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A REVIEW OF THE PHILIPPINE GAD BUDGET POLICY

JEANNE FRANCES I. ILLO
J E A Encinas-Franco
Jean NNE FRANCES I. ILLO
JJon
E AMichael
N N E R.F Villaseňor
RANCES I. ILLO
Maria Daryl L. Leyesa
Jean Encinas-Franco
Frances Chariza I. de los Trino
Jon
JeanMichael R. Villaseňor
Encinas-Franco
Maria Daryl L.
Jon Michael R. Leyesa
Villaseňor
Frances
Maria Chariza
Daryl L.
Women and Gender I. deInstitute
Leyesa los Trino
Frances Chariza
Miriam College I. de los Trino
Women and Gender Institute

Miriam
WomenCollege
and Gender Institute
Miriam College
ACCOUNTING FOR GENDER RESULTS:
A Review of the Philippine GAD Budget Policy
Copyright © 2010 Miriam College
Miriam College - Women and Gender Institute

Katipunan Road, Loyola Heights
Quezon City, Philippines
Telephone: (632) 580-5400 local 3590
Telefax: (632) 435-9299
Email: wagi@mc.edu.ph
With research and book production support from:
National Economic and Development Authority

12 Saint Josemaria Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center
Pasig City, Philippines
www.neda.gov.ph
United Nations Development Programme

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6829 Ayala Avenue cor. Gil Puyat Avenue
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Under the “Poverty Reduction and Support for the MDGs Programme”
ISBN No: 978-971-0177-01-1
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying or recording or by any informal retrieval system, without the
written permission of the Women and Gender Institute, Miriam College.
The views expressed in this book are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of their affiliated institutions or the
sponsoring agencies.
Cover design, book design and layout: Ryan Jay D. Crisostomo

Copy editing: Stella Marquez-Fong
Printer: Art Angel Printshop
For the late Emilia (Emy) T. Boncodin,
former Department of Budget and Management Secretary and
a strong advocate of the Philippine GAD Budget Policy
FOREWORD
Gender and development is a continuing, common and priority concern within the United
Nations System. Thus, the preparation of the study, “A Review of the Philippine GAD
Budget Policy,” which assesses the implementation of a key gender and development
policy of the Philippines at the national level by government departments or agencies is a
valuable input to the agenda to mainstream gender equality. The completion of the study
is also opportune as the country braces for the final stretch to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
The Philippines has reached a milestone by institutionalizing gender and development

in the government budgets. This study will help ensure that the gains the country has
achieved in improving the state of gender equality and women’s empowerment through
the gender budget would not be eroded and will instead further improve government
measures where they proved inadequate.
The United Nations family commends the efforts of the Women and Gender Institute
(WAGI) of Miriam College for having completed this study. Gender equality and the
empowerment of women have been recognized to be vital to the achievement of MDGs
as it cuts across all the eight MDGs. Effective mainstreaming of gender equality and
empowerment of women can lead to further strengthened national capacities to pursue
economic and human development.
In UNDP’s Breakthrough Plan for the last five years to the 2015 deadline, where the
strategic direction is to accelerate and sustain progress on the MDGs, gender equality
and women’s empowerment not only constitute a development goal in their own right
(MDG 3), but also are essential if countries are to achieve the other MDGs because of the
multiplier effect of gender-specific interventions.
The 2010 Philippines MDG Progress Report showed that the country have gained
significant advances towards achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. The
country scored high in eliminating gender inequality in education and literacy. There has
also been improvement in terms of political participation by women but it still remains a
challenge. However, government efforts fell short in preventing the increase in incidence
of violence against women and reducing the vulnerability of our female workers abroad.
It is a long and challenging road ahead and hopefully this study will contribute
to the overcoming of the constraints and obstacles towards gender equality and the
empowerment of women.
RENAUD MEYER
UNDP Country Director
v
FOREWORD
Republic Act (RA) No. 7192, or the “Women in Development and Nation-Building
Act,” set into motion the allocation of a certain percentage of official development
assistance for gender concerns. The law has likewise been the starting point of what is
now known as the Gender and Development (GAD) Budget Policy, which was initiated
in the 1995 General Appropriations Act, that specifically mandates all government
departments, bureaus, offices and agencies to set aside at least 5 percent of their total
budget appropriations on gender and development.
A Joint Memorandum Circular issued in 1994 by the National Economic and

Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and
the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), formerly the National Commission
on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), has served as a policy framework for the
integration of GAD in the development of programs, activities, and projects that
promote gender-responsive governance and women’s economic empowerment.
The study on which the book, Accounting for Gender Results: A Review of the
Philippine GAD Budget Policy, is based, intends to determine whether the provisions
of RA 7192 has been achieved among selected line agencies. It seeks to examine (1) if
support for gender mainstreaming was given; and (2) whether or not women equally
benefited and participated in the development process. The study has been reviewed
by the NEDA Board-Social Development Committee.
We commend the Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) of Miriam College and
its research team for coming up with this review of the country’s GAD Budget Policy.
We also wish to express our gratitude to the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) for supporting the production of this volume under the “Poverty Reduction
and Support for the MDGs Programme.” The findings and recommendations of the
study will surely serve as valuable inputs to the Philippine Government’s efforts to
fully integrate gender and development in the formulation of the Medium-Term
Philippine Development Plan 2010-2016.
CAYETANO W. PADERANGA, JR.

Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning
vi
FOREWORD
As in all other pioneering efforts, the adoption of the Philippine GAD Budget Policy was
a confluence of several factors: favorable policy environment, high level championship
and strong involvement of critical agencies.
The operationalization of the policy after its adoption has been the greater
challenge for the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) as the oversight
agency mandated to oversee its implementation. Through the years, the agency has
encountered interesting experiences in ensuring that the policy is mainstreamed at
the core of the development agenda. Critics have clamored for evidences proving
that indeed the policy has contributed to the attainment of the twin goals of women’s
empowerment and gender equality. For PCW, the fifteen years of partnership with
national government agencies in polishing the policy to achieve these goals had not
been futile. There are strong evidences to this claim.
These evidences are captured in this book that concludes the importance of
the GAD Budget Policy. By examining the facilitating and hindering factors that
pushed the effective implementation of the policy and deterred the achievement of
its objectives, the publication provides necessary courses of action that can lead to
better compliance and quality of GAD Plans and Budgets and of Accomplishment
Reports. We are hopeful that readers of this book will appreciate the identified gaps
and problems as we commit to continue to lead in enhancing the implementation of
the policy.
The PCW commends the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA),
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Women and Gender
Institute (WAGI) in publishing this book. We are confident that this publication will
contribute tremendously to the ongoing discussions of how the policy can contribute
to transforming the mainstream budgeting processes to be gender-responsive. More
importantly, we trust that readers will realize that the lessons and insights documented
in this review are unbiased feedback on how the policy as a technical and political tool
has shaped gender mainstreaming as the main strategy in giving women and men
greater voice in influencing development interventions affecting their future.
Emmeline L. Verzosa
Executive Director
Philippine Commission on Women
vii
FOREWORD
The Women and Gender Institute takes pride in launching the book, Accounting for
Gender Results : A Review of the Philippine Gender Budget Policy of the Philippines.
This policy is the most concrete and strategic expression and translation of the
Philippine government’s commitment to gender equality. It is important to note that
gender-responsive budgets are not separate budgets for women, or for men. They
are attempts to disaggregate the government’s mainstream budget according to its
impact on women and men, with the aim of addressing, if not reducing, gender gaps
and inequalities in specific areas and sectors. But this is easier said than done as this
book reveals.
Produced by Jeanne Illo and a team of dynamic gender researchers, the book is an
indispensable source of updated information and knowledge on the complex processes,
dynamics and tensions involved in the implementation of the gender budget policy at
the agency level. The study presents a clear analytical framework that views gender
budget as simultaneously a political process, a technical concern within the gender
mainstreaming program of governments, and a part of the broader governance change
process. In viewing the GAD policy in these three interrelated ways, the study firmly
and correctly understands the implementation of GAD budget as a dynamic one that
involves both “advocacy and negotiations” at various levels of governance.
The value of the study lies in its approach of looking at interconnectedness of

mandates, planning and budgeting processes, and the gender mainstreaming context in
each of the departmental case studies. With different levels of awareness, commitment
and enthusiasm, the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the gender policy are
expectedly mixed and varied. Many departments cite initial gains and highpoints
interspersed with periods of inactivity and lack of enthusiasm and follow through.
Still many are struggling to find the right combination of strategies to more effectively
implement the policy. There are, however, many lessons to be learned including the
identification of common problems, issues and challenges across all the departments.
The most critical of these requirements, as the research demonstrates, is the need
for consistent and thoroughgoing gender awareness campaign coupled with technical
capacity building programs on gender budgets within each agency.
Civil society involvement in the process of planning and budgeting in the spirit
of participatory, inclusive and accountable governance is another crucial factor in the
implementation of gender budget policy.
viii
As has been demonstrated in other countries, there is no one-size-fits-all formula
for the implementation of gender budgets and the Philippines must further develop
and refine its own set of methodologies, approaches and strategies based on the
strengths and best practices at the grassroots and sub-national levels. Finally, a
regular monitoring, evaluation and review can further strengthen our gender budget
policy.
The gender budget policy should be viewed as a strategic gain, particularly by the
women’s movement, that not only promotes gender equality but also transparent,
accountable, participatory and gender-responsive governance. Government workers,
NGOs and women’s groups will find the book engaging and a very useful reference
guide to development planning and budgeting.
Prof. Aurora Javate de Dios

Executive Director
Women and Gender Institute
ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The review of the national-level implementation of the Philippine gender budget

policy was inspired by Erlinda M. Capones, Director of the Social Development Staff
of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). On her invitation to
conduct an assessment of the compliance, performance and results of the policy, I
constituted a research team, based at the Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) of
Miriam College.
Four young people contributed to the completion of the study and this book.
Three prepared the case studies. Jean Encinas-Franco covered the Departments of
Education (DepEd) and Labor and Employment (DOLE); Jon Michael R. Villaseñor,
the Departments of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Public Works
and Highways (DPWH), and NEDA; while Maria Daryl L. Leyesa, the Departments of
Agriculture (DA) and Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Frances Chariza
I. de los Trino helped write the second chapter and provided valuable technical
support to the research team.
The UNDP-NEDA “Poverty Reduction and Support for the MDGs Programme”
team, headed by Luz A. Bautista, had been most helpful in ensuring that our project
complied with the Programme’s reporting and monitoring requirements. The NEDA
Social Development Staff, particularly its Gender and Development (GAD) Focal
Person (Aleli N. Cortez), has provided useful comments on the framework, draft
versions of cases, and the draft final report.
The GAD Focal Persons and other key officials of the government departments
studied made us understand the processes, opportunities and constraints related not
only to GAD budgeting, but, more generally, to gender mainstreaming that transpired
in their respective departments, offices or agencies. Through interviews, focus group
discussions, and documents and reports supplied to us, the following women and
men have been our partners in the study. In alphabetical order, they are:
DA: Melanie Brieta, Sheila B. Edrina, and Vicky Guardalupe;

DBM: Mario Relampagos (former Undersecretary), and Teresita M. Salud;
DENR: Lilihua Garcia, Evelyn Nillosan, Juliet U. Texon, and Roy Tolentino;
DepEd: Zaida Azcueta and Cleofe Velasquez-Ocam;
DOLE: Carmen Ac-Ac, Precy Arellano, Johnson Canete, Patricia Hornilla, Cecile
Javier, Ma. Evelyn Lita Managan, Delia Obedoza, and Jeanette Tana;
DOTC: Madeleine Abada, Marissa Arindain, Rosalia Banzon, Zenaida Carpio,
Alicia Clavo, Benita de Guzman, Cynthia Dia, Rita Dolot, Guia Gonzales,
x
Raquel Gonzales, Alona Lapasaran, Delia Lorenzo, Sophia Lumantod, Eleanor
Naidas, Rowena Quiogue, Edna Revalo, Marjorie Rola, Fedelyn Santos, Esther
Soneja, and Rosemarie Tubal;
DPWH: Clarita Bandonillo, Renato Canlas, Rebecca Garsuta, Dolores Hipolito,
and Ardeliza Medenilla;
NEDA: Erlinda M. Capones, Violeta Corpuz, Aleli N. Cortez, Adriana Hernandez,
Gina Herrera, Florante Igtiben, Guadel Salamat, and former staff member
Allan O. Millar; and
PCW: Gemma F. Ifurung, Irene R. Oriel, Loren A. Umali, as well as, two former
staff members, Ma. Bernadette Broqueza and Evelyn Gorospe.
Some of these partners also commented on the draft cases, helping us to improve
our portrayal and analysis of their experiences and the issues they continue to face.
Of the agencies, PCW undertook the most extensive review of the draft report. Led
by Emmeline L. Verzosa, Executive Director, and Loren Umali, Deputy Director, the
heads and staffs of the various divisions of PCW have provided useful, additional
inputs and insights.
In July and August 2010, I presented the major findings and recommendations
of the GAD budget study to various groups, which validated our findings and raised
questions that made us rethink some of our assumptions, analyses, and recommended
actions. These discussions took place during the meeting of the Multisectoral
Committee on International Human Development Commitments on 6 July, the
NEDA-Social Development Committee Technical Board (SDC TB) meeting on 7 July
2010, and a special feedback and validation session with the PCW on 2 August. I also
provided inputs from the study during the 27 August 2010 Round Table Discussion
with CEDAW Experts to review the draft CEDAW report of the Philippines. In addition,
during the 28 October 2010 NEDA Board Social Development Committee, Cabinet
Level meeting, I highlighted what can be done to enhance the implementation of the
GAD Budget Policy. The meeting was chaired by Socioeconomic Planning Secretary
Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr., and attended by DSWD Secretary Corazon J. Soliman,
NAPC Secretary Joel Rocamora, and DepEd Undersecretary Albert Muyot, among
others.
Two Women’s Studies colleagues assessed the technical merits of the manuscript
and helped us sharpen our analysis: Dr. Carol I. Sobritchea, former Executive Director
of the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s Studies; and Prof. Aurora
Javate de Dios, Executive Director of WAGI and former Chairperson of PCW. Their
suggestions enriched the quality of this book.
At WAGI, Ellen C. Guanzon provided administrative support to the project, while

Pauline O. Rampola helped us secure the copyright for the book.
xi
In addition to my co-authors, two individuals helped produce this book. Stella
Marquez-Fong of Miriam College edited the manuscript, while Ryan Jay D. Crisostomo
designed the cover and the book layout.
To them and to the various women and men, and groups and organizations, thank
you. Special thanks go to the sponsors of the research and the publication of this book.
To NEDA and UNDP, “Maraming salamat.”
Jeanne Frances I. Illo
xii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Forewords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi
List of Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi
PART ONE: OVERVIEW
CHAPTER 1: Background and Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Objectives and Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Analytical Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
CHAPTER 2: Trends and Patterns of Budget Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Implementation Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Trends of Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
PART TWO: CASES
CHAPTER 3: The Department of Transportation and Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Overview and Mandate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Gender Issues in the Sector and Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Gender Mainstreaming Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
GAD Planning and Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
GAD Budget Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
GAD Results: Impacts on the Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
GAD Results: Impacts on Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Concluding Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
CHAPTER 4: The Department of Environment and Natural Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Overview and Mandate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Key Gender Issues in the Sector and Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Gender Mainstreaming Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Gender Planning and Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
GAD Budget Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
GAD Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
CHAPTER 5: The Department of Labor and Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Key Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
GAD Budget Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
xiii
GAD Results: Impacts on Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
CHAPTER 6: The Department of Public Works and Highways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

GAD Planning and Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
GAD Budget Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
CHAPTER 7: The Department of Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

GAD Planning and Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
GAD Budget Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
CHAPTER 8: The Department of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Mandate, Structure and Major Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Key Gender Issues in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
GAD Mainstreaming Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
GAD Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
PART THREE: LEARNING FROM THE CASES
CHAPTER 9: Budgeting and Spending for Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Compliance and Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Issues, Challenges and Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
A Quick Look at the Needed Courses of Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 04
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
List of Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 209
xiv
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1: Comparative GPB and AR figures for 2002-2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Table 2.2: Trends in GAD allocations, 1995-2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Table 2.3: Planned versus spent GAD budgets (in P billion), 2002-2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Table 3.1: GAD Plans and Budgets and Accomplishment Reports submitted by
DOTC Central Office and attached agencies, 2000-2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Table 3.2: Summary data on DOTC GAD Plan and Budget and
Accomplishment Report submissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Table 3.3: GAD budget of DOTC as percentage of total agency and MOOE
budgets, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Table 3.4: Cumulative number of persons served by the Bahay Silungan
sa Daungan of the Philippine Ports Authority, 2001-2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Table 4.1: Number of free land patent, MSA and homestead beneficiaries,
by sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Table 4.2: DENR policies on the GAD structures and mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Table 4.3: Gender mainstreaming policies in the DENR programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Table 4.4: DENR employees, by sex, as of 30 June 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Table 4.5: Number and percentage of women DENR official and managers,
by Secretaries’ terms, 1987-2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Table 4.6: Information on GAD Plans and Budgets and Accomplishment
Reports of DENR, 2001-2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Table 4.7: GAD budget of DENR as percentage of total agency and
MOOE budgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Table 5.1: Selected legislation related to women workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Table 5.2: GAD Plans and Budgets and Accomplishment Reports of the
DOLE Office of the Secretary and attached agencies, 2000-2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Table 5.3: GAD budget of DOLE as percentage of total agency and
MOOE budgets, selected years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 08
Table 6.1: Conditions for the NCRFW recommendations to the
DBM relative to the DPWH GAD Plan and Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Table 6.2: GAD Plans and Budgets and Accomplishment Reports of
DPWH, 1995-2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Table 6.3: GAD budgets and total appropriations of DPWH, 2000-2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Table 7.1: GAD budget of the DA as percentage of total agency and MOOE
budgets, and percentage of complete GPB submissions, 1997-2007 . . . . . . . . . . 158
Table 7.2: Data on GAD budget allocations and utilization of the DA, 2001-2007 . . . . . . . . 159
Table 7.3: Assessment of gender mainstreaming at the DA, using the GMEF, 2005 . . . . . . 166
Table 8.1: Basic education indicators (in percent), School Year 2007-2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Table 8.2: Mean percentage score of grade six students in the National Achievement
Test, by sex and by subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Table 8.3: DepEd submissions of GAD Plans and Budgets and Accomplishment
Reports, 1995-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Table 8.4: List of DepEd memoranda on GAD activities, 1999-2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Table 8.5: Selected gender indicators for the Philippine basic education sector:
elementary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
xv
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: Analytical framework for the GAD budget study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Figure 2.1: No. of national government agencies with GAD plans and budgets,
accomplishment reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
LIST OF BOXES
Box 2.1: GAD Budgeting and Planning Procedural Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Box 2.2: Overview of the National Budgeting Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Box 3.1: The PPA Budgeting Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Box 4.1: Objectives of the DENR GAD Implementing Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Box 4.2: LAMP 2 . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Box 5.1: DOLE Key Result Areas (2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Box 7.1: Agreements and Recommendations of the Department of Agriculture GAD
Focal Point Consultation Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Box 7.2: Composition and Functions of the Focal Systems of the Department of
Agriculture, by Operating Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Box 7.3: “Oh my GAD!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Box 8.1: PPGD Key Objectives for the Education Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
xvi
PART ONE OVERVIEW
CHAPTER 1
BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK

B KGROUND AND FRAMEWORK
Republic Act (RA) No. 7192, otherwise known as the “Women in Development and
Nation-Building Act,” was signed into law by then President Corazon C. Aquino on
12 February 1992. Its implementation is guided by a set of rules and regulations—
the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR)—that was approved by the National
Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board on 18 November 1992.
Under the law, the Philippine State is responsible for providing women rights
and opportunities equal to that of men. Three broad strategies have been identified
to achieve this policy: (1) setting aside and utilizing a substantial portion of official
development assistance (ODA) funds to support programs and activities for women;
(2) ensuring that women benefit equally and participate directly in the development
programs and projects of all government departments; and (3) ‘gender mainstreaming’
or removing gender bias in the regulations, circulars, issuances and procedures of all
government departments and agencies.
The Implementing Rules and Regulations specified how the implementation of the
activities identified in the law and the IRR will be financed. Apart from the allocation
of ODA funds, Rule VI, Section 12 (Budgetary Support) of the IRR stipulates:
“The activities embodied in this IRR shall be implemented using the regular
budget of the government departments/agencies. In cases where some
critical activities cannot be funded from the regular budgets, the concerned
government departments/agencies and the LGUs shall be advised to source
these from supplemental budgetary requests.”
Thus, the Philippine Gender and Development (GAD) Budget Policy was
established. It consists of two parts. One part refers to the allocation of ODA funds in
support of programs and activities for women, or what has been broadly interpreted
as GAD programs and activities; the other part is a GAD budget allocation from the
regular budgets of government departments or agencies and local governments.
To assist in the implementation of the policy, then President Fidel V. Ramos

directed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), NEDA, and the
3
National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW; now known as
the Philippine Commission on Women, or PCW) to ensure budgetary support
for GAD.1 In 1994, NEDA, DBM and NCRFW issued Joint Memorandum Circular
(JMC) No. 94-1 that provided the policy framework and procedure for integration of
GAD into agency plans and proposals. This meant, as well, the incorporation of the
GAD Budget Policy in the National Budget Memorandum (or Budget Call) and the
General Appropriations Act (GAA).2 Beginning in 1995, the GAA has included a section
that requires all departments,
bureaus, offices and agencies A GAD Plan is a tool for gender mainstreaming. It
to set aside at least 5 percent of spells out the framework and specific commitments of
agencies, LGUs and GOCCs in responding to gender
their appropriations for GAD; issues that affect them and their clients.
and has provided for a reporting
There are different types of GAD plans. Among
mechanism that would enable these is the three-year rolling plan of national
NCRFW to monitor compliance. government agencies. This plan is crafted to be the
basis of the three-year budget required by the public
A few years later, the GAD Budget expenditures management initiative reforms. These
Policy for local government units budgets are translated annually to reflect their GAD
(LGUs) was formulated and the activities and the budget required.
guidelines issued.
Having a policy, however, is not enough. A review of the Philippine GAD budgeting
process noted that while the Philippines is the only country that authorizes a specific
budgetary allocation to implement the GAD Budget Policy, compliance with the
policy has been very low, and there is no operational mechanism to actively promote
compliance and performance.3 This present assessment of the GAD budget explores
how the challenges spelled out earlier have been met in terms of compliance and
performance, and what results have been achieved so far.
OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

