, and Mr. Raoul J. Magcamit. Ms. Chen willingly responded to their questions and provided them with satisfying and relevant answers. After topics 1 and 2, the event was halted so that everyone could take their sumptuous lunch. The meals were provided by the GAD Office along with their AM snacks earlier.
At exactly 1 p.m., the event resumed, and Ms. Chen continued with her discussion on topics 3 and 4. During the talk, various questions were again raised, particularly during the workshop that followed this talk. The participants, particularly the GAD Coordinators, were grouped into four (4) so that they could work on the target goals of the workshop. The latter focused primarily on how to use the Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines (HGDG) tool to ensure that programs and projects undertaken by the government in their various stages are gender responsive (DOST, 2020). During the workshop wrap-up and evaluation, participants were able to formulate various GAD PPPs that are either gender sensitive or responsive, which, to their delight, was surprisingly challenging at first but fulfilling once they realized that their proposed GAD activity was considered by this tool to be gender responsive in the end.
After the workshop, Ms. Chen was proudly awarded a Certificate of Recognition. A “putong” was also rendered to her by the GAD Office as a gesture of hospitality (Katague, 2023). As the event was coming to an end, Dr. Gerald G. Gutierrez gave his closing remarks to the attendees. He eventually shared how delightful it was for the office to initiate and facilitate such a meaningful event where everyone has learned valuable lessons that they can apply later on in their respective roles as GAD Focal Persons or Coordinators of their respective colleges. The event formally ended with a photo opportunity with the guest speaker and all the participants.
