Rizal 2nd District Rep. Juan Fidel Felipe Nograles on Thursday lauded the launching of a “gender-sensitive” COVID-19 database, saying this could help local governments tailor-fit their response to the pandemic.
Citing the need to “draw gender-specific insights based on COVID-19 epidemiological and socio-economic data,” the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), an agency under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), recently announced the creation of the COVID-19 Cases Monitor (CCMon) Database.
The NRCP said 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 local governments with deeper insight into the pandemic from a gender-specific angle. This could help localities ensure that there are no disparities in their pandemic response,” Nograles said.
A gender-specific response is required as the pandemic has worsened gender disparity, with more women dropping out of the labor force because of household duties and illness, among others, he said.
The Labor Force Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that more than 19 million women aged 15 and above are not part of the labor force. Some 19.745 million women were out of the labor force in January this year, slightly more than a million more than the 18.708 million in January 2020.
“Due to the number of women who cannot work because of the pandemic, we can make a targeted approach especially in the recovery efforts,” said Nograles, a Harvard University-trained lawyer.
“With increasingly limited resources, there is little room for error, and we must make sure our programs are effective,” he added.
Nograles said he would urge local executives in Rizal province to tie up with the NRCP on how to better use the database.
“This database has a big potential, and it will be too bad if it is not used. I will coordinate with the local executives of Rizal; So that we can craft a better program that will take care of the different problems brought by the pandemic,” he said.