The GAD budget study focused on the implementation of the policy at the national
level by government departments or agencies. It sought to establish two things: one,
compliance of Philippine government agencies with the GAD Budget Policy, as stated
in the General Appropriations Acts; and two, achievement of the objectives of the law.
The latter looked into agency support for gender mainstreaming and for ensuring that
women benefit equally and participate directly in the development process.
1
The brief history of the GAD Budget Policy has been provided by the NCRFW in GAD Planning and Budgeting: Adding
Value to Governance, NCRFW, Manila, 2003. In 2009, the Magna Carta of Women renamed NCRFW to the Philippine Commission
on Women. For the purpose of this book, PCW will be used when challenges and actions to be taken are discussed in the last
chapter.
2
The General Appropriations Act is an annual legislation on the budget of national government agencies, local government
units and state colleges and universities and other government instrumentalities in the Philippines. The GAA does not cover
government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) that fund their operations from their income. The GOCCs are also
required to prepare and submit their GAD Plan and Budget.
3
NCRFW and UNIFEM, Gender and Development Budgeting in the Philippines: Issues, Challenges and Imperatives,
Manila, 2004.
4 ACCOUNTING FOR GENDER RESULTS

Specifically, the evaluation looked into the four aspects of the implementation of
the gender budget policy. One aspect is the performance of NEDA, NCRFW and DBM
in ensuring that the GAD Budget Policy is implemented. This involved an analysis of
efforts of the three oversight agencies to implement the law through the promotion
of gender-responsive planning; development of tools and guidelines for development
planning and advocacy; programming, monitoring and evaluation, and necessary
adjustments to the guidelines in response to emerging developments; and monitoring
of compliance of various agencies with the policy.
A second aspect, compliance of government departments to the GAD Budget Policy,

required an investigation of trends in terms of GAD budget levels, as a percentage of
government department/agency budgets, number of compliant departments/agencies,
and reasons for non-compliance.
The third aspect is the utilization of the GAD budget. It meant looking into activities
supported by the budget, and how this utilization pattern affected GAD mainstreaming
and women.
The last area involved the analysis of measures to improve compliance to and
performance of the GAD Budget Policy. The interviews with officials and/or technical
staff of the oversight agencies and the case studies were distilled to identify factors
that induced agencies to undertake GAD planning, craft GAD budgets, and use the
budgets to obtain gender equality and women’s empowerment results.
ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
Interest in gender or GAD budgeting usually stems from the recognition of
government, civil society and other stakeholders on the importance of public resource
allocations for gender equality.4 This interest in funding gender equality and women’s
empowerment initiatives is developed over time, often as a result of lobbying of the
State by GAD advocates in and out of government. Gender budgeting, therefore, is
as much a political process as a technical activity. Without this public provisioning,
these initiatives might never have been implemented, and results not achieved.
Commitment to the public funding of gender equality initiatives requires State policy
statements, both legislative and executive.
Budgets can be ad hoc or stand alone, and independent of the budgetary decision-
making processes of government; or they can be part of government budgetary processes,
which could ensure continuous funding of GAD efforts. Within government, GAD
budgets can fund and/or leverage gender mainstreaming campaigns. Following the
gender mainstreaming framework (see Figure 1.1), the GAD efforts can be focused on
4
Rhonda Sharp, Budgeting for Equity: Gender Budget Initiatives within a Framework of Performance-Oriented Budgeting,
New York: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), 1 July 2003.
BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK 5

Figure 1.1: Analytical framework for the GAD budget study
RA 7192:
Women in Development and Nation-Building Act GAD Policy
General Appropriations Act DBM Budgeting Instructions GAD Budget

(Budget Call) (Plus GAD budgeting annex) Policy
GAD Budgets GAD Planning and Programming
GENDER MAINSTREAMING STRATEGY

“Accomplishments”
GENDER-RESPONSIVE BUDGET
(including gender analysis)

ENTRY Policies Foundation formation
POINTS People Installation of strategic mechanism
Enabling Mechanism GAD application
Programs/Projects Commitment, enhancement and institutionalization
IMPACTS ON CLIENTS IMPACT ON THE ORGANIZATION

(Framework Plan for Women) Gender-responsive
Promotion of womenʼs human rights organization (governance)
Economic empowerment
Other Policies and Programs; Stakeholdersʼ Advocacy
developing and/or strengthening elements and entry points at various stages of the
campaign. This requires translation of legislative policy into technical instructions
on how to prepare the GAD budget and to link it with relevant gender issues that
have been identified through gender analysis and the agency’s gender mainstreaming
efforts. In the framework, the gender budgeting process involves the preparation of
a GAD plan, a GAD budget, and a review of accomplishments vis-à-vis that year’s
gender budget.
Policies and technical instructions (such as the GAD Planning Annex to the
DBM budget call), however, do not necessarily produce quality budgets and plans.
Officials and managers have to commit resources for gender mainstreaming; policies
and procedures have to be reviewed and revised, if needed; officers and staff trained;
and programming and/or service delivery improved to make them gender-sensitive.
All these need funding. The GAD budget can jumpstart the process, but the general
agency budget can cover the cost of incorporating GAD in the agency’s policies,
processes, programs, projects and services.
Gender mainstreaming and, more specifically, GAD budgeting, are parts of a change
process that seeks to make organizations equity- and people-oriented as they also aim
to be efficient and effective in their operations. When this change is associated with
the GAD budgeting, it links the latter with people- (gender-) aware development and
governance, with its imperatives of accountability and participation, and with a concern
for performance in terms of results. In the case of GAD budgets, the measurement of
performance will be against the gender issues identified and changes desired.

This triple view of gender budgeting as a political process, a technical concern
subsumed under GAD mainstreaming, and a part of a broader governance change
process guides the research to look into a number of areas as it investigates the
compliance and performance of agencies, utilization of the budget, and results.
An inquiry into budgeting as a political process involves an exploration of advocacy

and negotiations surrounding gender planning and budgeting. To understand
successes or failures in obtaining agency support for the GAD budget and gender
mainstreaming in general, means locating the GAD advocates in the organizational
structure, defining their spheres of influence, as well as, identifying the groundswell
of support for gender mainstreaming and budgeting among employees and officials.
Winning concessions and commitments, however, is but a first step. Making them
stick and facilitate the implementation of the GAD Budget Policy at national and at
agency levels is another challenge altogether.
As a technical concern, gender budgeting requires the development of guidelines,

tools, and competencies to implement the GAD Budget Policy. How the budgeting
should be done, what to allow or disallow, what constitutes compliance, and how to
track and audit budgets are key areas of concern that need to be studied. Another is the
question of investments that institutions are willing to make to ensure that technical
skills are available and tapped to actually prepare the GAD plans and budgets.
A more critical question, however, is: why the GAD budget? The articulation of the
budget rationale reveals the relative weights given not only to political and technical
considerations, but also to governance and accountability. The instrumentalist
position that gender budgets can improve the performance of the agency in its
mandated roles lends itself to the technical and political processes of budgeting.
There is another position that looks beyond compliance, efficiency, effectiveness,
and performance issues. It asks how agencies and key actors link GAD planning and
budgeting processes to accountability in terms of commitments to advancing women’s
interests. These commitments include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, and
labor and decent work standards. The gender budgets can also be used for the effective
implementation of laws on women, like the provision of services for abused women
under RA 9162 (or the Anti-Violence against Women and Children Act of 2004), the
Women’s Desk, counseling service/shelter for trafficked women in ports, and the like.
Viewing gender budgeting in terms of governance change process raises questions

about inclusiveness and participation of various stakeholders within and outside
government and particular agencies in the budgeting process, and in the monitoring
of GAD fund utilization. In turn, these suggest issues of transparency, including
ownership of the process, the output (budget), and the resulting benefits, which are
important areas of investigation.

Gender budgeting is done to bring about certain changes in the way an agency
does its business, views the people it interacts with, and affects the communities and
female and male clients it serves. The change processes and results emanating from,
or influenced by the GAD budget constitute, therefore, a final area of inquiry. There
can be two sets of changes. One set consists of organizational changes, possibly in
terms of awareness raised, commitments obtained, systems and policies made more
sensitive to gender needs, and situations of women and men workers, resulting in
the utilization of the GAD budget. With the latter serving as leverage, the effect the
GAD budget has had on the general agency budget bear investigation. The second
set relates to the effects of the GAD budget on the quality, effectiveness, and gender
responsiveness of programs, projects and services; and the impact of the enhanced
programs, projects, or services on the situation and status of women.
METHODOLOGY
The evaluation study employed several research strategies. An analysis of overall
trends of GAD budgets and expenditures has been complemented by case studies.
For these, the research team reviewed GAD plans and budgets, and other documents
and reports; and results of the document review were validated with agency officials,
GAD Focal Points, budget or finance officers, and key program or project managers
and officers. The document review initially covered the period from 1995 to 2007,
but as documents or information became available, the time coverage was extended
to 2009. Two sets of data sources were tapped. One set consisted of GAD budget
reports submitted to the NCRFW that it provided to the research team; the other, of
records retrieved and documents obtained by the case writers from the department
and agencies studied.
The study covered the oversight agencies for the GAD Budget Policy—NCRFW,
NEDA, DBM—and a sample of national government agencies. The sample of
departments was drawn based on the classification in the IRR (Rule II, Sec. 6.b.3)
of RA 7192: (1) those that are covered by the law (departments in economic, social,
and similar sectors), and (2) those where compliance to the Policy are not expected
to be strictly enforced (such as transport, public works, and other hard infrastructure
agencies).5 In all, six departments were the subject of the in-depth study: three from
the economic sector, one social, and two infrastructure-sector departments.
The six departments were: agriculture, environment and natural resources, labor
and employment, education, transportation and communications, and public works
and highways. These agencies were chosen for very specific reasons. Two agencies—
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department
5
The analysis initially intended to classify the departments/agencies based on GAA categories, namely: Executive Offices
(President and Vice President), line agencies and departments, attached agencies, State Universities and Colleges, Other Executive
Offices, Judiciary, Constitutional Commissions, GOCCs, and others (LEDAC, ARMM and Office of the Ombudsman). However, this
did not turn out to be useful for the purposes of the study and had to be replaced.

of Labor and Employment (DOLE)—were early frontrunners in promoting gender
mainstreaming. The DENR has a long history of consistent gender mainstreaming
efforts, and has been submitting GAD plans and budgets for years. The DOLE was an
active proponent of gender mainstreaming in the 1990s and early 2000s, but has been
plagued by problems regarding leadership of the GAD efforts in recent years.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has a mixed gender mainstreaming record,

but there is a very strong rural women’s lobby in the agricultural sector. Meanwhile,
the Department of Education (DepEd) has recently claimed that it has incorporated
gender perspective in key functions, and has not submitted GAD budgets for years.
Would the presence of groups that systematically monitor the progress made in
addressing gender issues in basic education have helped gender budgeting and
mainstreaming of GAD in the department?
The two infrastructure-sector agencies—Department of Public Works and

Highways (DPWH) and Department of Transportation and Communications
(DOTC)—are interesting cases. Both are exempt from the full implementation of the
GAD Budget Policy. However, the DOTC has at least one agency (the Philippine Ports
Authority, or PPA) that has a program to address a very real gender issue: trafficking
in women and girls. Meanwhile, the DPWH has no well-known gender mainstreaming
program. Although unknown to many, even those in the department, the GAD Focal
Point has a GAD program and has submitted several gender plans and budgets.
Whether or not reported GAD projects and activities qualify as such, is an interesting
question, given the challenges posed by the sector itself.
LIMITATIONS
The GAD budget study, on which this book is based, has been severely limited by
available GAD plans, budgets, and accomplishment reports. For both the overview
and agency analyses, the GAD Plan and Budget documents that were reviewed did
not appear to be fully encompassing or complete. Documents covering the 1990s were
generally not accessible and the team could only rely on summary reports for these
years. At the NCRFW, materials for years before 2000 have already been “archived”
while some records and documents have been lost in the transfer from one officer
to another. At the agencies themselves, documents also got lost or misplaced during
turnovers of GAD responsibilities.
CONTENTS
This book is divided into three parts. The first part consists of this introductory
chapter and an analysis of general trends and patterns. Chapter 2 focuses on GAD budget
policymaking and implementation, and resulting negotiations and accommodations.

It also covers the roles and performance of NCRFW, the agency tasked to lead the
government’s gender mainstreaming efforts and the monitoring of the GAD Budget
Policy; and its partner oversight agencies, NEDA and DBM. The chapter closes with a
comment on the quality of GAD plans, budgets, and accomplishment reports, and an
accounting of results, or lack of one.
The second part consists of six chapters, each representing a case study. Every
chapter opens with a section on overview of the mandate of the department or agency.
This is followed by a discussion on the key gender issues facing the department that
are relevant to its mandate, as articulated by the agency, and as viewed by other
stakeholders. It presents in broad strokes the status of gender mainstreaming in the
agency, efforts that have resulted in the incorporation of GAD in the main functions
and operations of the agency, and how all these have affected gender planning and
budgeting, as well as, budget execution. The analysis of the gender planning and
budgeting process covers how the department prepares its GAD budget, the agency
staffs and stakeholders involved, the entry points that GAD advocates (within and
outside the agency) have tapped to promote gender-responsive planning and budgeting,
and the agency’s compliance with the GAD Budget Policy. The section on budget
utilization or execution explores the matching of gender issues and expenditures,
access to the budget, accounting and audit. Finally, there is an investigation of
results, in terms of changes that gender budgets have made possible. The impacts
are analyzed at the organizational and client levels. It interrogates the ways in which
“the policies and their associated resource allocations are likely to reduce or increase
gender inequalities.”6 Each chapter closes with an exploration of challenges and
opportunities, and of factors that promoted or inhibited GAD budgeting in the agency.
The third part presents the conclusions and recommendations of the budget
study. It focuses on gender budgeting as financing GAD mainstreaming efforts and
the accomplishment report as a means of accounting for GAD mainstreaming results.
It analyzes the factors affecting or influencing compliance or non-compliance of a
wide variety of agencies and factors influencing budget utilization and results. Its
recommendations aim at enhancing the implementation of the GAD Budget Policy
and improving the chances of securing gender equality and women’s empowerment
outcomes. Some of the recommendations focus on improving the GAD planning and
budgeting process viewed principally as a technical process. Others intend to enhance
advocacy and negotiations that can create and sustain interests within government
agencies to embark on the process and to achieve GAD results. Yet, others look into
governance issues of equity, accountability, transparency, and inclusiveness.
6
Diane Elson, “How to do a gender-sensitive budget analysis,” qtd. in Debbie Budlender, Rhonda Sharpe and Kerri Allen, 17
March 2009 www.idrc.ca/uploads/user-S/11000392461AusAIDTraining Manual.pdf.

CHAPTER 2
TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF

BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION
The Philippine GAD Budget Policy has two faces. One concerns ODA-funded programs
and projects, which is dealt with in the NEDA section of this chapter. The other, which
is discussed in this section, is linked to the domestic budget that intends to finance
GAD mainstreaming in Philippine bureaucracy. It is expected to influence how the
total budget of government agencies is allocated and spent.
The DBM, NEDA and NCRFW issue joint circulars to guide agencies in the
preparation of annual GAD plans and budgets and accomplishment reports. Their
Box 2.1: GAD Budgeting and Planning Procedural Flow
A. Annual GAD Budget

1. The agency GAD Focal Point is expected to prepare the annual GAD Plan and Budget in
coordination with the agency budget officers following the prescribed format and procedure;
the agency head approves the GAD Plan and Budget.
2. Agencies submit their annual GAD plans and budgets to the NCRFW for review and endorsement
prior to the submission of the agency budget proposal.
3. Agencies submit to the DBM their NCRFW-endorsed annual GAD plans and budgets along with
the agency budget proposals in accordance with the budget call.
4. The DBM returns to the agencies their annual GAD plans and budgets, if they do not have the
endorsement of the NCRFW.
B. Annual Accomplishment Report

1. The agency GAD Focal Point is expected to prepare the annual GAD accomplishment report
in coordination with the agency budget officers and following the prescribed format, to be
approved by the agency head; and the report shall be accompanied by (a) a brief summary
of the reported program or project, (b) abstract of reported studies, (c) copies of reported
issuances, and (d) curriculum vitae of trainers or consultants of the reported series of training.
2. Agencies submit to the DBM two (2) copies of the annual GAD accomplishment report for the
previous year along with the agency budget proposal in accordance with the budget call. The DBM
furnishes the NCRFW a copy of the annual GAD accomplishment report.
C. Post-GAA
1. Once the GAA has been approved, the agencies are expected to submit a revised annual GAD
Plan and Budget to the NCRFW and DBM.
2. The NCRFW assesses the actual accomplishments of agencies on GAD and prepares an annual
integrated GAD accomplishment report for submission to Congress and the Office of the
President, with a copy furnished to the DBM.
11
Box 2.2: Overview of the National Budgeting Process
Preparation of the annual budget starts with the determination of the overall macroeconomic
targets, expenditure levels, revenue projections and the financing plan. This is carried out by
the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), an interagency body chaired by the
Budget Secretary, with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP/Central Bank) Governor, the NEDA
Director-General, the Finance Secretary, and a representative from the Office of the President as
members.
The DBM then issues the budget call, which provides the budget framework, economic and
fiscal targets, priority thrusts, guidelines and procedures, and timetable for budget preparation.
The sectoral pie is divided into agency allocations. A budget forum with the agencies follows
where the guidelines are further clarified. The NCRFW is invited to the forum to discuss the
guidelines for the preparation of the GAD Budget. Each agency prepares its budget based on
these guidelines and submits it to the DBM. Budget hearings are then conducted at the DBM
wherein agencies are called to justify their proposed budgets. The NCRFW sometimes sits in these
Technical Panels to question agencies about their GAD budget.
Since the budget pie will never be enough to meet all requests, the DBM reviews the proposals
and, based on the results of the budget hearings, decides what agencies get and how much.
The DBM then consolidates the revised budget proposals into the National Expenditure Program
(NEP) and submits it to the DBCC, which reviews the NEP to ensure that it is consistent with the
macroeconomic policies and national priorities. After any necessary adjustments are made, the
NEP is presented to the Cabinet where it is reviewed and finalized before the President submits
it to Congress.
Once in Congress, the proposed budget is subjected to the same process of consultation and
review. Agencies again present and defend their proposed budgets, this time to the Committee
on Appropriations in the House of Representatives and the Finance Committee in the Senate.
After the hearings and preparation of the House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill,
a bicameral conference committee is formed to consolidate the two versions. Once the bicameral
committee approves it, the budget goes back to the President for approval or veto. If approved, it
becomes the GAA for that fiscal year.
latest circular, JMC 2004-1, also set forth the procedural guidelines that map the flow
of documents between an agency and NCRFW and DBM (see Box 2.1).
The 2004 assessment of the Philippine GAD budgeting process by NCRFW and
UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) noted that gender budgeting
should form an integral part of the national budgeting process (see Box 2.2, above) for
GAD to be truly mainstreamed in national development. The study noted several entry
points for incorporating GAD concerns in the national budgeting process, such as:
• At the setting of macroeconomic targets and the sector budget allocations,

by ensuring that these have considered gender-related needs of and the
constraints faced by various subpopulations.
• During budget calls, which provide as annex, the guidelines for the GAD Plan
and Budget and the annual GAD Accomplishment Report vis-à-vis the past

year’s GAD Plan and Budget. The DBM, NEDA and NCRFW have also issued
joint circulars to update the GAD Budget Policy guidelines, procedures, and
timelines.
• During the budget forum, when the NCRFW is expected to explain the gender
budgeting process and during which, NCRFW can link the gender budget not
just to the GAD plan, but, as well, to stress the importance of an analysis
of gender issues that are relevant to the agency’s realizing its Major Final
Outputs and its Organizational Performance Indicator Framework (OPIF),
which measures agency performance in terms of outputs and outcomes to
help improve allocation of resources or the budget.
• During the review and endorsement of GAD plans and budgets, when NCRFW
technical staff comments on the acceptability of activities in the GAD plans
and how these fit into the gender mainstreaming efforts of the agency.
• During the DBM and Congress budget hearings, when GAD advocates could
ask agencies about their gender plans and budgets. The role of DBM and
Congress-based GAD advocates is important especially in recent years when
hearings on gender budgets and/or the presence of NCRFW during budget
hearings have been discontinued.
Are there in fact opportunities for

promoting the GAD Budget Policy? CONTENT OF GAD PLAN AND BUDGET
Budget calls continue to provide AND THE ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT
guidelines for the preparation of the Gender Plan and Budget
GAD budget (BP 600) and, since 2001, Major Final Output
the GAD Accomplishment Report Program/Activity/Project (PAP)
(BP 600-A) for the previous year. (Organization-focused and/or client-focused)
Following JMC 2004-1, the Budget For each PAP:
Memoranda also instruct agencies to • Gender issue or concern
seek NCRFW’s endorsement of their • GAD objective
gender budget. The process seems to • Identified GAD activity
• Target
have been adhered to by a majority • GAD performance indicator
of government agencies and offices • GAD budget
that submitted their GAD budgets, Accomplishment Report
at least for 2007 and 2008 (68 Program/Activity/Project
percent and 65 percent, respectively). Gender issue
GAD activity
However, there are indications that
Results
by mid-year, only a few of the GAD Cost
budget submissions to the DBM have Remarks
been vetted first by the NCRFW.7
7
Letters from DBM to NCRFW transmitting consolidated reports, 12 July 2004, and 16 August 2006.
TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION 13

Despite the DBM budget memoranda that incorporated the GAD budget, no more
than half of the 300 plus agencies submitted their GAD Plans and Budgets (GPB),
and fewer more, their GAD Accomplishment Reports (AR). The NCRFW learned that
writing to all the agencies and following up on submissions resulted in more budget
submissions, as in 2004 and 2005.8 In contrast, merely relying on the DBM budget call
caused a drop in submissions in 2006 (see Figure 2.1). Meanwhile, attaching a letter
to the DBM’s budget call increases compliance, but not as much as the first approach.
Figure 2.1: No. of national government agencies with GAD plans and budgets, accomplishment reports
200
100
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
GPB 19 15 71 69 133 140 113 130 109 146 154 101 132 130 121
AR 78 101 75 87 118 120 92 116 56
GPB & AR 62 46 49 78 58 58 73 38
Source: NCRFW GAD Reports, various years
IMPLEMENTATION STRUCTURE
Three oversight agencies are responsible for the implementation and monitoring
of the domestic aspect of the GAD Budget Policy: NCRFW, DBM, and NEDA. They
issued a circular in 1994, 2001 and again in 2004 to guide agencies on what activities
could be charged against the gender budget, and how the plans and budgets have
to be prepared. Unfortunately, it appears that many agencies just “cut and paste”
the programs, activities and projects (PAPs) identified in the memorandum circular
without the benefit of a gender analysis.
The three oversight agencies—plus the Department of Interior and Local

Government (DILG), for local governments—are responsible for the formulation,
review and update of gender budgeting standards and guidelines, and monitoring of
GAD plans and budgets. In addition, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) is expected
to institute “appropriate gender mechanisms and support systems to attain GAD
objectives, and develop gender-responsive training programs.”9 On its own initiative,
the Commission on Audit (COA) issued Memorandum 2009-080 that would guide the
audit of GAD funds and activities of government agencies.
8
NCRFW, Highlights of the Implementation of the GAD Budget Policy FY 2005-2008, Manila, n.d.
9
“Department of Budget and Management, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, and Canadian International
Development Agency, Gender Mainstreaming and Institutionalization in the Budgeting Process: A Primer, Manila, July 2001.

