GENDERED COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP: REKINDLING BAYANIHAN SPIRIT AMONG INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AMIDST COVID 19 PANDEMIC
According to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 5, gender equality provides a solid foundation for a future that is both peaceful and sustainable. Moreover, gender is seen in the experiences and customs of various cultures. Indigenous Peoples' sociocultural leadership practices are also seen in their communal bayanihan spirit. This study set out to capture Indigenous Peoples' bayanihan spirit amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In-depth interviews, observations, and data analysis were used to collect data while using the narrative inquiry study design. Thirteen Bugkalot village leaders voluntarily participated in the study and were interviewed. Participants' stories were divided into four categories. The first category reflected four themes that mirrored the social bayanihan spirit of community leaders: initiating social support, providing immediate needs, creating a healthy community, and sharing ideas for livelihood. The second category, which is divided into two parts, documented the participants' struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included: a lack of peer contact, an increase in anxiety, inadequate emergency services, low socioeconomic status, and insufficient emergency services. The second sub-category described the difficulties that people faced in San Pugo as a result of the ground rupture, including fear of physical injuries of family members, no safe place to go, insufficient access to food and water, and social vulnerability and confusion. The third category reflects the participants’ future hopes with five themes: family safety, hope for homes, social recovery, and economic assistance. The identification of coping mechanisms is the final category, which includes five themes: provision of the relocation site, the establishment of housing construction; provision of livelihood training for economic recovery, fund sourcing, and social recovery activities.
Bayanihan Spirit, Community Leadership, COVID-19 Pandemic, Gender, Indigenous Peoples