Battered Ormoc wife becomes entrepreneur

Battered for years by her husband, Lily, 42, of Ormoc City suffered in silence for the sake of her four children.

Lily is but one of the thousands of battered women that the law wants to protect.

However, data culled by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) showed that instead of abating, the number of cases of reported violence against women (VAW) increased from 218 in 2004 to 11,531 in 2012, the highest number of reported VAW cases since 1997.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Juliano Soliman said there must be strengthening of awareness to women’s rights as specified in Republic Act (RA) 9262 that urges women to break their silence and report their cases to authorities.  RA 9262 is also called Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act.

Among the different regions, Western Visayas posted the highest reported VAW cases from January to December 2012 with 3,211 reported cases, accounting for 20.1 percent of the total reported VAW cases nationwide. 

Davao came next at 3,102 (19.4 percent) reported VAW cases followed by Central Visayas with 2,035 cases or 12.7 percent of the total reported cases nationwide, the PNP report said.

Lily’s husband Mario was a skilled worker in a big company who promised to love and cherish her when they got hitched. The promise ended when he began tormenting her. This intensified when he started an affair with a 23-year-old woman.

When his company retrenched its workers, Mario got a separation pay of close to P2 million, a fortune that Lily said could “have allowed our family to start anew, but my husband spent all his money on his mistress.” 

She finally called it quits when Mario arrived home one day and threw a big kerosene lamp at her but missed.

With the help of the local Social Welfare and Development Office and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office in Ormoc, Lily went through counseling sessions and filed a case against her former husband, citing violations of RA 9262.

Being a solo parent was a nightmare for Lily. Fortunately, she was hired as a storekeeper with a daily wage of P120.

Lily became a member of a livelihood group of other abused women from their community under DSWD’s Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) program where Lily and other members of her group each received an interest–free loan of P10,000 from the DSWD. 

The program also accesses beneficiaries to microfinance facilities and institutions for vocational and life-changing skills training provided by the DSWD and the local government unit.

“I began to realize my worth as a woman and observant of my personal rights, to be treated with respect and dignity.  Di ako uurong [I won’t withdraw],” Lily said, referring to the legal case she filed against her husband.

Determined to succeed, Lily bought sacks of rice and a weighing scale, and started selling rice in her neighborhood. Her new trade netted her P100 per sack.

She also attended a training on flower making as well as crafting personal and house accessories from recycled paper and soon excelled in the craft.

On Saturdays and Sundays, Lily worked on her collection, made of used tetra packs, which she finds in her neighborhood.

To help Lily market her wares, the DSWD invited her group to participate in trade fairs during special events, such as the department’s anniversary and National Women’s Month.

Lily’s transformation from a battered housewife to an entrepreneur was rather easy as she was able to overcome her traumatic past.