On top of their monitoring functions, DBM, NEDA, DILG, CSC and COA are
expected to prepare their own gender plans and budgets. Their GAD plans, however,
should be in accordance with their roles to ensure that government agencies undertake
gender mainstreaming.10
Department of Budget and Management
The DBM is the lead oversight agency for the Philippine budgeting process. It has
been tasked to formulate and disseminate GAD budget guidelines and circulars at
the national, regional, and local government levels, hold workshops and training on
gender budgeting and provide technical assistance to agencies, government-owned
and controlled corporations (GOCCs), and LGUs on GAD budgeting. Its screening of
budget submissions should ensure that agencies provide budget for GAD.
Since 1995, the DBM has regularly cited the GAD budget in its budget memoranda.
In 2001, it issued with NEDA and NCRFW a joint circular that articulated the policy and
procedural guidelines for gender budgeting. In addition to this, DBM and NCRFW also
came out with a primer on gender mainstreaming and budgeting in the same year. The
circular was superseded by one issued in 2004. This instructed all agencies to observe,
among others, securing the endorsement of NCRFW of their GAD Plans and Budgets.
Without an aggressive campaign that included the development of gender budgeting
capacities within agencies, fewer than 20 agencies submitted their gender plans and
budgets in 1995 and 1996. The number of submissions did not reach 100 until 1999 (see
Figure 2.1).
To strengthen GAD budget execution, the budget department requires agencies

(and LGUs) to submit their yearly GAD Accomplishment Report. This report enables
DBM and NCRFW to gauge if agencies have achieved their objectives and addressed the
gender issues they chose to focus on during the previous year. The report is also supposed
to indicate the actual funds used for GAD activities, and to explain any variance between
the approved budget and actual expenditures.11 The DBM uses the reports to review and
evaluate the budget proposals of agencies and GOCCs for succeeding years.
A comparison of average Table 2.1: Comparative GPB and AR figures for 2002-2009
figures for years when NCRFW Item Ave no. % to Total % to no. w/GBP
budget reports have information GBP only 127.9 36.1 100.0
for gender plans and budgets and AR only 105.4 29.7 82.4
accomplishment reports (Table GBP & AR 57.8 16.3 45.2
2.1) shows that 29.7 percent of No. of
354.6 100.0 -- --
Agencies
all agencies have submitted their
accomplishment reports, but only 16.3 percent of all agencies have submitted both
10
DBM, NEDA and NCRFW, “Joint Circular No. 2004-1,” p.5.
11
DBM, NCRFW and CIDA, Gender Mainstreaming and Institutionalization in the Budgeting Process: A Primer, p.20.

GAD budgets and accomplishment reports. They constitute 45.2 percent of all
agencies with budget submissions. Reporting compliance definitely can be improved.
As DBM continues to promote the gender budget, questions are being raised about
the logic of the policy, particularly the 5-percent provision. During its budget call,
DBM tells agencies that no additional funds will be provided for them “to do GAD.”
The gender budget should be part of the agency budget. When agencies prepare their
budgets, it is often based on what they need to operate and deliver in reference to
their mandated services. In this context, there is no logic to the 5 percent provided
for by the GAA. Some agencies might require more (such as the Department of Social
Welfare and Development [DSWD], Department of Health [DOH], and other social
agencies), while others might require less. What DBM would like to see is gender
budgeting that is linked to what the agency requires in implementing a project or an
activity that does not depart from the Major Final Outputs of the agency.12
As noted earlier, the national budgeting process offers NCRFW key entry points
for advocating gender-responsive budgeting. Some of these opportunities have
disappeared, however. For instance, NCRFW (and NEDA) has not sat in recent
technical budget reviews. Without NCRFW in the budget hearings, DBM holds the
exclusive, crucial role in budget review. The NCRFW is also supposed to endorse
gender budgets, but there seems to be no systematic coordination between DBM and
NCRFW. Most agencies bypass the NCRFW when they submit their gender budgets
to DBM, especially when these submissions are late or too close to the deadline. Each
year, NCRFW has to write to DBM to formally request for copies of GAD plans that
have been submitted to it. As letters of transmission from DBM suggest, only 10 of 122
submissions received by DBM as of July 2004 have been endorsed by NCRFW, while
as of August 2006, only the Supreme Court has its GAD Plan and Budget endorsed
by NCRFW prior to forwarding it to the DBM.13 Once, DBM posted on its website the
list of agencies that failed to submit their GAD Plan and Budget. This forced agencies
to develop their GAD plans. However, this initiative from the DBM was not repeated.
How has DBM itself done in the area of gender mainstreaming and budgeting?
On 13 July 1999, DBM Office Order No. 213-99 created the department’s GAD Focal
Point Systems. The Undersecretary for Management Services was designated as the
chairperson at the Central Office, while the different Regional Directors were named
Chairpersons at the regional level. They were to be assisted by a technical working
group and a secretariat, respectively. The GAD focal points were expected to institute
a GAD capability-building and advocacy programs to promote gender awareness and
participation of DBM officials and staff in gender mainstreaming efforts.
12
DBM Undersecretary Mario Relampagos and DBM GAD Focal Person and concurrent NCRFW Deputy Director Tess Salud,
personal interview, 3 November 2009.
13
Letters from DBM to NCRFW transmitting consolidated reports, 12 July 2004, and 16 August 2006.

Since 1999, the DBM GAD Focal Points undertook a series of gender sensitivity
training (GST) for the central and regional offices of DBM as part of the DBM Gender
Plan. For its client-focused activities, DBM has integrated GAD in the budget call.
What it has not been able to accomplish was to strengthen accountability in the budget
loop through the GAD accomplishment reports of agencies.
Records from the NCRFW showed that DBM submitted gender plans in 2002,
2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007. In three of these years (2002, 2003 and 2005), the Central
Office GAD Plan was accompanied by several regional plans (3, 8, and 4, respectively).
Moreover, DBM had a consolidated GAD Plan and Budget in 1997, 2002, and 2004.
In 2007, there were 14 gender budgets from DBM—one from the central office, and
13 from the 16 regional offices. Their gender budgets totaled to P 25.75 million, which
was 3.7 percent of the department’s approved budget (per GAA) and 15.3 percent of its
Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE). Moreover, the DBM prepared
accomplishment reports in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
National Economic and Development Authority
The gender budget has a second dimension, one that is related to allocation of
ODA to address gender issues and women’s concerns. Oversight for the GAD Budget
Policy related to ODA-funded projects rests principally with NEDA, although RA 7192
made NEDA and NCRFW equally responsible for the integration of gender concerns
in development planning and programming. In this connection, they jointly or
separately developed frameworks, guidelines, criteria and tools for gender-responsive
planning, the evaluation of proposed projects and programs, and the like.
While DBM focuses on GAD allocations from the domestic budget, NEDA—its
GAD Focal Point, the Social Development Staff (SDS), in particular—with NCRFW
and the ODA-GAD Network, plays a pivotal role in promoting gender-responsive
development from the onset, that is, at project or program design stage. Beginning in
2005, they have pursued this role using the Harmonized Gender and Development
Guidelines for Project Development, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation
(or the Harmonized GAD Guidelines), which allows donors and Philippine agencies
to assess the gender responsiveness of the design and the implementation of their
programs and projects. Instead of just focusing on women’s concerns, the Guidelines
forces all projects to confront relevant gender issues.
The SDS provides inputs for mainstreaming gender equality in the planning cycle of
donor agencies. It also facilitates the distribution of the Guidelines to the donors, along
with the manual to train their staff and partners on its use. The SDS also periodically
asks donor agencies to submit a report on the mainstreaming of GAD in ODA projects.
However, capacities and commitments to undertake gender-responsive programming
and budgeting vary among donors, as they do among the officials and staff of NEDA.

The SDS has worked closely
with the ODA-GAD Network in Formed in 2001, the ODA-GAD Network is an
promoting the Harmonized GAD informal organization of gender focal persons
Guidelines among aid agencies, of ODA agencies operating in the Philippines.
and to ensure that GAD is Represented in the Network are the Asian
Development Bank, Spanish Agency for International
integrated in ODA portfolios. An
Cooperation and Development, Australian
informal association of gender Agency for International Development, Canadian
focal persons of ODA agencies, International Development Agency, European
the Network serves as a venue Commission, German Technical Cooperation,
for sharing of tools, experiences Japan International Cooperation Agency, Korean
and problems met in advocating International Cooperation Agency, New Zealand
Aid Agency, the United States Agency for
for gender equity or equality;
International Development, the World Bank,
coordinating activities; and and the United Nations System, particularly, the
planning joint actions. International Labour Organization, UN Population
Fund, UN Children’s Fund, UN Development Fund for
The Network members Women, United Nations Development Programme, and
responded positively to the the World Health Organization.
application of the Guidelines in
ensuring that ODA projects and
programs identify and address pertinent gender concerns. Some members, however,
have been more successful in sponsoring it in their respective agencies than others.
Nonetheless, they are more likely to comply than aid agencies that are not represented
in the Network. The latter usually do not have a GAD policy or gender mainstreaming
program, are not aware of the Harmonized GAD Guidelines, or assume that it applies
only to GAD and/or women-specific projects, rather than to all.
In 2006, NEDA, through the Social Development Staff, began requesting ODA
agencies to submit annual GAD monitoring reports. Recently, the SDS successfully
pushed for the inclusion of a chapter on GAD in the 17th Portfolio Review. The Project
Monitoring Staff, upon the request of the SDS, asked government agencies implementing
foreign-assisted projects to accomplish the same GAD reporting templates as those used
by aid agencies. The response was limited because not all implementing agencies have
received training on the Harmonized GAD Guidelines. The series of training of trainers
in 2006 and 2007 appeared to have met with limited success. Among the agencies
represented in these training, DENR systematically rolled out the training program to
prepare both national and regional staff in the application of the Guidelines to project
design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The trained trainers from the
Department of Health ran a three-day training workshop for central office program
managers and officers. In addition, the DSWD invested in the training of key technical
staff, while the Department of Energy received a briefing on the Guidelines from the
NEDA Social Development Staff.
18 ACCOUNTING FOR RESULTS

Like other government agencies, NEDA is also expected to have its GAD Plan and
Budget. The SDS prepares this yearly for the Central Office. The Social Welfare and
Community Development Division drafts them, with little input from the other units.
They are vetted by the SDS Director, who forwards the approved document to the
NEDA Administrative Staff.
Meanwhile, the NEDA regional offices submit their respective gender budgets to
the NEDA Administrative Staff. Prior to 2007, the SDS used to request for inputs
from the regional offices that it could incorporate into the NEDA plan and budget.
What the SDS submits to the Administrative Staff then was the consolidated NEDA
GAD Plan and Budget. Recently, however, the Administrative Staff reviews the central
office and regional plans and budgets, and submits the consolidated document to the
Deputy Director General and, finally, the Director General for their approval before
forwarding it to the DBM.
Since 1995, NEDA has submitted its GAD Plan and Budget every year except for two
years (2005 and 2006).14 By 2007, it had made a total 33 submissions, of which 19 were
complete, including both a GAD plan and a budget. Its 2007 gender budget amounted
to P16.5 million. The National Statistics Office, with P7.06 million, and the National
Statistical Coordination Board, with P6.61 million, accounted for a combined 82.8
percent of the NEDA gender budget. The 2007 NEDA gender budget was 3.1 percent
of its approved total budget, and 9.4 percent of its MOOE.
How about GAD budget execution? The NEDA has submitted GAD accomplishment
reports, except for 2004. The GAD PAPs usually include series of training, including
gender sensitivity training; celebration of Women’s Day/Month; and integration of a
GAD module in in-house training. Other GAD activities, such as the development of
the Harmonized GAD Guidelines in 2003 and 2004, the series of capacity development
activities in 2005 to 2007, and the printing and reprinting of the Guidelines were
supported by ODA funds. The donors included the Asian Development Bank (ADB),
Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP).
In 2007, three attached agencies, which included the National Statistics Office,
submitted their reports, although the Office of the Director General did not. The three
agencies had a combined gender budget amounting to P7.71 million, of which 93.5
percent had reportedly been spent.
The SDS GAD Focal Point reflected on the difficulties facing NEDA insofar as
gender budgets are concerned. As an oversight agency, it does not have projects for
which it can allot and spend the gender budget. There is also no way to cost its GAD
activities, such as advocacy for the Harmonized GAD Guidelines, GAD integration
14
The SDS reportedly submitted the 2005 and 2006 GAD budgets to the NEDA Administrative Staff. The 2005 budget was
P50,000 while the 2006 budget was P444,500.

in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP), and the like. These
and similar advocacy activities are staff time-intensive, and personnel costs cannot
be charged against the gender budget. According to the NCRFW, the only personnel
costs that can be charged to the gender budget are those related to staff, who are
directly hired to manage the day care center or a contractual staff hired to assist the
GAD group. When included in the plan, such activity as the monitoring of the use in
the regions of the Guidelines was not prioritized and, therefore, not implemented.
The gender mainstreaming activities in NEDA have reportedly “died down.”

The GAD Focal Point has not been fully constituted because of high turnover of staff
representatives to the GAD Focal Point. Hence, the Focal Point has not met for a
long time. Its only substantive project was a training session on the Harmonized GAD
Guidelines for GAD focal point staff representatives. The current GAD target of the
NEDA focal point is the operationalization of the Guidelines in project evaluation. To
achieve this, the group knows it will need to conduct one-on-one coaching sessions on
the relevant sector GAD checklists for each unit or Staff.
National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women
In the context of gender planning and budgeting, NCRFW is responsible for

formulating and disseminating guidelines for updating the Philippine Plan for
Gender-Responsive Development (PPGD) and the Framework Plan for Women. It
is also charged with the provision of technical assistance to agencies and their GAD
focal points in developing and preparing gender plans and programs, and with the
approval and endorsement of GAD plans and PAPs to DBM. The NCRFW technical
staff in-charge of a key implementing agency (KIA) reviews the agency’s GAD Plan
and Budget. Because of the sheer number of documents that needed to be reviewed
each year, NCRFW has, in some years, outsourced the review of the submissions of
non-KIAs to GAD experts.
The NCRFW also provides technical assistance in developing and packaging

PAPs that integrate gender perspective in various sector concerns. In 2001, the
NCRFW sent a list of non-acceptable PAPs to all the national government agencies.
The list included foreign-assisted GAD projects and activities; conduct of meetings,
workshops and consultations, and contingency funds and construction expenses that
are not related to GAD; conduct of social, rest and recreation, and religious activities;
skills training, entrepreneurial and livelihood projects for women; and purchase of
supplies, materials, equipment and vehicles, among others. As part of its monitoring
functions, NCRFW makes available a framework for gender-responsive monitoring
and evaluation (such as the gender mainstreaming evaluation framework, or GMEF)
and assessment of impacts. It is also responsible for undertaking impact assessment
of selective gender PAPs. Finally, when requested, it updates Congress of the status

of the gender budget policy implementation during the Congressional hearing of the
NCRFW budget.15
What has NCRFW accomplished during the past decade? The NCRFW claims
that its interventions to support the GAD Budget Policy have been directed at de-
emphasizing the quota and focusing more on planning for programs, projects and
activities that correct gender imbalances and mainstream GAD concerns within
each agency’s mandate. Its technical assistance first aimed at facilitating efforts of
agencies to develop a GAD plan through a suggested list of PAPs to be “allowed and
not allowed.” The NCRFW also distinguished between “start-up” and “mainstream”
PAPs that could be proposed by agencies in their GAD plans. Input or start-up PAPs
are “designed to create the enabling environment for the agency to utilize GAD
tools, gender training and advocacy using gender planning, gender analysis, gender
programming and budgeting, gender statistics and gender audit.”16
In 1995, NCRFW and the DBM led the advocacy campaign for the integration of the
GAD Budget Policy in the General Appropriations Act and in the budget call. In the same
year, the 1995 GAA was enacted with Section 27 requiring all departments, bureaus,
offices and agencies to set aside at least 5 percent of their appropriations for projects
designed to address gender issues. The same provision of the budget law provided for a
reporting mechanism to enable NCRFW to monitor compliance. With improvements,
the same general provision has been included in the GAAs from 1996 to the present.
In the report for Calendar Year 2007, NCRFW noted that the highest number
of GAD plan submissions was in 2005, which totalled 154. This figure has not been
surpassed to date.17
TRENDS OF COMPLIANCE
Domestic GAD Budget
GAD planning and budgeting
The NCRFW claims that since the inception of the GAD Budget Policy in 1995,
there has been a steady increment in the level of compliance, from 19 agencies that
submitted GAD plans in the first year, to a high 133 in 1999, 146 in 2004, and 154
in 2005 (see Table 2.2). After 2005, the submissions declined but picked up again
in 2007 (with 132 submissions). These figures, however, can be deceiving, since the
differences can be attributed to separate submissions made by regions or offices, which
in other years have been consolidated before submission to the NCRFW and/or DBM.
15
Loren Umali, PCW Deputy Director, personal communication, n.d.
16
NCRFW, Making Government Work for Gender Equality, Manila, 2000.
17
In its comments to the draft report, PCW claimed 154 agencies had submitted their GAD Plan and Budget as of August 2010.

Table 2.2: Trends in GAD allocations, 1995-2009*
Budget appropriations GAD budget/allocations % of GAD allocations to

= billion)
(in P government budget
Year No. of Alloctions
Total MOOE Total MOOE
submissions (in =
P billion)
1995 372.1 19 0.99 0.27
1996 416.1 15 1.28 0.31
1997 491.8 71 2.78 0.57
1998 537.4 69 2.69 0.50
1999 593.6 133 3.45 0.57
2000 682.5 140 3.22 0.47
2001 710.8 380.69 113 2.85 0.41 0.75
2002 742.0 413.72 130 0.84 0.11 0.20
2003 826.5 458.79 109 4.74 0.57 1.03
2004 867.0 505.53 146 3.93 0.45 0.78
2005 947.6 585.48 154 2.16 0.23 0.37
2006 1,044.8 618.12 101 1.10 0.11 0.18
2007 1,155.5 652.89 132 0.95 0.08 0.14
2008 1,314.6 130 1.05 0.09
2009 1,426.0 121 6.49 0.46
*Sources: NCRFW highlights of GAD budget reports and comments received on draft report, 25 Aug. 2010; Senate Economic
Planning Office Policy Brief, March 2010; for MOOE, www.dbm.gov.ph/da/File/NEP for 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2010, 21
Dec. 2009
+ Based on the National Expenditure Program (NEP) 2003, the 2001 budget is a re-enacted budget of 2000.
As noted elsewhere, the compliance record of KIAs seems more encouraging. In

2004, 61 percent of the key implementing agencies under human rights submitted
a GAD plan and reported back, to be compared with 37 percent for non-KIAs. From
2004 to 2008, however, the total gender budgets of the national agencies decreased
by 73 percent, from P3.90 billion to P1.05 billion, although the figure leapt to P6.49
billion in 2009. The amount appears to have no bearing on the number of agencies
that submitted their proposals for the identified years. Instead, this could be attributed
to the exclusion of items that have previously been disallowed by either NCRFW or
DBM. Compared to the total appropriations for each year (or even the Maintenance
and Other Operating Expenses), the total gender budget, based on amounts submitted
to DBM, comprised less than 1 percent each year, much below the minimum of 5
percent.
The small GAD budget, compared to the total appropriations, highlights the
degree of commitment to gender mainstreaming and how women, with vulnerable
and less influential groups, tend to lose in the competition for resources. Matters are
made worse by the absence of penalty for noncompliance and the persistent notion
that gender issues are extraneous to the issues of the rest of the population.

