A reflection on sector participation in the GEM discussions for CeCs in the Philippines

The Molave Development Foundation, Inc. (MDFI), a member organization of the Philippine CeC Network, carried out a series of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) as part of the pilot implementation of the Gender and Evaluation Methodology (GEM) in Community eCenters, in December 2008 and January 2009.

These discussions involved several sectors that were identified by the participants of prior GEM workshops in Bato, Leyte and Binalonan, Pangasinan. This was an interesting process because it surfaced issues and needs that concerned groups such as fisherfolk, local government employees, students, senior citizens, farmers, women's groups, businessmen and entrepreneurs, and laborers.

What was also unique about the exercise was that, for most of the groups, the sessions were divided into male and female participants. This attempted to bring out possible gender differences in opinions and suggestions regarding their views on computers and the Internet, CeCs and how promotions and services might be more responsive to them.

The different sectoral groups who were invited to the FGDs also gave very insightful and useful comments on how the CeC can provide specific services that will fit their information, knowledge and communication needs.

During each session, the facilitators from MDFI provided a set of guide questions that opened up the discussion and encouraged the members of each group, typically around five to ten people, to speak out and share his or her opinions. Eloisa San Mateo of the National Computer Center - Field Operations Office was present to observe and also take note of the responses, as well as the CeC managers during the respective sessions in Bato and Binalonan.

This was also an eye-opener for the CeC managers, as it gave them firsthand instant feedback from the different sectors and also an opportunity to explain and clarify issues regarding the CeC. The most common concerns voiced by the different sectors involved the physical location of the CeCs, cost of access, personnel and availability of free or affordable lessons in basic computer literacy. This face-to-face interaction proved to be an invaluable part of the GEM experience.

As facilitators, MDFI, NCC-FOO and the CeC managers and staff realized that it was not easy setting up the FGDs. Inviting paticipants proved to be a challenge. Fisherfolk in Bato were quite busy ekeing out a living and selling their catch in the local market. Thus, the facilitators had to be creative and flexible, and decided to just go to the market and interview the fishermen there. The efforts of the CeC managers in Bato and Binalonan to invite and convince people, even at the last minute, to take part in the FGDs, are laudable, to say the least. Eloisa even had to bring in boxes of merienda from Manila to Leyte. The presence of Ms. Daphne Plou of Advance Progressive Communication (APC) was also an opportunity for her to observe firsthand how GEM was being implemented in Philippine CeCs and to see the viability of integrating GEM in the planning, operations and sustainability of telecenters.

The results gathered from the FGDs were quite varied and useful, and the variances in responses between different sectors, gender and even age were noted. It was also apparent that the experiences of using ICTs in two municipalities were also different: Bato is a fourth class fishing municipality in Leyte, whereas Binalonan is almost a semi-urban, first class town where people had more opportunities for access. MDFI gathered all these results for a report that was presented to Director Tess Camba and other officers of NCC-FOO, CeC managers and APC representatives.

In a nutshell, the FGDs in Bato and Binalonan revealed the following:

* women tended to use the CeCs more than men;
* women tended to access the Internet in the CeCs for social networking sites such as Friendster; in general, they used the CeCs as communications access points, where they can reach out to relatives abroad, friends, and even to meet new people;
* there is an apparent generation gap in using the Internet and the CeCs; younger people were generally more comfortable with ICTs, whereas the elderly were more hesitant; some did not see the need to learn themselves and left it to their children to use the computers;
* all cited positive and negative aspects of using the Internet; positive points include access to communication and learning, while negative issues included pornography and truancy amongst school children; and
* CeC managers should reach out to the different sectors, especially with fisherfolk and farmers in Bato, and the elderly and business sectors in Binalonan, and to intensify CeC promotions.