preparation for the field interviewees took several weeks, particularly for teams who did
the interviews in situ, sometimes in remote areas. There were also interviews conducted in
CHR offices as agreed with the women who felt it was safer to have the interviews there
instead of in their communities.
The CHR-RO reciprocated the participation of women and children by way of giving them
groceries and school supplies after the interviews. The groceries were very much
appreciated by the women, especially since many of them faced financial difficulties even
before their family member was killed, and more so after.
Focus Group Discussions
The focus group discussion was initially designed to gain insight on the community impact
of the War on Drugs and EJK, focusing on the women’s experience, in representative areas
from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and the National Capital Region. Target participants
included barangay officials, representatives from community-based organizations, and
residents. But because of logistical and security concerns, the FGD was only conducted in
the Luzon area within the data gathering period (September 2017). There were also efforts
in the first half of 2018 to organize an FGD in the Visayas, but this had not progressed for
the same reasons previously mentioned.
A second FGD, this time specific to mothers and spouses of EJK victims was conducted
simultaneously with the children’s workshop organized by the CHR Children’s Rights
Center in November 2018. This was in anticipation that there will be women (or female
adults) accompanying the children to the CHR activity, and it was an opportunity to
supplement the data from the Luzon FGD.
The participants to the workshop came from a barangay in NCR, which has a high number
of EJK cases. The parish church was the main community contact. Initial groundwork for
recruitment of FGD participants was also done by the parish priest, then prior to the FGD,
the mothers were asked again if they wanted to participate. No token or compensation was
given to the mothers (or for their children) apart from those given to everyone who was in
the CRC workshop. After the FGD, the participants were introduced to Atty. Jill Regalado of
CHR for a brief orientation on the CHR, its mandate and services offered. It was noted that
none of the women had accessed legal assistance on their EJK case.
Documentation of the two FGDs with adult stakeholders were audio recorded and
transcribed. There are also photos of the FGD outputs from the second FGD (women’s
drawings and letters). The participants gave their expressed consent to these forms of
documentation after the facilitators explained to them the objectives and process of the
activity and the purpose of its documentation.
Panaghoy: The Philippine War on Drugs from the Perspective of Women
March 2019
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