There were a number of agencies (but not departments), however, that did
allocate at least 5 percent of their total budget to fund their GAD plan. From 2004 to
2008, some 79 agencies have reportedly reached the 5-percent mark.18 Based on the
submissions of these agencies, the bulk of ‘notable’ client-focused PAPs are classified
under economic empowerment, specifically (1) the conduct of enterprise or livelihood
training, with PAPs amounting to P476 million; (2) provision of credit and market
facilitation, P469 million; and (3) provision of postharvest facilities, agricultural
technology and technical information to women, P408 million.19 Interestingly, the
PAPs cited include the budget for the conduct of inspection among establishments,
and reporting and correction of cases of violations of labor laws, standards and other
legislation on workers, especially women (costing P9 million).
Under human rights, high-ticket PAPs involve: (1) the provision of subsistence
allowance, distribution of hygienic materials and health assistance to inmates, valued
at P97 million; (2) establishment or enhancement of the counseling centers to include
Women’s Desk, P26 million; and (3) the construction, repair or improvement of
separate jails, dormitories and facilities for female prison inmates, P17 million. The
PAP for capacity development and information campaign related to the rehabilitation
program for perpetrators of crimes against women was estimated to cost P5 million,
while capacity building, counseling and psychosocial services for victims of violence
against women, or VAW, P8 million.
Classified under gender-responsive governance are dissemination and advocacy

on the use of the Harmonized GAD Guidelines and gender mainstreaming in local
planning and budgeting system, valued at P87 million. Development of gender-
responsive policies, strategies, programs and projects, and gender modules or training
manuals on gender mainstreaming constitute a set of higher-cost PAPs (P149 million).
A third category of PAPs pertain to gender-based statistics. One class of PAPs, with an
estimated cost of P2 million, involves the improvement of gender database, including
updating of web-based database; and compilation, production and dissemination of
statistics and fact sheets on women and men in the sector. Another group of PAPs
covers coordination of technical working group on gender statistics (P6 million).
Gender-responsive database also appears under organization-focused PAPs, and

one set of PAPs had a budget of P20 million. Other categories of organization-focused
PAPs are: enhancement of policies, with a set of PAPs related to protective laws and
policies on women and other economic laws in response to women’s issues (with
an estimated cost of P7 million); performance of roles and functions of focal points,
such as coordination of the technical working group (TWG) and with the interagency
committee on gender statistics (P4 million); participation of women, which includes
advocacy campaign and actual participation in the Women’s Month celebration and
18
NCRFW, cited in “Engendering a Gender-Responsive Budget: A Look at the GAD Budget Policy,” Policy Brief, Senate
Economic Policy Office (SEPO) , March 2010, p.6.
19
Cited in Annex 3 of the SEPO Policy Brief, March 2010, p.14.

in conferences (P7 million); and PAPs with benefits for women. Among the last-
mentioned category of PAPs is a group of PAPs, with a total budget of P1.6 billion,
which consists of ‘programs to increase awareness of women employees on women’s
health issues.’ A far second to this is the set, with a total estimated cost of P180 million,
that covers the series of training conducted and seminars on gender mainstreaming
and specific gender issues like sexual harassment and gender planning. A third class of
PAPs are livelihood and skills training and the like, with a total budget of P138 million.
The cost of setting up, operating and maintaining day care facilities, estimated at less
than P7 million, has also found its way into the gender budgets of several agencies.
In summary, the gender budgets have been earmarked for various capacity
development or training programs on GAD, usually in the form of gender sensitivity
training; advocacy, dissemination of information and education on gender issues;
setting up or improving facilities for women employees; creation of sex-disaggregated
database; promotion of the use of non-sexist language; and agency-specific gender
mainstreaming activities. Most are focused on preparing the organization to provide
services or design projects or programs that address women’s concerns or gender
issues. Some, however, are directly related to improving agency outputs or operations
through the integration of gender in national, sector, or local development planning;
and the revision of textbooks or module development to erase or counter social and
gender stereotypes. In addition to all these are PAPs that have very little to do with
GAD, but which have been included by agencies because they would ‘benefit both
women and men,’ ‘would also benefit women,’ or because sex-disaggregated data can
be collected on participants or beneficiaries. The incorporation of these PAPs in the
gender budgets persists despite comments from NCRFW and/or DBM about their
inappropriateness. A more stringent process of vetting the gender budgets may be
needed to weed out these types of PAPs. Providing NCRFW with a copy of DBM-
approved agency GAD budgets should help.
Budget execution and accomplishments
Programs and projects included in the GAD plans and accomplishment reports
fall under any of the three areas of concern of the Framework Plan for Women: human
rights, economic empowerment and gender-responsive governance. Examples of
projects utilizing the gender budget include: provision of health services; advocacy,
dissemination of information and education on gender issues; capacity building or
technical assistance on GAD and specific gender concerns; setting up or improvement
of service facilities for women; issuance of policies on gender equality or equity;
establishment of sex-disaggregated databases and mechanisms for GAD reporting;
incorporation of statements related to gender equality and women’s empowerment in
planning documents; and enhancement of learning materials and training modules.

Alongside the submission of a gender plan and budget, agencies are required to
submit a GAD accomplishment report covering the previous year. The goal is to ascertain
whether the plans were implemented and the budgets spent accordingly. Not all
agencies that turn in their GAD Plan and Budget submit their Accomplishment Report,
as well. The generally weak response of agencies to the call for gender plans and budgets
and accomplishment reports could be indicative of a low level of understanding and
appreciation of the added value of gender mainstreaming. This may also be due to the
absence of gender mainstreaming incentives or sanctions and to the absence of the
technical skill on gender analysis.
It is not clear whether GAD budgets and plans have led to increased consciousness
on gender and development in an entire organization. With a possible exception of a
few agencies, some of which are the focus of the case studies, there is little to suggest
that the gender budget has been successfully used as leverage for making the whole
agency budget more responsive to gender-related concerns.20 This could be due to lack
of assessment of GAD efforts, something that could be partly addressed by requiring
agencies to report on results such as these, instead of mere reporting of activities
supported by the GAD budget.
There are studies underway to review and evaluate the gender responsiveness
of economic programs and policies. 21 These include a study funded by the UNIFEM,
and the review of programs and policies being undertaken by selected agencies
and LGUs under the GREAT Women (Gender-Responsive Economic Actions for
the Transformation of Women) Project of NCRFW/PCW. The current assessment
of the PCW gender mainstreaming program, which is part of the PPGD mid-term
assessment, has just been completed.
The preparedness of agencies to undertake gender budgeting and planning

depends, to a large extent, on the capacities of the GAD focal point system and the
agency planning offices. The GAD focal point system generally consists of the GAD
focal persons and the technical working group and/or GAD secretariat. As stipulated
in JMC 2004-1, they are responsible for mainstreaming GAD in their agency, and, in
particular, the implementation of the GAD Budget Policy
At the national level, the NCRFW helps a network of GAD focal points and
TWGs to mainstream GAD in various government agencies. Several things can be
said about the focal point system. Many of the focal persons and TWG members have
gone through several training programs in the 1990s, but probably not as many have
received updated GAD inputs. Some have been active for years, while others have
either been reassigned or lost the support of management. In addition, the capacities
20
For best practices at the local level, see Gender-Responsive Governance at Work: LGU Experiences in Using the GAD
Budget, NCRFW, 2005.
21
An earlier study of the role of the NCRFW in the gender mainstreaming effort is captured in Jurgette A. Honculada and
Rosalinda Pineda-Ofreneo, Transforming the Mainstream: Building a Gender-Responsive Bureaucracy in the Philippines 1975-
1998, Bangkok: UNIFEM, 2000.

of the GAD focal points vary dramatically with some able to prepare gender plans,
design projects, or assist their colleagues integrate GAD or respond to gender issues
in their work. Their influence also differs with their location. Those based in the
personnel or human resources divisions are able to address sexual harassment cases,
or include human resource-type of activities (such as day care centers) in their agency
gender plans and budgets. In contrast, those with the planning division are able to
integrate gender concerns in their plans.
In a few agencies, the countless gender sensitization sessions and gender training
seemed to pay off, as GAD focal persons and technical working groups in the DENR
and the PPA, for example, have been able to mobilize their gender budget to upgrade
their capacities to design and monitor projects, improve services, and conduct gender-
focused research. In the case of the PPA, its halfway houses and its anti-human
trafficking program are exemplary.22 As will be apparent in the agency case studies,
not many government agencies have been able to fashion its mainstream programs or
services to address gender issues.
The extent of utilization of the gender budgets by the agencies varies greatly each
year, but it consistently remains well below the budgeted amount (see Table 2.3).
On the average, only 55 percent of the GAD budget is actually spent. For two years,
however, GAD expenses exceeded the budget. Interpreting budget execution data is not
simple. For instance, poor utilization could be linked with the difficulty or confusion in
defining what constitutes activities that could be charged to the GAD budget. Wrong
attribution of what is not related to GAD can unduly increase expenditure. On the
other hand, isolating the costs of mainstreaming GAD in a flagship program is equally
problematic. The solution is generally to separate and estimate costs of projects that
are women-focused and clearly gender-related programs as chargeable to the GAD
budget.
Table 2.3: Planned versus spent GAD budgets (in =

P billion), 2002-2008
Proposed GAD Budget GAD Expenditures

Year = billion) Percent Utilization
(percent to total budget) (in P
2002 0.84 0.31 37

2003 4.74 0.51 11
2004 3.93 1.70 43
2005 2.16 0.65 30
2006 1.09 0.91 82
2007 0.95 1.73 182
2008 1.05 2.29 218
Average 2.11 1.16 55
22
ADB, CIDA, EC, NCRFW, UNICEF, UNIFEM, and UNFPA, Paradox and Promise in the Philippines: A Joint Country
Gender Assessment, Manila, 2008, p.92.

Depending on the line of work, different agencies have taken a different approach
to the utilization of the GAD budgets. Some agencies have programs that, by definition,
fulfill GAD criteria and if imputed as part of gender budget allocations, the 5 percent
will easily be reached or even exceeded. An example would be the maternal health
program of the DOH. Another is the budget allocation of the DSWD for mainstreaming
gender concerns in its programs and services for VAW victims and survivors. However,
the 5-percent target is just the floor for the GAD spending, and a program that is
implicitly gender-focused does not relieve the service providers and planners of the
responsibility of ensuring that the program is designed and implemented to be able to
address relevant gender issues.
Similar difficulties are raised for livelihood programs for poor women. Poverty
rests mostly on the shoulders of this group and livelihood assistance is a common
response to alleviate their condition. However, without the benefit of gender analysis,
the program could exacerbate rather than improve their already difficult position.
And while this intervention addresses women’s practical gender needs, moving on to
more strategic programming to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality
needs to be addressed over the long term.
Official Development Assistance-Funded Projects
The NEDA monitors the ODA-related GAD Budget Policy. Before 2006, NEDA
classified foreign-assisted projects into whether these are women-specific projects,
have a component for women, or have ‘integrated’ women’s concerns. Monitoring,
however, has been difficult, as there was no mechanism for ODA donor reporting, and
the third category was ambiguous, making it hard to ascertain whether or not foreign-
assisted projects have indeed allotted 20 percent of their budget to women’s concerns.
In 2006, NEDA began to use the Harmonized GAD Guidelines. This is a

tool that NEDA developed with NCRFW and the ODA-GAD Network to guide the
review of project proposals, and the monitoring of ODA portfolios. The design
checklists determine the gender responsiveness of projects at entry, while the project
implementation, management, and monitoring and evaluation (PIMME) checklists
help measure the gender responsiveness of projects at implementation. Instead of
just focusing on women’s concerns, the Guidelines forces all projects to confront
pertinent gender-related concerns.
In 2009, NEDA requested 21 bilateral aid agencies/embassies and multilateral

agencies that provide assistance through loans and/or grants to submit their GAD
monitoring report using the Harmonized GAD Guidelines and a prescribed GAD
monitoring template. In all, 20 organizations responded. Their combined ODA
portfolio amounted to US$ 9.5 billion. Of this, 35 percent reportedly supported
projects that are, by design, gender-responsive or gender-sensitive (that is, are set

up to address key GAD issues and to involve women in significant ways), while 65
percent went to projects that have not been designed to respond to gender issues or
that have not even identified any gender issue.23 Not surprisingly, the gender-blind
projects consisted mainly of infrastructure projects.
Examples of issues that gender-responsive or gender-sensitive projects seek to

address vary among the sectors. In the social reform and development sector, these
include lack of access of poor women to health and reproductive health services, gender-
differentiated access to education and educational outcomes, need for provision of
spaces in training centers for breastfeeding, sexist educational or training materials,
or absence of sex-disaggregated information systems. Rural development projects
are addressing issues on women’s participation in resource management activities
and their membership and leadership even in male-dominated organizations, access
to microfinance and micro-enterprises, biases in distribution of resources and access
to training (biodiversity, coastal resource management), and lack of recognition to
women’s claims to land. Sex-disaggregated land information system was also developed
to capture and show social and gender data. Meanwhile, in the area of governance,
projects that are at least gender-sensitive are responding to issues on women’s access
to justice; the need for gender-sensitive handling of specific women’s issues, such as,
violence and sexual harassment; and women’s representation in both membership and
leadership of organizations. In the industry and services sector, gender-responsive and
gender-sensitive projects recognize the need to incorporate gender analysis in value
chain analyses; establish micro-finance facilities and ensure equitable distribution of
its benefits, as well as, from scaled-up selected commodities; and develop local and
national enabling environments for women micro-entrepreneurs.24
These attempts to track ODA and regular domestic gender budget allocations and
execution are important and need to be sustained; so must the conduct of audit by the
Commission on Audit of the GAD budget utilization. However, NEDA and NCRFW have
to scrutinize more carefully the GAD monitoring reports (for ODA-assisted projects),
and the gender budgets and accomplishment reports (regular budget) that they receive.
For locally-funded gender budgets, will the GAD plans really promote gender equality
and women’s empowerment in the agency and help produce more gender-responsive
services and programs? Will the planned activities contribute to the achievement of
performance indicators? Considering that inputs are rarely able to generate results
immediately, how often can the same activities appear in GAD plans and budgets?
For ODA-funded projects, NEDA can ask the questions: Are GAD ratings given to
projects backed up by evidence? Are the reported GAD initiatives producing gender
equality or women’s empowerment outcomes? The planning agency should begin
requesting donor agencies to report GAD results.
23
NEDA, “2009 NEDA Report on the Classification of Official Development (ODA) Projects According to ness.”
24
2009 NEDA Report.

PART TWO CASES
CHAPTER 3
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND-

COMMUNICATIONS
The infrastructure sector, including transportation and communication, has

traditionally been male-dominated and largely considered as gender-blind. Based on
the Implementing Rules and Regulations (Rule II, Sec. 6.b.3) of RA 7192, “The Women
in Development and Nation-Building Act,” the Department of Transportation and
Communications is classified among the government departments where compliance
to the GAD budget allocation is not strictly enforced; it is designated by NCRFW as a
non-key implementing agency of the GAD Budget Policy. As a key player in national
development, however, the DOTC is in a strategic position to promote and effect
gender-equitable development.
OVERVIEW AND MANDATE

The development and application of transportation and telecommunication
technology and services are fundamental in the attainment and measure of national
development. Although not a key implementing agency of the GAD Budget Policy,
DOTC faces the challenge of addressing the different needs and situations of women
and men in making its services and facilities more efficient and effective, and socially
equitable.
Mandate and Coverage
Under Executive Order (EO) 125, “Reorganizing the Ministry of Transportation and
Communications, Defining Its Powers and Functions and for Other Purpose,” of then
President Corazon Aquino, the Department of Transportation and Communications is
“the primary policy, planning, programming, coordinating, implementing,

regulating, and administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the
government in the promotion, development and regulation of dependable and
coordinated networks of transportation and communication system, and in
the fast, sale, efficient and reliable postal, transportation and communication
services.”
31
In line with this mandate, the DOTC articulated as its mission: “to provide the
country with efficient, effective and secured transportation and communication
systems that are globally competitive, compliant with international standards and
responsive to the changing times.” Its Vision 2015 sees DOTC as “a world-class
organization, providing integrated transport and communications services, connecting
people, islands, families, communities and the nation with the rest of the world, and
constantly responding to the environmentally sustainable and globally competitive
transport and communications.”
The DOTC has 13 attached agencies and corporations and three (3) line or sector
offices, covering road, rail, air, water, and the communications sectors. The three
offices are the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Transportation Franchising
and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). The 13 attached
agencies are the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), Office of Transport Cooperatives
(OTC), Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT3), Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), Philippine
National Railways (PNR), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Cebu Ports Authority
(CPA), Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), Manila International Airport
Authority (MIAA), Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), Philippine
Aerospace Development Corporation (PADC), Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), and the
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
For the purpose of the GAD budget study, the Philippine Postal Corporation
(PPC), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and Telecommunications
Office (TELOF) are also included, though they are officially under the Commission on
Information and Communication Technology (CICT).25 Until early 2009, the above
agencies remained practically under the DOTC. Meanwhile, the Philippine Merchant
Marine Academy (PMMA) was under DOTC until 1998, when it was placed under the
supervision of the Commission on Higher Education.
Development Goals
The 2004-2010 Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan recognizes the

archipelagic economy of the country and the need to connect the islands to further
national development:
“Our islands have to be interconnected by good transport and communication

networks. These networks will open up new economic opportunities, reduce
transportation costs of business, and increase access to social services.
This interconnection will also strengthen the socio-economic, cultural and
political linkages between and among regions. Eventually, this connection
will decentralize progress and bring development to the country side.”
25
In January 2004, EO 269 created the CICT as a transitory measure to the creation of the Department of Information and
Communications Technology. The NTC, PPC and TELOF were transferred to join the National Computer Center under the CICT.
However, between 2004 and 2009, the NTC and TELOF were shuttled back and forth between the CICT and the DOTC. It was only
in January 2009 that the NTC and TELOF were transferred back to the CICT, where they remain at present.

Transportation
Moving people and goods swiftly and efficiently locally, across the islands, and
internationally means improving maritime transportation and port services. The
promotion of tourism needs opening and upgrading airports as gateways to tourist
destinations. Meanwhile, the concentration of economic activities and the increasing
population in Metro Manila has put great pressure on the environment, the supply
and cost of goods, and mobility in the metropolis. In this connection, the transport
sector seeks to contribute to development through the following pursuits:
• Providing easier access to market at home and abroad to alleviate poverty in

the countryside and isolated areas;
• Enhancing peace and order in conflict-affected areas through efficient

transport and trade;
• Strengthening national unity, family bonds and tourism by making the

movement of people faster, cheaper and safer;
• Facilitating the decongestion of Metro Manila by means of a transport logistics

system that would ensure linkages between its business centers and nearby
provinces; and
• Generating more transport infrastructure with minimal budget cover or

contingent liabilities.
These pursuits are being realized through government flagship projects involving
the DOTC. The Nautical Highway has reduced travel time from Mindanao, through
the Visayas, to Luzon by 10 hours, while reducing cost by 40 percent for passengers
and 30 percent for cargo. When completed, the North Rail to Central Luzon and the
South Rail to Bicol are expected to increase economic activity outside of Metro Manila,
while the MRT/LRT can facilitate mobility within the metropolis.
Telecommunications
The liberalization of the telecommunications industry that began in 1989 opened

the sector to multiple players and operators. Since then, the telecommunications
industry has provided Filipinos greater access to telephone lines and the Internet. More
significantly, connectivity has been greatly enhanced by the phenomenal growth of
mobile communications across geographical locations and social strata. To sustain the
gains in connecting the entire country and providing universal access, the government
expects the telecommunications sector to reduce the cost of connectivity, develop ICT
human resources, and pursue regulatory and legislative reforms.
THE DOTC CASE 33

In addition, the government needs to promote institutional reforms to address
conflicting mandates among agencies involved in ICT planning and implementation.
The reform process can also help create a more gender-responsive sector. This means,
among others, systematically involving women in the development and utilization of
transportation and communications technology and services, and the development
and expansion of information generation and dissemination within the sector to
encourage greater participation and provide a database for policy formulation and
decision making.26
The equal contribution and benefit of women and men from infrastructure
development entails creating a gender-sensitive organization, building the capacity of
women to participate in the development and operation of technologies and services;
and women assuming technical and other key positions. Towards achieving the above
objectives, the PPGD sets the following targets: (1) at least 80 percent of people involved
in the sector are reached by gender sensitization and consciousness-raising sessions;
(2) at least 30 percent of students in infrastructure-related courses are women; and
(3) at least 20 percent of planners and decision-makers in the infrastructure agencies
are women.
GENDER ISSUES IN THE SECTOR AND ORGANIZATION

Women and men have differing needs and uses of transport and communications
systems. Moreover, developments in the transport and communications sectors can
either create (or reinforce) new forms of gender disparity or provide opportunities
for gender equity. For instance, the advent of multiple players under a liberalized
telecommunications industry has provided better and cheaper access to information
and communication services for women and men. This could enhance women’s
participation in economic, political and social arenas. However, the liberalization
process can further the dominance of males and widen the gender gap in terms of
participation in and benefits from developments in the sector.
There are several issues that need to be addressed to make the transport and
telecommunications sector gender-responsive (see sidebar, next page, for a sample of
issues). Central to these gender issues is the disparity of women and men within the
transport and telecommunications agencies and among the clientele they serve.
The ability to address sector-relevant gender issues, however, is incumbent on the

capacity of DOTC to identify these issues and craft appropriate responses. A review
of the GAD Plans and Budgets of the agency shows that while the agency recognizes
the need to respond, not only to organization-related gender issues, but also to
client-oriented gender concerns, the capacity to do gender analysis and planning can
be enhanced. The DOTC has reported similar gender issues over the years and its
26
NCRFW, Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025, pp.252-253.

