Grassroots Governance and Gender Mainstreaming: Competency, Capacity, and Service Delivery in Selected Philippine Rural Barangays

Eva Joy C. Palma, DM, Christian D. David, MAT
Ma. Theresa Geed T. Abagatnan, MILE
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1772-5940¹, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4841-263X², https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2579-7909³
evajoypalma@nisu.edu.ph / yojave_19@yahoo.com.ph¹, christiandavid.jfc@gmail.com², mtgta.nipscbvc@gmail.com³
General Education Department, Northern Iloilo State University- Barotac Viejo Campus, Puerto Princesa, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippines^1-3

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54476/ioer-imrj/

ABSTRACT

The Philippines, with its commitment to gender equality, mandates all government agencies, including local units, to institutionalize gender mainstreaming across their systems, programs, and policies from the highest offices down to the barangays. Positioned at the grassroots, barangays have unique potential to advance gender equality in local communities. Despite national gender mainstreaming policies, significant gaps persist at the grassroots in translating them into concrete, measurable actions. This quantitative research aimed to examine the descriptive and associative relationships between the organizational competency and institutional capacity of rural barangays in relation to gender mainstreaming, and the extent of gender integration in the delivery of basic services and facilities. A descriptive correlational study was conducted among 200 barangay leaders and constituents in selected barangays in the province of Iloilo, Philippines in 2025, using a survey instrument. Results revealed that as an institution, the barangay has limited competency and capacity to fully implement gender mainstreaming. The delivery of basic services and facilities in the barangay is embedded with gender mainstreaming to a sensitive level. The competency and institutional capacity of the barangay council as an institution appear to have no relation or influence on the level of gender mainstreaming in the delivery of basic services and facilities, which means that other factors may be contributing to gender perspectives in service delivery. The barangay under study remains in the early stages of gender mainstreaming and can benefit from the assistance of other organizations for the capability building and enhancement of their gender mainstreaming strategies.

Keywords: Public administration, Barangay Governance, Gender and Development, grassroots communities, Philippines

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