programs, activities or projects are
often not linked to specific gender Some gender issues in the PPGD
issues. Transport Sector
• Inadequate and unaffordable transport
Meanwhile, several organization- services that constrain the mobility and
level gender issues have been participation of women in socio-economic
activities
identified in various GAD planning • Lack of appropriate facilities in transport
exercises conducted by DOTC. These services and carriers
issues include: (1) composition of • Inadequate traffic safety measures for new
motorists, many of whom are women
the GAD Technical Working Group; • Lack of voice for women to demand road and
(2) absence of GAD mechanisms and transport facilities
• Lack of capacity for women to address
structures (such as sex-disaggregated insufficient transport services
database); (3) lack of support and/
Communications Sector
or appreciation for GAD efforts; and, • Lack of access to information and networking
(4) gender discrimination in hiring • Inefficient communications services that limit
women’s opportunities and ventures
and work assignments, work-family • Discrimination and exploitation of women in
balance, and similar concerns of men media, including the Internet
and women workers.
GENDER MAINSTREAMING CONTEXT

The implementation of RA 7192 by the DOTC began in 1994 with the creation of
the Women in Development (WID) Focal Point at the central office. The Focal Point
led the initial push towards a gender-responsive department. Composed mainly of
officers from the central office, it attempted to mobilize the sector offices and attached
agencies. It conducted monthly meetings and a planning workshop for the central
office and attached agencies. Although the planning process for defining long and
medium-term plans was not completed, the sessions did manage to produce plans
and programs for 1995 and 1996, with approved budgets of P18,000 and P160,000,
respectively. In addition, the Focal Point was able to coordinate with the GO-NGO
Women’s Network, which consists of GAD advocates from government (GO) and
non-government organizations (NGOs), in preparation for the 1995 Fourth World
Conference on Women.
The WID Focal Point encountered fundamental organizational problems. First,

they did not have a designated group to implement the plans and programs. The
TWG leadership and the duties and responsibilities of the TWG had not been clearly
delineated. Plans to build the capacities of key staff tasked to execute the mandated
GAD responsibilities did not materialize. Finally, there was lack of support from top
officials, and many of them did not attend the GST meant for them.
In May 1997, a DOTC Department Order created the department’s GAD Focal
Point, which is tasked to formulate and implement GAD policies, programs and
THE DOTC CASE 35

projects by the central office, sector offices, attached agencies, and GOCCs. An
Undersecretary (Lichauco) was designated as chair of the GAD Focal Point or
Committee, and the Director of Administrative Services (Carina Valera) as chair of the
TWG. In 2003, Cecilia Reyes took over as GAD Focal Point, while Rowena Quiogue
as TWG head in 2004. Under the leadership of these women, the mobilization of key
people in the central office and the attached agencies for the GAD Budget Policy went
underway and has proceeded, and each agency designated its own GAD Focal Point
and Technical Working Group.
Despite efforts of the DOTC and its agencies to involve technical and operations
staff, there is a prevailing notion that administrative and human resources division
(HRD) people have the time to do additional work, including GAD. The operations
people are excused from other responsibilities because their work is just too important
and hectic for them to be removed from their posts or saddled with additional work.
This has created problems for gender mainstreaming, particularly GAD planning and
budgeting, in the DOTC and most of its agencies.
GAD PLANNING AND BUDGETING

Efforts to address the gender issues facing the transportation and communications
sectors and the DOTC and its offices and agencies are generally funded by their annual
GAD budget. Following the DBM budget call, the budget is prepared as part of a GAD
planning process that parallels the annual agency planning and budgeting.
The Planning Process
Sometime in the second quarter of the calendar year, the DOTC issues an office
memorandum to remind the TWGs at the central office and attached agencies and
offices to prepare their GAD Plan and Budget for inclusion in their agency’s budget
proposal for the succeeding fiscal year. The actual budget preparation varies among
agencies, but particularly between those that depend on budget appropriations and
releases from the DBM, and the GOCCs—MIAA and PPA in particular—that enjoy
autonomy and control over their budgets and expenditures.
Use of GAD guidelines and tools
The memorandum usually attaches a copy of the Joint Memorandum Circular

from DBM, NCRFW, and NEDA, which contains the budget preparation guidelines
and annexes. Among the annexes are the GAD planning and reporting matrices. While
the guidelines and annexes were found to be very useful, the GAD technical working
groups were not clear on how to accomplish the matrices. A major problem pertains
to identifying gender issues; another was distinguishing between the GAD planning

components (that is, variables, activities and targets). Part of the problem has been
attributed by insiders to the fact that, except for the PPA and recently, MIAA, the
TWG members who are tasked with GAD planning and budgeting are not planners
and are often without inputs from the technical or operations people.
Provision of GAD technical inputs
With the exception of the Technical Working Group of the PPA, the TWGs have
relied on the GAD workshops organized by the DOTC. From 2006 to 2008, the DOTC
tapped a former NCRFW staff to facilitate the planning workshops. Her incisive
critiquing and straightforward approach challenged the participants to unlearn many
of what they associate with gender and development, and moved them to label the
workshops as GAD ‘unlearning experiences’. She took issue with the gender concerns
that the TWGs have traditionally identified, as she defined and illustrated what makes
a concern a gender issue in the context of the agencies’ mandates and functions. She
urged the TWGs to refer to them when identifying gender issues and crafting PAPs to
address these. She introduced the TWGs to classifying the issues and PAPs according
to focus: clients and the organization.
Based on the feedback of previous workshops, the 2007 workshop focused more
on the technical aspects of gender planning. The consultant clarified the requirements,
as reflected in the columns of the GAD planning matrix; and distinguished between
issues and activities, and performance indicators and targets. She also demonstrated
how to formulate indicators and targets, and stressed that gender issues be based on
data, and the PAPs on the issues identified.
While the workshops did clarify the technical aspects of GAD planning, these
also created mixed reactions from the participants. Some appreciated the critical
discussion and clarifications of GAD concepts as applied to GAD planning. A number,
however, felt that coming up with GAD-related PAPs and the GAD plan itself has
become even more difficult, as the types of qualified PAPs have become more limited.
Some agencies, including the PPA, whose PAPs were found not to be related to GAD,
lost inspiration.
The TWGs took offence with the consultant’s frank approach and ‘overhaul’ of how
to interpret and apply GAD concepts. Her pronouncements about which of the existing
PAPs are not GAD related created confusion. The matter of restrooms in stations is
one case, because the provision of separate restrooms for women and men and of
bassinets in women’s toilets address the needs of women travelers. Another PAP is
the establishment and maintenance of day care facilities, which can be viewed as an
institutional response to women’s need for support with child care. Health and physical
fitness, staff lounge and lodging houses, and other employees’ benefits have also been
identified by the consultant as inappropriate for GAD funding. Instead, she classified
THE DOTC CASE 37

them as employees’ welfare and security issues, and are, therefore, human-resources
or management concerns. She stressed that GAD projects and activities should not fall
under these areas. It must be noted that the consultant’s views do not reflect the views
of the Philippine Commission on Women, where there is reportedly no consensus on
the matter of day care centers or the other issues.27
Although there were marked improvements in some of the planning areas, it is

evident that the workshops had not developed capacity among the TWG participants
to do gender analysis, which would have helped them identify gender issues prior
to selection of PAPs. Moreover, agency plans retained some of the same PAPs and
“errors” in their GAD plans.
Identification of Gender Issues and PAPs
To address the issues confronting the sector and the agency, the DOTC conducts
an annual GAD assessment and planning workshop with the technical working groups
of attached agencies. Conducted in the third quarter of the year, the workshop follows
the planning in the agency level. At the workshop, the different agencies present their
accomplishments for the previous year(s), problems encountered, and facilitative
factors in the implementation of the GAD program. They also present their proposed
GAD projects (if they have done the planning) for feedback and discussion. Grouped
into the five sectors (land, sea, air and rail transportation, and communications), the
participants brainstorm on possible PAPs and strategies, after which, the individual
agencies draft or refine their plans and estimate the budget allocations.
Organization-related issues
The DOTC gender plans and budgets have time and again cited the following
issues that prevent the agency from being gender-responsive: (1) policies, plans
and programs, and mandates that do not respond to gender concerns; (2) absence
of a gender database to help policy and program implementation; (3) absence of a
department-wide GAD focal point and inappropriately constituted GAD technical
working groups; (4) limited GAD awareness, sensitivity and capacity among officials,
management, technical staff, and other employees; (5) unequal opportunities between
men and women to participate in technical and related infrastructure projects; and
(6) no funds for GAD projects. In addition, mentions are made of women’s multiple
burden, lack of awareness among the staff of health and nutrition issues, and the need
of women employees for supplemental income.
• Gender awareness and sensitivity. The issue of lack of gender awareness is

raised for both women and men: among women, mainly the lack of awareness
of their rights and the disparity that they suffer; among men, chauvinism
27
L. Umali, PCW Deputy Director, phone interview, 6 May 2010.

and sexual harassment in the workplace and their subordination of women
in their private lives. Of more direct importance to GAD advocacy in DOTC,
there is very limited understanding, if at all, by agency leadership and the rank
and file of the objectives and targets of the GAD program. This is evident in
questions that GAD program implementers encounter. People, for instance,
wonder why the focus on women when their projects involve and benefit all.
Men also ask why gender mainstreaming should involve them.
In general, the DOTC and its attached agencies appear to be “stuck” with
PAPs focused on advocacy and sensitization. Gender sensitivity training is,
in fact, the single most implemented GAD activity in almost all agencies; the
LTO and TELOF are exceptions, having recorded only one GST each. It is
easiest to implement, with an available pool of trainers and a ready workshop
design, and the easiest GAD activity to get funding for. Other common PAPs
are orientation sessions on gender issues, and celebration of the Women’s
Month.
There has been no formal and systematic attempt to assess the effects
of awareness-raising activities. The GSTs continue as many employees have
yet to go to one. Nonetheless, little progress in the sensitization of men and
women has been observed against the various manifestations of gender bias.
• Support for the GAD program. The lack of gender awareness appears
to underlie the tepid support for the application of GAD in DOTC. Top
officials, whose support for GAD is most crucial, seem not to understand and
appreciate gender and development. Most reportedly pay lip-service to gender
mainstreaming, professing support and approving certain activities, but only
for the sake of compliance. During a planning workshop, they argued with
the facilitator, with some being vocal about their disagreement. One official
has been said to remark: “Ano yang GAD? Pang tomboy at bakla lang yan.
Aaminin mo ba na tomboy o bakla ka?” (What is GAD? Isn’t that for lesbians
and gays only? Would you admit that you are gay or a lesbian?)
The GST has been the vehicle for orienting employees and officials on
gender and development. Only the PPA, however, has been successful in
getting its top executives and district managers to attend GST sessions at
the beginning of implementing its flagship GAD program, instilling in them
an appreciation of gender and development. Elsewhere, GAD program
implementers have been largely unsuccessful in bringing their top officials to
a GST or gender orientation session.
• Representation of technical and operations personnel in the TWGs. The

gender and development TWG members in the DOTC central office and
agencies are mostly women from the administrative, human resources, and
THE DOTC CASE 39

finance divisions. The TWG composition is due to, and has resulted in, the
preponderance in agencies’ gender and development plans of GSTs, seminars,
activities to celebrate the Women’s Month, and outreach programs.
When asked about the absence of members from the technical and
operations divisions, TWG members said that they were rarely available for
GAD functions and activities. Mostly men, technical and operations people
reportedly stay away from the GAD program because of the perception that
it is for women alone. All this has contributed to two linked issues: limited
integration of gender equality or equity considerations into the projects and
operations of the agencies, and the lack of involvement of technical, planning
and operations personnel in the technical working groups.
To address these issues, agencies have reconstituted their TWGs and

officially designated representatives from the technical and operations
divisions. To date, however, few of these representatives have been active.
Many do not see how their positions and competencies actually fit into the
GAD program. The DOTC also included training programs that are aimed at
developing the GAD skills of TWG members. However, those who attend the
sessions are non-technical staff that did not have the capacity to apply gender
analysis and planning in projects and operations.
• Gender database. The work on establishing a sex-disaggregated database has

been limited to a database on employees. Even this has never been completed
in most agencies; in some they have not actually started. The rationale
for coming with the database needs to be re-articulated, as its value is not
clear even to GAD implementers. The GAD database has been substantially
completed only at the PPA, where it has been used for tracking the progress
and promotion of employees, particularly women.
• Recruitment and work assignments. A workplace issue is related to the fact

that technical and operations positions are dominated by males and are said
to be difficult for women to obtain, when women can be equally effective as
men in these positions. This gender profile may be a function of exclusionary
recruitment and gender stereotypes within the organization. This view
holds that with facilitative actions within the agency, women can hold and
competently perform in the male-dominated positions.28
In some years, gender plans included programs, projects and activities, as
well as, targets for increasing the number of women in middle management
positions (that is, supervisors and department directors). Despite this, top
executive positions (Secretary, Undersecretaries, and Assistant Secretaries)
continue to be occupied by men. Overall, too, men employees outnumber
28
There is also the view that attributes the minority of women not so much to exclusion or bias in the agency as a result of
the educational system. The dominance of men, particularly in technical and operations divisions, is traced to the lack of female
graduates of engineering courses.

women employees. The only areas with more women employees are in
administration and finance.
The gender profile notwithstanding, there is a perception of gender equality

in the organization as a whole. In not just one agency, the view that there is
no gender inequality in the agency has been expressed by GAD officers. They
claim that relationships between women and men have been smooth, and
rarely antagonistic: “Maganda and samahan namin dito. Madalas nga kami
na (mga babae) ang nasusunod sa patakbo dito” (We have good relations
here. In fact, we, women, often prevail in the conduct of business here). A
top agency official is reported to have told DOTC women, “Ano pa ba ang
hahanapin niyo? Babae na ang president natin. Halos pantay na ang mga
lalaki at babae!” (What else could you ask for? Our president is a woman. Men
and women are almost equal!) These perceptions of gender equality within
many DOTC agencies appear to be inimical to gender mainstreaming in the
organization. These are discounting the need to focus on gender disparities
(and, thus, on women), and to continue implementing GAD programs.
• Work-family balance. Female employees, particularly wives and mothers,

struggle with the challenge of balancing child care and household responsi-
bilities, on the one hand, and profession and economic work, on the other.
Some agencies have tried to address this issue through PAPs that set up
on-site day care centers. With the high cost of infrastructure and operation,
however, only the PPA and TELOF have been able to put up and operate one.
Despite the GAD consultant’s view that day care centers are not eligible for
GAD funding, MIAA still included the operation of a day care center in its
recent GAD plans and has committed funds for its construction in 2009.
• Poverty. Another issue that is found in GAD plans is limited income,

presumably because women are usually the ones who show interest and take
initiative to augment their incomes through “sidelines” (such as direct selling,
buy and sell, food processing). The GAD plans have tried to address this with
livelihood training and projects. It is also only the PPA that has been able to
implement a training program for livelihood and income generating projects.
Like the day care center, livelihood training has also been disqualified as a
GAD project.
• Health awareness. The issue of lack of health awareness is linked with

lack of understanding of the different ailments, their causes and preventive
measures, and a lack of appreciation for healthy lifestyle and physical fitness.
Some agency plans have also included reproductive health. At the 2006 DOTC
gender planning workshop, the consultant stated that fitness and health PAPs
are not related to GAD. They still turn up in some plans even after that.
THE DOTC CASE 41

Client and community-related issues
The department’s gender plans and budgets have identified facilities and concerns
of clients of the agency. For instance, LRTA and MRT3 have noted the following:
escalators in bad condition that force pregnant women and women with children to
use steep stairs, inappropriate train specifications (high hand strap and emergency
door levels, high platform design), insufficient information dissemination about the
segregation scheme (involving coaches dedicated for women, children, the elderly, and
persons with disability), and the absence of priority lanes for vulnerable passengers.
Meanwhile, agencies maintaining passenger terminals have identified lack of child
care facilities (diaper-changing tables, breastfeeding areas), poor facilities (waiting
areas, restrooms, lighting), and harassment of female passengers.
Other plans indicate multiple burden, environmental health and safety hazards
for men and women, burden of poverty on women and men, violence against women
seafarers; lack of gender awareness and sensitivity among seafarers, lapses in
implementation of gender-responsive procedures and systems (like priority boarding
and dress code of flight attendants), objectification of women in media, and lack
of gender disaggregated data on passengers. Notwithstanding the inadequacies in
articulation and precision, the above issues imply gender disparities and gender-
related concerns in the transport and communications sectors. Some, however, are
not gender issues, but are problems with GAD implementation (such as, no funds, no
trainers, and lack of database).
Client-focused gender issues that have been identified and addressed in agency
GAD plans include:
• Facilities for women travelling with babies and children. The facilities issue
recognizes the practical needs of women and their traditional gender roles
as child-bearers and caregivers. Among these facilities that are often lacking
in transport stations and communication offices are: child care stations;
clean waiting areas and rest rooms; breastfeeding areas; priority lanes for
pregnant women, the elderly, disabled, and women with children; diaper-
changing tables; assistance centers or helpdesks; and kids’ trolleys. The PAPs
include the provision of these facilities with the aim of lessening the burden
and ensure safety and convenience for women travelers. Of the facilities,
clean restrooms, a staple in many plans, have been rightly disqualified by
the gender consultant as a GAD project because they are standard facilities.
Nevertheless, they still do appear in some plans of recent years.
Because of an increasing sharing by men of child care, the MIAA has

installed diaper-changing tables in some male restrooms at the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport terminals. There are also proposals to put the diaper-
changing tables in areas that are accessible to both males and females. The

kids’ trolleys have also been conceived as beneficial as well to males who
travel with small children.
• Portrayal of women in media. The issue of exploitation of women through

pornography in print and in the Internet has been raised by at least two
agencies. At the NTC, the GAD committee introduced a program to revitalize
efforts to regulate the Internet content and traffic in Internet shops. However,
it turned out that the NTC is mandated only to license the computer
infrastructure in the computer shops, not to regulate the content and traffic
of the Internet in these shops. At the PPC, the attempt to curb pornography
sent through mail has been constrained by operational limitations: detecting
mail with pornographic materials is very difficult and arbitrary.
• Human trafficking. Transport facilities, particularly seaports and airports,

are nodes for human trafficking operations, an issue that victimizes mostly
women and children. The PPA and MIAA recognized their strategic position to
help arrest human trafficking. For PAPs, they established halfway houses for
victims of trafficking, collaborated with other agencies in the Anti-trafficking
Taskforce, and set up mechanisms to identify potential victims of trafficking
• Poverty. Issues plaguing women in port communities—low family income

and the lack of livelihood opportunities—have qualified for GAD funding, as it
is women in the port communities who are in position to augment household
income. They show interest and initiative to engage in “secondary” income-
generating activities. They also have the time for extra work, as the males in
the household are deemed engaged in “regular” port-related jobs.
Compliance
Agency-level GAD planning and budgeting is done by the active members of the
technical working group. They assess the previous year’s implementation and note,
in particular, the PAPs that were not implemented. Regular and unimplemented
projects and activities are usually carried over (by “copying and pasting”) to the
following year’s gender plan. The GAD plan would include new PAPs that have been
identified during the agency planning or the department-level GAD workshop. The
budget estimates are adjusted for inflation and changes in activities and targets.
The GAD budget is incorporated into the appropriate regular items of the agency’s
yearly budget proposal. There is no specific budget line or account for GAD, hence, the
budget for GST is part of the “Training” item. The budget proposal that is deliberated
upon by the DBM is practically “GAD-blind.” When the proposed budget is slashed,
as is often the case, the attributed gender budget is often lost in the approved budget.
THE DOTC CASE 43

Thus, although the gender budget has a numerical value, there is no real money
committed for the GAD Plan and Budget. Interviews with agency personnel suggest
that the fund has to be culled out from the approved appropriation, subject to the
agenda, priorities, moods, generosity, and convenience of the finance chief and/or
the agency head. The PPA is a notable exception, but even then, there is no separate
account for GAD, making it difficult to account for the gender budget (see Box 3.1).
At the time of the GAD budget study, the available GAD Plans and Budgets and
Accomplishment Reports of DOTC with the NCRFW went only as far back as 2000,
although there were summary data for earlier years.29 Copies of those from earlier
periods have been archived and could no longer be recovered; a few recent ones were
also misplaced.
Box 3.1: THE PPA Budgeting Experience

At the Philippine Ports Authority, the GAD budget is specifically required and provided for in
the PPA Planning and Budget Council’s Budget Guidelines. The PPA national GAD conferences
and budget deliberations always single out the gender budgets of the different port districts and
the head office. A formulated gender plan and budget is a key consideration in the approval
of the overall budget of the districts and the head office. At the budget hearing, the port district
manager, who also heads the district GAD Technical Working Group, defends the gender budget
alongside the district’s budget.
Although the GAD Plan is crafted during the national conference, the district manager has
to show that the plan is realistic and aligned with the PPA’s thrusts. The justification requires data
from feasibility studies and consultation with stakeholders, the police, NGOs and local government
units in the communities around and using the ports. The manager commits to the approved plan
and is held accountable for its implementation.
After the budget deliberations, the approved GAD plans and budgets are consolidated and
incorporated into the overall PPA Budget. As with other agencies, the GAD items are incorporated
into the regular budget lines of the PPA. Unlike most agencies, however, the approved overall
budget, with the gender budget items specified, becomes the commitment of the General Manager.
This means that there is real money appropriated for the GAD PAPs. The approved budgets,
specifying their respective commitments, are disseminated to the managers.
The GAD plan is monitored as a distinct program when the PPA Strategic Planning Division
conducts its monthly monitoring of PPA programs. The managers report on their accomplishments,
explain those that have not been completed, and justify changes in the implementation. They are
pressured to perform and implement their GAD projects, lest they be reprimanded for sitting on
funds that could have been used for other projects. Their performance and accountability are once
again accounted at the subsequent budget deliberation.
As there is no separate account for the gender budget, there is also no separate accounting of
GAD expenditures by the Commission on Audit. When a project or activity is accomplished, it is
assumed that the appropriated budget is spent. The PPA controllership manager feels a separate
account for GAD expenditures would facilitate more effective monitoring and management of the
GAD program.
29
NCRFW, GAD Planning and Budgeting: Adding Value to Governance, Annex 3, Manila, 2003, for the 1995-2002 data.

For the period 2000 to 2009, the DOTC central office submitted a total of seven (7)
GAD plans, but only five (5) included a budget (see Table 3.1). Of its 19 attached
agencies, three (OTS, PADC and TRB) never submitted a GAD Plan and Budget, while
two (LRTA and OTC) turned in a gender plan for one year, but this was not budgeted.
Overall, the department and its agencies had prepared an average of 4.2 GAD Plans
and Budgets but only 3.7 (of the expected 10 GAD Plans and Budgets) during the
10-year period under review, or a submission rate of 37 percent.
Table 3.1: GAD Plans and Budgets and Accomplishment Reports submitted by DOTC Central Office
and attached agencies, 2000-2009
GAD Plans and Budgets, Accomplishment Reports,

No. of
2000-2009 2000-2008 complete
Office/ % to total Average % to annual
% to Total GAD (GPB and
Agency Total GAD Average No. of GAD yearly GAD average No. of
DOTC budget AR)
budget per year GPBs* budget budget GAD ARs*
total spent submission
spent spent budget
DOTC-CO 11,352,340 2.78 1,135,234 7 (5) 4,714,500 6.09 523,833 46.14 5 (3) 1
CAAP/ATO 2,095,000 0.51 209,500 4 (3) 2,156,225 2.78 239,591 114.36 4 (4) 2
CAB 507,000 0.12 50,700 5 (5) 44,500 0.06 4,944 9.75 5 (1) 1
LRTA 0 0.00 0 1 (0) 92,251 0.12 10,250 - 6 (4) 0
LTFRB 2,493,650 6.10 249,365 9 (8) 1,544,555 2.00 171,617 68.82 6 (6) 5
LTO 14,020,000 3.43 1,402,000 6 (5) 32,641,733 42.17 3,626,859 258.69 6 (6) 4
MARINA 13,925,400 3.41 1,392,540 6 (4) 203,928 0.26 22,659 1.63 5 (2) 2
MIAA 25,871,760 6.33 2,587,176 7 (6) 3,109,221 4.02 345,469 13.35 8 (6) 4
MRT 287,000 0.07 28,700 1 (1) 10,390 0.01 1,154 4.02 1(1) 0
NTC 19,325,800 4.73 1,932,580 8 (8) 705,074 0.91 78,342 4.05 6 (3) 3
OTC 0 0.00 0 1 (0) 25,000 0.03 2,778 - 2 (1) 0
OTS 0 0.00 0 0 (0) 0 0.00 0 - 0 (0) 0
PADC 0 0.00 0 0 (0) 14,000 0.02 1,556 - 1 (1) 0
PCG 4,490,850 1.10 449,085 2 (2) 158,400 0.20 5,802 1.29 2 (2) 0
PMMA 9,911,000 2.43 991,100 4 (4) 20,000 0.03 2,222 0.22 3 (1) 1
PNR 3,156,000 0.77 315,600 6 (5) 225,246 0.29 25,027 7.93 5 (4) 2
PPA 292,416,657 71.57 29,241,666 8 (8) 30,285.418 39.13 3,365,046 11.51 6 (3) 2
PPC 1,636,212 0.40 163,621 3 (3) 339,979 0.44 37,775 23.09 4 (2) 1
TELOF 7,109,050 1.74 710,905 7 (7) 1,131,404 1.46 125,712 17.68 6 (6) 5
TRB 0 0.00 0 0 (0) 0 0.00 0 - 1 (0) 0
All 408,597,719 100.00 40,959,719 85 (74) 77,396,464 100.00 8,599,607 21.05 82 (56) 33
*The GPB and AR entries refer to the number of all GPBs and ARs submitted, both complete and incomplete; entries in parentheses
are complete submissions (GAD plans with budget and AR). ARs include amount spent for planned activities that took place during
the year.
The total DOTC gender budget for 2000 to 2009 varied from year to year.
It averaged P40.9 million a year. Of this, however, P29 million, or 71.6 percent, is
accounted for by the PPA. The Central Office and 18 other attached agencies account
for the remaining 28.4 percent.
THE DOTC CASE 45

Of the total 85 gender plans and budgets submitted, a majority (87.1 percent)
included both a plan and budget, but some 12.9 percent were incomplete (see Table
3.2). In the case of the Accomplishment Report, complete submissions should include
indications of budget spent. If all agencies turned in a complete report, there would
have been a total of 180 reports for 2000 to 2008, but only 56 did so, or an average
submission rate of 31.1 percent. If one were to consider both GAD Plan and Budget and
Accomplishment Report submissions for the same period, there were only 33, or an
effective average compliance rate of 18.3 percent.
Table 3.2: Summary data on DOTC GAD Plan and Budget and Accomplishment Report submissions
Item No. Percent

GAD Plan and Budget, 2000-2009
GAD Plan only 11 12.9
GAD Plan and Budget 74 87.1
Total submissions 85 100.0
Agencies with at least one submission 17 85.0
No GAD Plan or Budget 3 15.0
Total number of agencies 20 100.0
Accomplishment Report, 2000-2008
Report submitted, but without amounts spent 26 31.7
Report included amounts spent 56 68.3
Total submissions 82 100.0
Agencies with at least one Report submission 19 95.0
No Report submitted 1 5.0
Total number of agencies 20 100.0
No. of complete GPB and AR submissions by agencies, 2000-2008 33 18.3
Nonetheless, in general, the DOTC sees itself as compliant and, even ‘active,’ in
implementing the GAD Budget Policy. Through the creation of TWGs and the conduct
of GSTs, monthly meetings and planning workshops, the department has been able
to mobilize people to formulate and implement these plans. There is also the PPA
and, lately, MIAA, whose GAD infrastructure projects have been highly acclaimed.
Despite these, the quality of GAD Plans and Budgets and Accomplishment Reports
has been quite inconsistent. The repetition of gender issues and PAPs in a series of
years indicates that many PAPs have not actually been budgeted and executed.
Several issues on the mechanisms of budgeting and accounting also impinge

on the budget compliance and performance. For example, the TWGs claim that the
requirements of the NCRFW and DBM are different, if not inconsistent. This affects
the way in which DOTC’s compliance is measured or determined.
On one hand, the NCRFW is perceived as imagining the 5-percent GAD budget
as a separate provision in the agency’s budget. This means the GAD plan has to have
various projects and activities with budgets that amount to at least 5 percent of the total
appropriation. Thus, when agencies submit their GAD Plans and Budgets to NCRFW,
it is assumed that the gender budget is guaranteed in the overall agency budget. When

gender budget compliance and performance are measured, these are based on the
GAD Plans and Budgets. If one were to calculate the proportion of the GAD budgets
to the agencies’ budgets approved by law, only in one case (NTC in 2009) has the GAD
budget exceeded the 5-percent mark (see Table 3.3). For the GOCCs, particularly PPA
and MIAA, the gender budgets, the biggest among DOTC agencies, are even smaller
fractions of their respective total annual budgets, which also happen to be the biggest
in the DOTC family.
Table 3.3: GAD budget of DOTC as percentage of total agency and MOOE budgets, 2003, 2005, 2007,
2008 and 2009
GAD budget as percent of

Agency 2003 2005 2007 2008 2009
Total MOOE Total MOOE Total MOOE Total MOOE Total MOOE
No. of agencies
with GAD 8 8 10 10 9
budget
Agencies with
complete 4 5 7 6 6
budget data
DOTC-CO --* --* 0.84 1.24 --* --* 0.44 0.61 0.10 0.24
CAAP/ATO --* --* --* --* 0.06 0.13 0.03 0.06 0.06 0.17
CAB --* --* 0.43 1.62 0.47 1.43 0.05 0.13 --* --*
LTFRB 0.11 0.31 0.27 0.60 0.28 0.61 0.16 0.39 --* --*
LTO --* --* 0.18 0.34 0.51 0.92 --* --* --* --*
MARINA 0.35 0.93 --* --* --* --* --* --* 3.91 7.97
MIAA --* --* --** 0.02 0.01 0.05 0.12 0.43 --* --*
MRT --* --* --* --* 0.05 2.28 --* --* --* --*
NTC 0.69 2.58 --* --** 1.81 6.78 1.40 4.63 15.15 49.20
PCG --* --* --* --* --* --* 0.05 0.14 1.20 --*
PPA 0.01 0.12 --** 0.02 --** 0.04 --** 0.01 0.01 0.07
TELOF 0.16 1.09 3.54 11.18 --** --* --** --** 0.05 0.27
Other agencies 3 1 1 2 2
with GPB, but
no available
agency budget PMMA, PNR,
PPC NTC PNR PNR, TELOF PNR, PPC
data
*No GAD budget for the year ** Less than 0.01 percent
On the other hand, DBM requires that the gender budget be incorporated in the
proposed agency budget in a process called “attribution.” As there is no budget line for
GAD, the budgetary requirements of the GAD PAPs are attributed to the corresponding
budget lines of the different regular functions.
The budget hearings deliberate on the overall proposed budget. When the overall
budget is reduced, which is almost always the case, the GAD budget is all the more
lost. Once the original GAD budget is no longer fully provided for in the overall budget,
then compliance, as reflected by the Accomplishment Report, would not abide by the
THE DOTC CASE 47

5-percent minimum. In fact, DBM is understood as measuring GAD budget compliance
solely against submission of GAD Plans and Budgets and Accomplishment Reports,
while performance, or GAD implementation, is not reportedly measured against the
utilization of the gender budget as indicated in the plan.
The DBM instructs that the GAD budget be taken from the regular budget
provisions in the revised overall budget. Thus, GST budgets are embedded in the
“Training” budget line in the overall budget proposal. Any reduction in the training
budget means that GSTs have to compete for funds with other training programs.
Meanwhile, in an agency that has no regular infrastructure development function, a
proposed day care center has almost no chance of being funded. There is no regular
budget provision that could cover its construction and operation, which would have
justified its inclusion in the GAD plan.
The agencies that have been most regular in their submission of GAD Plans and
Budgets are LTFRB, NTC and the PPA. They are joined by five others with respect to
Accomplishment Report submissions. None of these agencies, however, have complete
annual submissions for 2000 to 2008. The most number of years this happened was
five, which was recorded by LTFRB and TELOF. The LTO and MIAA had complete
submissions for four years, NTC had three, and PPA and PNR had two each (see Table
3.1). Many of the agencies submitted only narrative accomplishment reports, or reports
that are not linked with the previous year’s gender budget.
The preparation of the GAD Plan and Budget is largely understood by many as
merely fulfilling a requirement. The GAD program implementation itself is additional
work of less priority. It is an unrewarding task: it has no additional pay; it is a difficult
program to plan and implement; and it does not encourage continuation. The same
attitude prevailed at MIAA and PPA at the time they were just beginning to take off with
GAD. Even now, there remain people who are unconvinced (“hindi bilib”) with GAD.
Nonetheless, within PPA, the politics of budget allocation is such that compliance
with the GAD Budget Policy is a requirement for approval of district budget.
GAD BUDGET UTILIZATION

To make the DOTC responsive to GAD concerns, the attached agencies, collectively
or individually, implement PAPs to build capacity and mechanisms for developing
gender sensitivity within the organization and provide gender-responsive services to
their respective clienteles. As the PAPs actualize GAD within each of the agencies, they
are the object and site of the very issues around the gender budget policy.
Access to the Budget
Access to gender budgets that are embedded in regular budget items has differed
among the agencies and offices of DOTC. Among government corporations that have

control over their finances, PPA and MIAA specifically, the gender budget allocations
are guaranteed for release when they need to be. The utilization of the gender budget,
thus, tends to follow the plan, and the implementation of the GAD projects and activities
largely depends on human and technical capacity, and not on the availability of funds.
Prioritization is based on the time and human resources that can be mobilized. When
time and workforce allow, even non-programmed activities can be implemented with
supplemental budgets.
In contrast, the utilization of the GAD budget allocations of the national agencies
that abide by the approval and release procedures of the DBM is not guaranteed. It is not
the DBM per se that determines the availability of the funds for the GAD program, but
the agency, more precisely the head, who decides how the gender budget will be culled
from the approved overall budget. The agenda or priorities of the agency’s leadership
determine the provision of funds for GAD programs, activities and projects. The release
of the gender budget allocations is also often guided by a desire to have something to
make the agency and its head look good. The agency officials mean to comply with the
GAD Budget Policy as long as it does not jeopardize their priorities. Unless there is a big
project with guaranteed funding under GAD, the gender budget performance is limited
to the basics, usually GST and participation in Women’s Month celebrations.
Quite commonly, it is the persistent reminders by the agency’s representative to
the department’s GAD committee (not necessarily the agency GAD focal point) that
prompt agency heads of the need to spend something for gender equality or women’s
empowerment. The onus of getting a GAD activity implemented falls on the agency
representatives who need something to report to the committee. Their usual pitch
is that the non-implementation of any GAD activity will reflect badly on the agency
and the agency head. Thus, if only as token response, the agency head approves some
budget for a GAD-specific activity.
The agency GAD committees are also cautious about implementing grander
activities. The allocation of human resources to gender mainstreaming is limited
and problematic, especially to agencies whose budget processes have not integrated
GAD. As previously described, the “working group” in the TWG is whittled down
to a few members, usually women from the administrative, human resources,
and, sometimes, finance divisions. Unless there is a special project involving other
divisions, these are the same people who work through all the GAD projects and
activities. These people complain of being understaffed and overworked, as GAD
is an additional (unremunerated) work, one that has not been integrated into the
normal operations or conduct of business of the division or agency. Understandably,
the GSTs and other awareness-raising sessions have thrived because these have been
logically implemented by the HRD and administrative staff.
At the PPA, the budget process ensures that both financial and human resource
requirements are assessed and appropriated accordingly by the implementing
officers. They, the port district managers in particular, commit human resources to
THE DOTC CASE 49

the plans they propose and are approved by the PPA Planning and Budget Council.
The monthly monitoring of the Strategic Planning Division ensures that the plans are
implemented or adjusted accordingly.
Accounting
The amounts spent on GAD are not duly accounted for within the current system.
Since no specific gender budget line appears in the overall agency budget, there is also
no specific accounting for GAD expenditures. In the same way that gender budgets
are incorporated in the regular budget items, GAD expenditures are also lumped with
their corresponding budget items.
At the PPA, the practice has been that, since there is no specific account for the
GAD item, the budget appropriated is assumed fully spent when the project or activity
is reported accomplished. This means that actual GAD expenditures may be bigger or,
most likely, lesser than reported. The PPA controller feels that this is an area where
the COA accounting system needs rectification.
This gap in the accounting system affects the reporting of accomplishments,

or the completion of the matrix of the prescribed Accomplishment Report. There
is no devotion to indicating the actual cost of implementation on the designated
column. In summarizing the overall cost of implementation and the cost for specific
programs, the computation considered the “budget appropriated” when there is no
figure indicated under “actual cost” or “amount obligated.” It is consistent with the
accounting practice, but is nonetheless inaccurate.
The closest estimate of GAD expenditures can be deduced from the accomplish-
ment reports that have been submitted to NCRFW and/or DBM. As evident in Table
3.1, two agencies (CAAP/ATO and LTO) reported GAD costs that far exceeded anything
that must have been allocated for GAD programs, projects and activities. Overall, only
21 percent of the average gender budget has been reported as spent.
Auditing
The GAD officers wonder how the Commission on Audit has done its examination
of the gender budget utilization. One GAD officer claims that a COA official from
Mindanao admitted to her that they (COA) do not know how to actually audit the
GAD budget performance. Moreover, a budget officer notes that, in the past two years
it paid attention to the gender budget, the COA had audited not so much the budgets
and costs as the existence of plans. In effect, COA auditing required only that there are
planned/proposed PAPs. It does not assess how much has been released for these and
whether the gender budget complies with the 5-percent minimum.

GAD RESULTS: IMPACTS ON THE ORGANIZATION
What have the GAD budgets produced in terms of changes in the way DOTC and
its agencies do business, or deal with its clients? Most of these changes could be traced
to progress made in the gender mainstreaming campaign at the department.
In-House Trainer’s Pool Developed
In 1998, a pool of gender trainers was formed from among the department’s TWG
members. Beginning with a training of trainers, the trainers underwent a certification
process that ended in demonstration teaching or an actual handling of a GST session.
In 2004, a trainers enhancement program was conducted to update and refine the
content and methods of the GST program. In the same year, a GST instructional guide
or manual was designed and issued for use in DOTC gender training. Not accounting
for staff turnovers, each agency is supposed to have at least two certified trainers.
The trainers’ training programs produced limited results. More often than not, the
trainers facilitated GSTs for groups other than those for their home agency; when they
do organize a session for their home agency, they would have other trainers run the
session. This practice speaks of the not so popular standing of the trainers within their
organization, particularly where GAD is concerned. Beyond the GSTs, the DOTC and
its agencies often tap external GAD experts.
Top-Level Support for GAD Created in Some Agencies
The agency representatives to the department’s GAD Technical Working Group are
often the ones closest to being GAD champions in their respective agencies. For the most
part, they are designated as representatives not because of any pre-existing advocacy
for gender and development, but because they are women from the administrative
division. They are introduced to GAD through gender sensitivity training once they are
in the Technical Working Group.
Problems and initiatives
The GAD Focal Points and TWG realized that they had to develop among top
officials an appreciation of and commitment to gender mainstreaming in the agency.
They made three attempts. The first was in 1997. It involved an orientation on GAD
for agency heads that NCRFW ran. In 1998, the department GAD trainers conducted a
one-day gender sensitization session for division and section chiefs of the DOTC and its
attached agencies. Most recently, the TWG organized a meeting in 2008 on GAD with
the finance chiefs of the attached agencies and the NCRFW to clarify the GAD Budget
Policy. Of the attached agencies, the PPA seems to have been the most successful in its
campaign to ‘sensitize’ officials and managers (see sidebar, next page).
THE DOTC CASE 51

Mixed results
In spite of the GAD sessions, there Working on PPA officials...

persisted a lack of awareness of and support
PPA executives, particularly port
for GAD among the top officials. This is partly managers, who were less receptive to
because, since 1998, there were changes in GAD were the ones prioritized and
the top and middle leadership of the agencies. directed to undergo GST. The targeting
This brought in executives who are unaware, if translated into decision-makers and
not unappreciative, of gender mainstreaming. managers who are sensitized and
capable of planning and implementing
With their different priorities, GAD often
GAD PAPs. In general, the GSTs have
the least of them, and their naturally busy sensitized the leadership and rank and
schedules, the top officials have been difficult file. As one GAD officer has observed,
even impossible to brief on GAD. Though “At least hindi na pinagtatawanan
they have responded to the directives from pag pinaguusapan ang gender o
GAD” (At least, they no longer laugh
the Central Office on gender planning and
about discussions of gender or GAD).
budgeting, their understanding of the GAD
Budget Policy has been very limited.
In some agencies, as in PCG, the dominance of males of the top leadership seems
to be part of the problem. Misconceptions about gender and development (as being
about lesbians or gays) also persist among both female and male executives.
In contrast, strong GAD leadership at PPA showed how a strategically located

GAD champion could aid in the effective implementation not only of the GAD Budget
Policy, but of gender mainstreaming, as well. As Assistant General Manager (AGM) for
Finance and Administration for 12 years, Aida Dizon knew there were funds and how
much money was available for GAD, enabling her to mobilize PPA resources for gender
manstreaming. An advocate of women’s rights, she directed the implementation of
GAD projects and activities. As Chair of the GAD Committee, she supported the GST
program of the agency’s Training Center, especially the sessions for executives and
port managers, and its partners. As Chair of the PPA Planning and Budget Council,
she effectively negotiated with the other executives and port managers the allocation
of resources and the implementation of GAD projects and activities in the operations
of PPA. Her GAD efforts were pursued by Atty. Gloria Bañas, who succeeded her when
she retired in 2008. To ensure the continued support of the PPA leadership for gender
mainstreaming, Atty. Bañas offered the chairpersonship of the GAD Committee to
the General Manager (Atty. Oscar Sevilla) himself. As vice-chairperson of the GAD
Committee, Atty. Bañas serves as executive officer of the GAD program, but she
makes sure the General Manager is informed and present in the committee meetings
and activities.
The PPA served as a model for other DOTC agencies, such as the MIAA. The
animation of the GAD program of the MIAA began in 2004. Confident of the availability

of resources for the program, Guia Gonzales, the agency representative to the GAD
Technical Working Group of the department, pushed for gender mainstreaming at
MIAA. Inspired by the accomplishments of PPA, she submitted a written report to the
AGM for Finance and Administration (H. Castillo) and exhorted the MIAA to follow
the PPA example. On her suggestion, H. Castillo assumed the leadership of the GAD
Committee of MIAA. By this time, the former General Manager of the PPA had taken
over the MIAA, which augured well for gender mainstreaming in the agency.
Some GAD Planning Skills Developed
The DOTC has organized training on gender-responsive planning for its GAD
Technical Working Group members. Notably, at the agency level, the NTC reported
the conduct of GST with gender-responsive planning for 30 personnel. Meanwhile,
the DOTC Central Office has sent an HRD staff to a NEDA-sponsored training on the
Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines.30 It has also conducted, as part of
its 2007 GAD Planning Workshop, an orientation on the Guidelines to representatives
(at least two per agency) of the DOTC attached agencies. One agency that appreciated
the usefulness of the Harmonized GAD Guidelines is PPA. Its TWG recognizes the
need for applying a gender perspective in infrastructure development. In 2008, it
drafted the GAD Engineering Checklist, which it adapted from the Harmonized
GAD Guidelines. Like the Guidelines, the Engineering Checklist aims to collect sex-
disaggregated data and determine the gender responsiveness of PPA engineering
projects.
Outside the PPA, the series of training had not been effectively appreciated since
those who attended them were not planners or implementers. For instance, the HRD
staff who attended the NEDA training could not echo the training to the GAD Technical
Working Group as she was not in a position to understand and apply the Guidelines.
She said that somebody from the planning or project implementation groups should
have been sent to the training.
The department and its sector offices, attached agencies and GOCCs have invested
in periodic gender planning sessions. At the agency-level planning, members of the
TWG review what they have accomplished in the previous year(s), identify the PAPs
that can be carried over to the coming year, and brainstorm on new issues and projects
and activities. These proposed PAPs are presented and refined at the DOTC gender
planning workshop. After the workshop, the agencies finalize the plans, with the
budget estimates, and submit them for approval.
30
In 2007, MIAA, CAAP and PPA sent TWG members to the International Women’s Human Rights Course at Miriam
College. For MIAA, in particular, the attendance in the course showed how GAD has become a serious undertaking, and how the
administration readily supports GAD initiatives. It was not programmed, as the TWG learned of the course only from a newspaper
advertisement. The TWG members decided they would benefit from it and asked for funds. In no time, an office order was issued
authorizing them to attend and funding their attendance. On a different note, the DOTC-GAD TWG went on a study tour to the
Yazaki-Torres Company to learn “The 5S of Good Housekeeping.” Seminars on the 5S were later conducted in the different attached
agencies. The project was justified as sensitizing men, in particular, to participate in housekeeping chores in the workplace.
THE DOTC CASE 53

Apart from DOTC-wide workshops, a few agencies hold their own planning
activities. The PPA conducts a national GAD conference of technical working groups
of the head office and the five port districts, namely: Manila-Northern Luzon,
Southern Luzon, Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and Southern Mindanao. Prior to
a national conference, the GAD Focal Point draws up a general plan that outlines
the major programs for the year or the medium term. The general plan is shaped
by the Strategic Planning Division monitoring data on the GAD implementation, as
well as, by feasibility studies by specific port districts. At the national conference, the
port-district TWGs assess their performance and accomplishments in the previous
period. Based on the general plan, the TWGs formulate GAD plans for their respective
districts. The planning is guided by a set of guidelines the Philippine Ports Authority
adapted from the NCRFW format. The guidelines identify a set of gender issues
related to the organization and operations of the PPA that the TWGs seek to address.
In 2008, the LTFRB organized a three-day medium-term (2008-2010) planning

workshop. Facilitated by an external gender expert, the workshop involved the regional
TWGs and some middle managers. Coming in the wake of three years of rehashed
gender plans and a two-year lull in GAD program implementation, the medium-term
planning aimed to revive the gender program of the agency. The workshop clarified the
rationale and coverage of the LTFRB gender and development program. In 2009, the
LTFRB conducted a three-day planning workshop once more. Again led by an external
facilitator, the workshop laid down specific PAPs and strategies for 2009 and 2010.
The quality of gender plans, budgets, and accomplishment reports from DOTC,
its attached agencies, and GOCCs, however, suggest that gender planning skills are
not fully developed. The dominance of gender training and celebrations in the GAD
Plans and Budgets has been traced to two interrelated factors: the near-monopoly
by administrative and HRD people of gender mainstreaming, and gender planning
and budgeting in particular; and the lack of participation of operations and technical
people in identifying gender issues and in planning and implementing other PAPs.
Awareness in Key GAD Issues Raised
The gender plans and budgets of all agencies invariably included a continuing
program for raising the gender awareness of their personnel. The main instrument
of the awareness-raising campaign is the GST. Agencies have conducted gender
sensitization sessions almost yearly since the inception of gender mainstreaming.
However, the reach, or the number or percentage of personnel who have gone to
the sessions cannot be determined by any definite measure, as reporting has been
inconsistent. The training attendance has ranged from small groups of eight to large
groups of 30 persons. Notably, the CAAP/ATO reported conducting eight (8) GSTs to
267 employees in the air-sector in 2008. On the other hand, the LTO reported only
one GST of an undetermined attendance in the period covered by this review.

Every year, each attached agency also sends a contingent of about 20 women,
to the NCRFW-organized Women’s Month Celebration. Finally, the department
and some attached agencies have sponsored, in between GSTs, fora and symposia
on various issues and topics, including the Solo Parent Act, sexual harassment and
violence against women. Athe NTC, however, these topics were the focus of GSTs.
At the PPA, the gender awareness-raising campaign targeted not just agency
officials. It has incorporated GAD into the curriculum of its training program for
personnel, partners, and communities. A half-day to a whole day of each training
session is devoted to gender sensitization. With its partner cargo-handling companies,
the conduct of GST sessions is included in the contract of the training programs
the PPA provides them. For the communities, the men and women who undergo
entrepreneurial skills and livelihood training also go through a short GST.
Apart from training or orientation sessions and symposia, the department and
several of its agencies pursue their GAD advocacy through information, education and
communication (IEC) materials. The Central Office, PPA, CAB, and MARINA set up
GAD corners and/or bulletin boards in their head offices. The GAD corners and bulletin
boards offer reading materials, data, trivia, articles, brochures, announcements and
other information-education materials. Moreover, the PPA has a GAD library with
several shelves of books, periodicals and other reading materials.
In addition, since 2005, the department’s GAD Technical Working Group has
published a newsletter, “XX and XY Voices,” which it distributes to department
and agency officials and TWG members. The newsletter comes out at least twice a
year, and contains news on GAD activities, informative articles on gender issues and
women-related topics, including features on officials and personalities.
The PPA has the GAD Digest distributed throughout the agency and its port
districts. For years, it published and distributed comics featuring stories on women’s
and children’s issues within the setting of the port operations and communities. It
also distributed brochures on its GAD program, women and child rights advocacy,
and its anti-trafficking campaign, in particular, the Bahay Silungan sa Daungan, or
Shelter at the Port (safe house for recovered trafficked persons).
A common problem with sustaining the information-dissemination efforts is

putting together new materials for each issue. For its first two years, the “XX and XY
Voices” newsletter featured mainly original articles of its pool of contributors from
different agencies. Lately, it has relied on downloaded materials from the Internet.
Meanwhile, the PPA found it hard to put together new materials and put out new
issues of the comics.
Have these advocacies paid off? The GAD officers claimed that immediate effects
on GST participants are evident in the latter’s realizations and resolutions (what they
THE DOTC CASE 55

will stop and start doing). Long-term impacts, however, are more difficult to assess,
as there has been no conscious effort to monitor them. Nevertheless, they attest to
some observable effects of the GST. For instance, women have begun to “make noise”
about promotion issues, raising questions to protect their interests. There is now an
openness to discuss and take action on sexual harassment. Men, on their part, have
become careful, even wary of how they act towards women in the workplace. The jokes
and sexual innuendos have abated, and regarded as inappropriate and ‘reprimandable’.
While the gender awareness-raising sessions have produced a cadre of GAD

advocates within a handful of agencies, some issues persist that requires continuing
advocacy within the organization and with industry partners. First, many GSTs have
been conducted, yet there are many employees who still have to go to one. They
include members of the Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI) in some
agencies who could benefit from an introduction to gender issues and concerns. (The
formation of the CODI in these agencies was in response to a directive from the Civil
Service Commission, with little consideration of the gender mainstreaming program.)
In addition, employees, especially in the regions, are not aware, much less enlightened
about gender mainstreaming and its objectives. Foremost among those who have not
undergone a GST or GAD orientation are the top executives, who are largely unaware
and unconvinced about gender mainstreaming and the budget policy.
More Women Occupying Executive Positions
The creation of a GAD database on employees and clientele has been in many
GAD plans of the central office and the attached agencies. However, only the PPA
has an operational one on its employees. There, the database has been useful in
tracking the professional performance and status of its employees, women and men.
It has enabled the PPA to identify the training needs of women in order to advance
into male-dominated positions. Women have been sent for foreign training on port
operations, an opportunity that was once exclusive to males. In all, 18 have been sent
to The Netherlands for training on the integration of women in the port and shipping
industry.
To date, there has been a rise in the number of women executives, including the
first two women port managers in the country. A GAD officer attributes all these to the
GAD program. The PPA has opened its people, both women and men, to the notion of
gender equality, particularly that women can be as competent as men and that women
can bring something new and different to its conduct of work.
Hiring and Training Practices Changed
The PPA is not alone in offering opportunities for women staff. At the PPC, the
GAD Focal Point succeeded in effecting a change in the agency’s hiring policy to open

the position of mail deliverers to women. There are now eight female mail deliverers
making the rounds in the cities of Baguio, Makati and Quezon. The policy also
provides for women to assume less strenuous tasks while recovering from pregnancy
and childbirth, and until they are fit enough to be reinstated as mail deliverers.
In a different vein, the LRTA has partnered with the Technological University
of the Philippines for the offering of a Railway Management course. The course
reportedly aims to provide an opportunity for more women to undergo training for
train driving, train mechanics, and other technical skills related to rail operations.
Under a draft memorandum of agreement, LRTA will provide its facilities for use of
the students and its technical officers will serve as instructors.
Some GAD Efforts Institutionalized
Support for gender mainstreaming at the department came in various forms,

some not directly connected with the GAD budget and the PAPs it funded. In fact, key
policies, enabling mechanisms and GAD structures predated the gender budget policy.
Nonetheless, the gender budget has supported initiatives that helped make GAD more
concrete to people in the organization, thereby strengthening gender mainstreaming
efforts and lending credibility to the GAD advocates in a number of DOTC agencies.
GAD structures
Two DOTC issuances put in place the Focal Point System in the department:
Department Order (DO) No. 94-787 on the “Designation of DOTC WID Focal Point,”
signed by then Secretary Jesus Garcia, Jr.; and DO 97-10150, “Institutionalization
of Gender and Development Agency Plan, Budget and Working Committees,” by then
Secretary Arturo Enrile, which created the department’s GAD focal point, constituted
the DOTC technical working group for GAD and its special committees, and directed
the attached agencies to do likewise in their respective organizations.
Policy statements
To bolster the implementation of current and pending GAD projects and activities,
the GAD Technical Working Group of the DOTC formulated in 2003 the GAD vision-
mission statements for the department and different sectors. This vision-mission
statement reads: “A gender-responsive DOTC Family committed to provide fast, safe,
economical, efficient, and effective transport and communications services that will
contribute to the upliftment of the life of every man, woman and child.” The collective
mission is “to inculcate gender consciousness among the DOTC Family; to integrate
gender-related concerns in the formulation of policies and implementation of DOTC
plans, programs and projects.” These statements are repeated in the department’s
Central Office gender plans and GAD newsletter.
THE DOTC CASE 57

Some agencies have adopted
their own sector vision-mission
statement (see sidebar), but it is only
the NTC that has since translated Sector GAD vision-mission statements
the communications sector GAD
For the Air Sector, the vision is “a world-
vision and mission statements into class and gender-responsive aviation industry
action. For the rest, it is not clear for the safety and convenience of the riding
public, both men and women;” and the mission
whether and how much these sector is “to enhance aviation services through
statements have facilitated gender mainstreaming of GAD-related activities to the
planning and implementation. Agency’s plans, programs and projects.”
The Land Sector has as vision, “well-

Two agencies also attempted developed gender-responsive policies,
to formulate GAD statements for programs and systems that will play a vital role
their regional offices, though none in providing a safe, healthy, fast, economical
and friendly transport service to the public.”
went beyond the draft stage. In Its mission is “to rationalize gender-responsive
2007, the PPC began including a policies, programs and systems to sustain
review of its regional vision-mission land sector plans and programs to effectively
implement gender mainstreaming.”
statements in its GSTs for regional
GAD technical working groups. The Water Sector’s vision is for “women
and men in the maritime community to be
Draft gender-responsive statements given equal opportunities in the development
were produced. Revisions continued of resources to be globally competitive and
in 2008 with other regional groups, environmental friendly, thereby enhancing the
quality of life of the people, in particular, and
but these have yet to be promulgated the Philippine economy, in general.” Its mission
or copies made available at the is “to mainstream gender-responsive policies,
PPC Central Office TWG. A similar programs and activities in the development,
management, regulation and operation of the
attempt was made by the LTFRB. maritime industry.”
During its 2008 medium-term GAD
The Communications Sector envisions
planning workshop that involved “a gender-responsive communications sector,
regional representatives, its GAD committed to provide equal access to
TWG drafted an agency GAD vision- information towards an efficient, effective, safe
an affordable service to the public.” It holds as
mission statement. The statement its mission, “to mainstream gender-responsive
has remained a draft since, waiting programs, projects and activities in the
the approval of the LTFRB chair. management, regulation and development of
communications industry to prevent the abuse
in the use of communication facilities such as
In 2008, the PPA reviewed Internet, radio, telephone and postal services.”
its policies for sexist language.
The GAD Technical Working Group
proposed revisions in the language
of key policies to make them gender-sensitive, recognizing and promoting the
participation of women in port and shipping industry. The policies include the
Guidelines on PPA Career Development Program (Memorandum Circular [MC]
No. 14-95); Merit Promotion/Selection Plan (Memorandum Order No. 15-97);
PPA Program in Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (MC 21-2003); the

Compendium of Regulations on Cargo Handling Operations (Amendment to Article
III of PPA Administrative Order No. 01-2006); and Revised Policy Guidelines on
Special Takeover Units.
Implementation of Kalakbay Program
In 1999, the DOTC launched its flagship program, the Kalakbay (Kaakbay
sa Paglalakbay, or travel assistant) Program. Different agencies issued circulars
in support of the program. For example, the PPA issued MC 20-2000 for the
establishment of child care stations and priority lanes for women and other persons
with special needs in its passenger terminals. The LTFRB issued MC 2000-17 for the
provision of priority lanes, clean restrooms and diaper-changing tables. The MARINA
issued MC 65-65A that stipulates minimum service standards for sea vessels, among
which is the provision of clean restrooms. Aside from the policies that directed the
implementation of the projects and activities under the Kalakbay Program, there has
been little movement in the policy review campaign of the DOTC Family.
GAD RESULTS: IMPACTS ON CLIENTS

The DOTC anchored its implementation of the GAD Budget Policy on the
department-wide Kalakbay Program. The program aims to provide appropriate
assistance particularly to travelling women, children and persons with special needs;
to institutionalize a system to facilitate transactions of pregnant or lactating mothers,
senior citizens and other people needing priority assistance; and to provide friendly
and timely access to information. The program mobilizes the different attached
agencies individually and collectively to provide or ensure facilities and services that
are responsive to the concerns of women and persons with special needs. A review
of the client-focused PAPs suggests either partial implementation of the PAPs or, as
will be evident in the discussion, below, limited effect of those that have been fully
implemented.
Needs of Women and Other Groups Addressed
There are two sets of PAPs that seek to provide ease of passage to certain groups
of women and other people with special needs. One pertains to the introduction of
priority lanes. At air terminals, PPA terminals, LRTA and MRT stations, and major
post offices of the PPC, priority lanes for pregnant women, the elderly, women with
children and infants, and the disabled have been designated and enforced. These
are reportedly in place. One exception cited was Cebu Pacific Airlines, which has not
followed the MIAA and CAAP directive regarding priority lanes in boarding the plane.
Instead, it allows its passengers to board in no order for faster boarding process.
Faster boarding helps keep turnaround and departure within 30 minutes of landing,
THE DOTC CASE 59

thereby avoiding the payment of higher terminal fees. The MIAA and CAAP have
served letters of notice and reminder to Cebu Pacific about this matter.
Another, which involves the LRTA and the MRT, is segregation and modification
of trains. By providing separate coaches for women, the elderly, the disabled, and
persons with infants or children, the scheme was introduced to prevent the harassment
of women and provide greater convenience and safety for those with special needs.
The MRT also redesigned its trains to lower handrails and straps to suit the average
height of women. The LRTA installed escalators and elevators to provide convenient
access, especially to the elderly, the disabled, and pregnant women.
A third type of PAPs concerns the setting up of gender-sensitive passengers’

assistance counters. The PPA opened GAD Assistance Counters or Women’s Desks
in its passenger terminals. Run by personnel who have undergone GST, the counters
provide information and respond to complaints and concerns. The GAD core group
members in the different port districts were given special training on counseling so
that they could help the counter personnel with more difficult cases. Meanwhile, PNR
has set up Public Assistance Counters in selected stations in Metro Manila. Unlike the
PPA counters, it is not clear how those in the PNR work out as a gender mainstreaming
initiative.
Passengers’ Child Care Supported
The PPA installed diaper-changing tables in female restrooms and put up child
care stations in its seaports. The child care stations have lounging areas, toys, nursing
rooms, and wash areas. MIAA and CAAP have collaborated to install diaper-changing
tables at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals and several airports
around the country. For its part, the LTFRB has directed bus terminal operators to
install diaper-changing tables. The central and regional offices monitor compliance of
bus terminals, but there is no data as of yet as to suggest rate of compliance.
The proposal for the MRT to install diaper-changing tables was shelved. A
feasibility study has earlier indicated that there is no need for these in MRT stations,
because there are very few cases of passengers bringing infants into the MRT. Those
with infants, the study observed, prefer to use the facilities in the malls connected to
many stations.
Human Trafficking Victims Rescued and Assisted
Originally built in 2001 as a temporary shelter for stranded women and children,
the Bahay Silungan sa Daungan has evolved into a halfway house for victims of human
trafficking intercepted and rescued in PPA ports. While greatly motivated by the
prominence of the first halfway house at the Manila North Harbor, the establishment

of more halfway houses emerged Table 3.4: Cumulative number of persons served by the
Bahay Silungan sa Daungan of the Philippine Ports
from feasibility studies in each Authority, 2001-2008
area, with consultations with
General Type of Intervention
local stakeholders and data from Port Outreach Halfway Total
the Visayan Forum. By 2008, six and counseling house services
more halfway houses had been Manila
8,445 3,004 11,449
(July 01- Dec. 08)
opened in ports, which, based on Davao
5,390 2,452 7,842
studies by the PPA, had recorded (May 02-Dec 08)
the highest number of trafficking Matnog
Nov. 03-Dec. 08) 12,970 3,355 16,325
victims in recent years. These Batangas
8,994 697 9,691
ports include Davao, Zamboanga (Jan. 04-Dec. 08)
and Lipata in Mindanao, Iloilo Zamboanga 4,197 123 4,320

(Feb. 08-Dec. 08)
in the Visayas, and Matnog and Lipata
470 50 520
Batangas in Luzon (see Table 3.4). (Aug. 08-Dec. 08)
Iloilo
Another halfway house was set to (Aug. 08-Dec. 08)
0 21 21
open at the Manila South Harbor Total 40,466 9,702 50,168

in 2009.
The PPA set up the halfway houses, but turned over their operations to the Visayan
Forum, an NGO actively working against human trafficking. In 2007, the latter got
nearly US$500,000 funding from the United States government for the operation
of the halfway houses across the country.31 A halfway house accommodates up to 20
persons, who usually stay for three days. The Visayan Forum provides meals and
comfortable sleeping quarters. Moreover, it offers counseling, protection and other
required legal and administrative assistance for victims of trafficking. Meanwhile, the
PPA has trained and mobilized its ground personnel to spot and respond to human
trafficking cases in the ports and refer them to the halfway houses.
By 2008, the seven halfway houses had served a total of 50,168 passengers (see
Table 3.4). Of these, some 40,466 were reached and counseled through the regular
pier rounding by the staff, while 9,702 were provided with 24-hour protection, legal
assistance, skills training and other halfway house services.32 In addition, 71 legal cases
have been filed on behalf of 187 victim-complainants, resulting to one conviction. The
Visayan Forum reports that, as of December 2009, the number of persons served has
reached 61,836, of which 50,484 were counseled and 11,352 provided with halfway
house services.33
The Bahay Silungan has been recognized worldwide as an effective contribution

to the campaign against human trafficking, the victims of which are mostly women
31
“US Supports Halfway House in Philippines for Victims of Trafficking,” Davao Today, 05 June 2010 http://www.
visayanforum.org/ portal/index.php?option=cms&mode=view&id=751#4.
32
Philippine Ports Authority, Bahay Silungan, 05 June 2010 http://www.ppa.com.ph/ppa%20web/t/GADweb/gad1bhyslng.
htm.
33
Email from a Visayan Forum Foundation Head Office (Cubao) staff dated 11 June 2010. See also “Engendering a Gender-
Responsive Budget Policy,” Senate Economic Planning Office Policy Brief, March 2010.
THE DOTC CASE 61

and children. The project was cited by the United States State Department and the
United Nations Children’s Fund, and featured by local and international media, which
brought great distinction and pride for the PPA.
The MIAA has replicated the halfway house as its flagship GAD program and its
own contribution against human trafficking. Dubbed “Bahay Silungan sa Paliparan”
(Shelter at the Airport), the halfway house was inaugurated in 2008. It is also run
by the Visayan Forum. The establishment of the halfway house effectively props the
GAD program of the MIAA and rallies different stakeholders within the organization
to contribute to the program.
In addition to addressing the critical issue of trafficking and gaining accolades,

the Bahay Silungan greatly aided the implementation of the GAD program in the
PPA. It convinced everyone, including port district managers, of the value of GAD
and motivated the planning and implementation of GAD projects and activities in the
different port districts. These are the effects that MIAA aims to achieve with its own
halfway house.
Addressing Other Clients’ Concerns
Several DOTC agencies have instituted other PAPs that aim at making their
frontline services more responsive to the gender concerns of women and men clients.
There is no indication, however, how these initiatives have actually affected the clients
of these services.
One initiative seeks to address clients’ needs for information or to lodge their
complaints. In LTFRB and NTC, this involves establishing helpdesks and hotlines as
part of their frontline services. In 2001, the LTFRB put up a GAD Helpdesk at its
head office specifically to entertain and address concerns and complaints by women.
It was attended by a staff with GST background. In 2004, however, the helpdesk for
women was turned into a Complaint and Assistance Center with a hotline attended
by two regular employees. In addition, two text-lines (LTFRB Chikka and LTFRB
2299) were opened to entertain complaints and inquiries related to LTFRB services
via SMS. The NTC established in 2002 a GAD Information Center, in coordination
with the NTC One-Stop Public Assistance Counter, to entertain complaints related to
telecommunications. The GAD Information Center received reports on lost or stolen
cellular phones, malicious text messages and text scams, as well as complaints against
service providers.
Another set of PAPs that appear in gender plans and budgets involves the
maintenance of clean restrooms in terminals and vessels, which are supposed to be
standard facilities but are often neglected by terminal and vessel operators. This was
included because the Kalakbay Program stresses the need for these. The PNR, LRTA,

LTFRB, OTC and PPA are expected to direct and monitor compliance of rail stations,
bus and jeepney terminals, and seaports. Meanwhile, MARINA directs and monitors
the provision and maintenance of clean restrooms in sea vessels. Monitoring costs are
charged against the GAD budget.
The LTO included under its GAD program the improvement of its customer
service infrastructure and procedures for the general public. The LTO underwent ISO
9001-2000 certification for its frontline services. Beginning in 2002, it lodged the
process under the GAD program. The certification process involved rehabilitating
facilities, improving operations, auditing and licensing procedures at its central and
regional offices, and training staff and officers.
Since 2007, the LRTA has conducted an annual Mass Casualty Drill, which
simulates the systematic response of the LRTA to a disaster. Included in the GAD
program, the drill mobilizes the participation of the operations divisions. However, it
is unclear to the GAD Technical Working Group how the drill considers and addresses
specific gender concerns in a disaster situation.
Serving Communities as Part of Corporate Social Responsibility
Among the regular PAPs conducted under GAD are charity or outreach activities
to marginalized groups or communities. The underlying gender issue is unspecific
and unclear, though some of these outreach activities specifically target women. The
PPA, in particular, conducts them as corporate social responsibility. These projects
take the forms of gift giving and poverty reduction.
Gift giving are of two types. Almost yearly, the DOTC agencies participate in
“Walk for a Cause,” a fund-raising activity where each agency sends a contingent of
employees to a walk or parade of sorts and donates a sum of money from its gender
budget. There are also gift-giving activities to children in care institutions and
households in depressed areas.
On the strength of Executive Order No. 27 issued in 2001, the PPA launched
a poverty alleviation program for the informal settlers in and around port areas.
Called the Pro-Poor Program, it was implemented as a GAD project. The program
involved entrepreneurial skills and livelihood training mainly for women. The training
included, among others, reflexology, cosmetology, food processing, welding, carpentry,
crafts-making, and aquaculture. It also provided infrastructure support for income-
generating projects: fishpond, showcase centers, beauty and massage parlors, and
pushcarts. The PPA likewise organized trade fairs involving the training beneficiaries.
The GST is a special feature of the training.
In addition to the economic interventions, the Pro-Poor Program offered medical-

dental missions and assistance, health and nutrition services, rolling stores and food
THE DOTC CASE 63

distribution. It also constructed day care centers, school clinics and restrooms, artesian
wells, steel water tanks, public toilets, and garbage bins for the port communities
in different port districts. Finally, the program involved the port communities in
environmental initiatives, such as coastal clean-up and mangrove planting.
When EO 27 expired in 2004, the PPA lost its mandate to continue with its Pro-
Poor Program. Instead of ending it, however, the PPA changed its strategy. It has
since collaborated with barangay and municipal local government units, peoples’
organizations, and NGOs. Repackaged as a corporate social responsibility initiative,
the PPA provides assistance, including data, advocacy training, and resource persons.
It has also reported some expenditures for training and facilities for target groups and
communities, albeit of drastically reduced amount.
There has been no formal assessment of the impacts of the Pro-Poor Program,
particularly its entrepreneurial and livelihood training. Anecdotal data, nonetheless,
show that there have been very positive results for many of the beneficiaries: greater
confidence and positive outlook for women, exponential increase of income, and
better relations between spouses.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
In general, gender mainstreaming in the DOTC largely remains in the first two
stages, what the NCRFW calls the “Foundation Formation” and the “Installation
of Enabling Mechanism” stages. Among its attached agencies, the PPA can claim
to have gone as far as the fourth stage, or the “Commitment Enhancement and
Institutionalization” stage. It has mainstreamed GAD into its planning, budgeting
and operations, particularly frontline services for its clientele. It has also integrated
the gender and development perspective into its business with industry partners. It
recognizes the social context of its operations, that is, how men and women in the
bigger community use, benefit or are exploited in the ports and shipping industry.
The MIAA, with its fiscal structure, mandate and functions, and clientele similar to
the PPA, is trying to follow the example of the PPA.
Enabling Factors
Fiscal autonomy and availability of funds are seen as primary enabling factors
for the implementation of the GAD programs. At the PPA and, recently, MIAA, the
availability of funds and the control over them facilitated gender budget execution.
This saw the implementation of big projects that served as testaments for the value
of gender mainstreaming and beacons for the organization’s GAD initiatives. Fiscal
autonomy and availability of funds also provided the room for gender mainstreaming
in the budget process. Moreover, these two factors enabled the participation of
stakeholders within the organization in planning and implementing the GAD program.

High-impact projects, such as halfway houses, pro-poor outreach and child-
minding facilities, and their prominence made the agency and its officials look good.
It, thus, put GAD among the priorities of the officials and the organization as a whole.
Champions of GAD make financial autonomy and availability of funds work

effectively to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the organization.
Without these champions, as illustrated in pre-2004 MIAA, there were no guarantees
for the commitment and release of gender funds and, much less, institutionalization
of gender mainstreaming in the agency. The PPA’s success and MIAA’s emergence
in GAD implementation showed the crucial role of champions in strategic positions
to engage both the leadership, rank and file, and the structures of the organization.
The champions, conscious of their positions and capacities and knowledgeable of the
agency’s rules and resources, got GAD to penetrate the workings of the organization
and influence the agenda, processes, and operations of the organization.
The participation of various stakeholders within the organization also facilitated

the implementation of the GAD program in the PPA, especially in the port districts.
The planning and implementation of the GAD program were negotiated processes.
The overall GAD plan of its Technical Working Group provides the general design of
the GAD program, while the plans of the port district TWGs determine the ways and
extent they would implement the general plan. The budget process allowed for this
negotiation on the planning stage; the monthly monitoring allowed for the negotiation
in the implementing stage.
The gender mainstreaming program mobilized the engineers and technical people
in infrastructure development and port operations. It also animated the role of port
managers in providing better services to clients and engaging the communities and
groups that use and benefit from the port operations.
The sensitization and support of the top officials, in a way, canonized the GAD
Budget Policy and its implementation and got the management and personnel to
believe in gender equality and the empowerment of women. However, the way GAD
was implemented depended on the technical working groups.
Constraints and Challenges
The implementation of the GAD Budget Policy had been constrained in many
DOTC agencies by the lack of funds and resources. Without real money allocated to
it, GAD officers could do nothing but wait and settle for what little resources were
accorded to GAD after the agency has realized its priorities; and GAD was rarely, if
ever, a priority of agencies.
The GAD implementation is additional work that, ironically, has been left with a
few people in the administrative, human resources, and finance divisions. The lack of
THE DOTC CASE 65

participation by other divisions or work units has limited the GAD program to a few
staple activities like GST and Women’s Month celebration.
The limitation of GAD projects and activities to the above staple is also partly
due to limited operational experience and lack of capacity for gender analysis. The
non-participation of the planning and implementation units has limited the human
resource and strategic capacity for doing gender analysis. In turn, the difficulty with
doing gender analysis and identifying the gender issues limited the coverage and
focus of gender mainstreaming.
The absence of monitoring and an accounting system that glosses over gender
budgets and expenditures have not encouraged performance and accountability.
The lack of monitoring of GAD implementation within the organization has left the
small accomplishments and minor setbacks unrecognized. Likewise, the incremental
progress in implementation has been overlooked. This has limited the notion of
achievement solely in terms of big projects that receive wide acclaim.
A Note on DOTC and the PPGD
The Kalakbay Program embodies the DOTC’s focus on PPGD issues related to
the inconvenience and lack of access to information for women as users of transport
and communications services. Several DOTC agencies, but especially the PPA, have
installed various facilities, services, and information channels for the ease, convenience,
and guidance of their respective clienteles. However, the greater preoccupation of the
DOTC agencies has been largely limited to raising gender awareness, sensitizing the
leadership, and expanding participation in the GAD structures and activities. These
preoccupations and the financial restrictions on the agencies, especially those whose
budgets are reliant on the national coffers, have inhibited the agencies’ response
to other gender issues raised by the PPGD, particularly those relating to women as
actors in the transport and communications sector. The case of the PPA, however,
shows how a gender-sensitized leadership, investments in technical capacity-building
on gender and development, participatory processes, accountability mechanisms,
and partnerships can facilitate not only safety and ease of travelers, but also the
advancement of women’s participation in port operations. Towards realizing the
PPGD, the Department of Transportation and Communications, as a whole, will need
to expand their gender analysis and actions, including greater accountability of agency
heads for GAD results, to promote women’s contribution to and benefit from the
transportation and communications sector, particularly in the less urbanized areas.

CHAPTER 4
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT

AND NATURAL RESOURCES
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources prides itself of being a star
agency in the field of gender and development. Indeed, a review of DENR’s gender
mainstreaming efforts since 1992 shows that various gender and development policies,
programs, projects and activities have been undertaken by the agency and its attached
bureaus. For instance, more than 60 studies have been conducted to produce gender
analyses and other socio-economic investigations that relate to women’s concerns.34
The department asserts that it has given due attention to women in the governance
of the environment and natural resource sector. Women in the DENR bureaucracy
are now able to occupy what used to be male-dominated positions; while women
in the communities were said to have been provided spaces for participation in the
management of environment programs. Moreover, in the initial years of interpreting
the GAD Budget Policy, the gender budget of DENR ostensibly reached millions of
pesos. This chapter aims to investigate DENR’s compliance with and performance
in the area of gender planning and budgeting, and the gender equality measures
supported by and the GAD results arising from the utilization of the million peso GAD
budget.

Environment management in the Philippines started with the Spanish Royal
Decree in 1863 that included the general forest administration through the Inspeccion
General de Montes. This office was tasked to manage natural resources, forest
inventory and protection, land classification, watershed protection, water, biodiversity
and the conservation of mineral resources. In 1901, the responsibility of managing the
natural resources fell on the Department of Interior. It was fifteen years later that Act
No. 2666 sought to reorganize the Executive Department of the Philippine Islands,
and by so doing established the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
or DANR.
34
Most of the data sources are from annual plans and reports, studies, and other historical accounts on the agency’s gender
mainstreaming experiences. The DENR’s documentation of their GAD program speaks volumes of the accomplishments of the
department. This document review is complemented by interviews of key persons from the agency’s GAD Focal Point System.
67
From 1932 to 1945, the coverage of DANR expanded, reconstituted as the
Department of Agriculture and Commerce (DAC), and reverted to being DANR
once again. The additional concerns were the plant and animal industries, mineral
resources, industrial engineering, home economics, fish administration, fiber, soil,
and other management concerns like scientific library, statistics and publications. For
more than 25 years since the end of the Second World War, the department retained
its name as DANR but continued to grow based on expanding concerns.
Reorganizations occurred in 1974 (under Presidential Decree 461)35 and in 1987

(Executive Order 131). The latter created the Department of Environment, Energy and
Natural Resources (DEENR). On the same year, EO 192 reorganized the latter into
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and further defined
the mandate and structure of its various offices, staff bureaus, and attached agencies.
Accompanying these changes is the decentralization of functions and authority within
the department.
Guided by the vision of “a nation enjoying and sustaining its natural resources and
a clean and healthy environment,” DENR takes responsibility for the conservation,
management, development and proper use of the country’s environmental and natural
resources. Specifically, the DENR strives to (1) assure the availability and sustainability
of the country’s natural resources through judicious use and systematic restoration or
replacement, whenever possible; (2) increase the productivity of natural resources
in order to meet the demands for forest, mineral, and land resources of a growing
population; (3) enhance the contribution of natural resources for achieving national
economic and social development; (4) promote equitable access to natural resources
by the different sectors of the population; and (5) conserve specific terrestrial and
marine areas representative of the Philippine natural and cultural heritage for present
and future generations.
The DENR’s core functions are basically formulating and implementing policies,
guidelines, rules and regulations related to environmental management, pollution
prevention and control; likewise, policies related to the management, conservation,
development, use and replenishment of the country’s natural resources and ecological
diversity. At the same time, the DENR is tasked with promulgating and implementing
rules and regulations governing exploration, development, extraction, disposition,
and use of the forests, lands, minerals, wildlife and other natural resources.
The importance of people’s involvement in environment and natural resource

governance can be observed from the powers and functions of the agency, namely,
DENR’s role in promoting close collaboration between the government and private
sector principally through “proper and mutual consultation” on natural resource
35
This ordered the reorganization of the DANR into the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Natural Resources
(DNR). Retained under DNR were: forestry, mines and mineral exploration, lands and land problems, fisheries and aquatic resources,
fishery industry and wood industry. In 1985, the concern on fish and fisheries was transferred to the agriculture agency.

development, use and conservation. The department is further tasked to establish
policies and implement programs for the “encouragement of greater people
participation and private initiative in natural resource management.”
At present, the DENR structure includes the central office and 16 line regional
offices; two line bureaus, namely the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)
and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB); and four staff bureaus (Forest
Management Bureau [FMB], Lands Management Bureau [LMB], Ecosystem Research
and Development Bureau [ERDB] and the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau
[PAWB]). It also has four attached agencies: National Resources and Development
Corporation (NRDC), National Water Resources and Regulatory Board (NWRRB),
National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (NAMRIA), and the Laguna
Lake Development Authority (LLDA).
The local offices, such as the Regional/Provincial/Community Environment and

Natural Resources Office (RENRO, PENRO, or CENRO), are under the Office of the
Undersecretary for Field Operations. The RENRO manages the four major sectors
corresponding to the staff bureaus, namely: ecosystem research and development,
forest management, land management and protected areas, wildlife and coastal zone.
KEY GENDER ISSUES IN THE SECTOR AND ORGANIZATION

In 1987, when Executive Order No. 192 reiterated that the mandate of DENR lies
with an empowered people and development initiatives from the grassroots, it only
“formalized the people-based strategies” that the department has employed since
the 1970s.36 This presumably covered the involvement of men and women in the
community; although the approaches might not have been gender-aware.
Issues Identified by Government and DENR
Gender-aware approaches require an acknowledgement of gender issues and of

differences in situations and experiences of women and men. Gender issues in the
environment and natural resources have been articulated in the Philippine Plan for
Gender-Responsive Development, a document that has been collaboratively produced
by the Philippine government, women NGOs and groups, and academics; by DENR
itself; and by other stakeholders and in various forums.
The PPGD discussed how continuous destruction of the environment endangers

biodiversity and becomes “threats to, burden of, or key issues for women.” Women’s
issues in the environment are linked with (1) women’s invisibility in economic systems
that are environmentally stressful, (2) women’s inequitable access to and control over
36
DENR, Ang Bagong Bayanihan: Gender and Development in Environmental Governance, Manila, 1998.
THE DENR CASE 69

resources, and (3) neglect of women in
the generation of technologies engaging Women’s issues in the environment
the environment and its resources. are linked with (1) women’s invisibility in
economic systems that are environmentally
The Plan Framework further argued stressful, (2) women’s inequitable access to
that the “male-controlled modes of and control over resources, and (3) neglect
production has, in many cases, reserved of women in the generation of technologies
engaging the environment and its resources
its most burdensome consequences
The DENR continues to address these
for women,”37 as forest destruction has
through making the bureaucracy, and its
increased women’s burden in gathering environment and natural resource policies,
fuel wood, food and water. Hence, plans and programs more responsive to
the PPGD strongly recommended that gender-related issues.
plan goals and strategies related to
the environment should consider women as “crucial contributors,” not only to the
economy, but also to minimizing environmental degradation.38 Environment and
natural resources (ENR) sector plans and programs should also aim to ensure
the full participation of women in sustainable development. To achieve this, four
objectives were identified in the PPGD, namely: (1) institutionalization of gender
mainstreaming, (2) promotion of women’s participation as agents and beneficiaries
in the development and management of natural resources, (3) improvement of the
living conditions of women and their families in the ENR subsectors, and (4) raising
of the level of awareness and skills of sector development agents and beneficiaries on
women/gender/GAD and environment and natural resources concerns.
With DENR’s “new” mission of pursuing sustainable development and the PPGD
mandate, a gender-aware approach merits a look at the roles and status of men
and women in the “protection, conservation, and management of the environment
and natural resources.” To facilitate this, the GAD programs of DENR focused on
making the bureaucracy, and its environment and natural resource policies, plans
and programs more responsive to gender-related issues. The GAD programs address
several concerns, which will be discussed in greater detail under the GAD budgeting
section. These may be grouped into four, namely: (1) gender-differentiated impacts of
environmental concerns, (2) equity issues related to access to resources and benefits,
(3) need to strengthen the gender mainstreaming mechanisms in the environment
and natural resource management and bureaucracy, and (4) use of sex-disaggregated
data and relevant information as basis for the development of environment and
natural resources policies and programs.
Issues Raised by Stakeholders
Women’s groups and NGOs have long advocated for inclusion in the governance of
the environment and management sector. Non-government stakeholders often raise
37
NCRFW, Plan Framework of the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025, Manila, p.12.
38
Plan Framework of the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025, p.36.

gender issues in the environment sector within the context of poverty and continued
environment degradation and depletion of natural resources. Women who depend on
the forests and natural resources for their household sustenance, such as, food, water,
medicine, fuel, livestock and other livelihood needs, are worst hit by denuded forests
and polluted waters. Often, they are the rural women and indigenous women.
The 2003 Rural Women Congress raised its concerns on the environment and
agreed on four key action agenda points: (1) advocate for equal entitlements and for
the participation of men and women in natural resource management, stewardship,
and policy-making processes; (2) demand for women-oriented, environment-friendly
programs; and (c) support for environment and natural resource protection that will
secure women’s sources of food and livelihoods.
Equal entitlements and participation of men and women
The clamor for equal recognition of women and men arises from the reality that
women are not automatically considered or consulted in many stewardship or public
contracts, or even in community partnerships concerning environment and natural
resource management. Yet, women, as much as men, play crucial roles in taking care
of the environment. These roles range from rehabilitation activities (tree planting,
forest/mangrove and river rehabilitation), to solid waste management, recycling and
clean-up drives. Many grassroots women have even organized themselves to campaign
against logging, mining and illegal fishing in their communities; and to monitor the
entry of private corporations that may wreak damage to their natural resources and
biodiversity. This commitment to the environment is linked, in women’s minds, to
their role in food provisioning and their concern for food security.
It should be noted that DENR has put several policies in place to equalize
opportunities for women and men, specifically mandating equal treatment of women
and men in land titles and stewardship contracts. Equal treatment of women and
men has been inscribed in the Revised Regulations Governing the Integrated Social
Forestry Program (or Administrative Order [AO] No. 91-04); Rules and Regulations
for the Implementation of the Community-Based Forest Management Strategy, or
CBFMS (AO 96-29); and Removal of Gender Bias in the Acceptance and Processing
of Homestead Patent Applications and Other Public Land Applications (AO 2002-13).
Likewise, there are several guidelines that support women’s representation in certain
decision-making bodies, such as the Protected Area Management Board, or PAMB.
However, since most of the protected areas are in the remote communities, it
may be dangerous to assume that women are aware of the DENR to enable them to
claim their rights under the provisions of these policies. It may not also automatically
follow that the policies are being implemented conscientiously. To date, women are
outnumbered by men among patent holders, and miscellaneous sales applications
THE DENR CASE 71

(MSA) and homestead beneficiaries. This is particularly true among free patent
beneficiaries, where women account for no more than 40 percent (see Table 4.1).
Table 4.1: Number of free land patent, MSA and homestead beneficiaries, by sex
Patent holders MSA Homestead

Year
Percent Percent Percent
Male Female Total female Male Female Total female Male Female Total female
2003 55,673 36,196 91,869 39.4
2004 69,909 41,555 111,464 37.3
2005 49,676 33,087 82,763 40.0 1,039 836 1,875 44.6 2,444 1,853 4,297 43.1
2006 65,496 40,711 106,207 38.3 1,153 799 1,952 40.9 466 412 878 46.9
2007 76,190 49,530 125,720 39.4 2,237 1,654 3,891 42.5 1,842 1,480 3,322 44.6
Source: 20 July 2009 http://gad.denr.gov.ph/gad/web/.
Women-oriented, environment-friendly programs
Women are visible in, and even lead, clean-and-green programs in many
communities. However, on several instances, grassroots women have articulated that
they likewise need to have access to environment-friendly programs that support both
their productive and reproductive roles. These programs have to respond to rural
women’s situation and food provisioning roles across sectors (farming and fishing).
Among the proposed programs are: (1) community resource management and
sustainable development frameworks for conserving upland and coastal resource; (2)
sustainable agriculture and organic farming as a core strategy for food security and
safety, and as opposed to chemical-based food production and genetically modified
organisms promotion that pose health risks especially to the women farmers; and (3)
community seed banking to aid women’s access and control over food production and
serve as adaptation strategy to natural disasters.
Another recommended action point is ensuring that gender concerns and approach
are integrated in biodiversity programs and that, following the 1992 Convention
on Biological Diversity, women are fully involved in the programs. Although then
President Ramos issued Executive Order No. 247 that pushed for the regulation of bio-
prospecting of biological and genetic resources, the Order fell short in recognizing the
role of women in biodiversity conservation and management. Further, the continued
proliferation of genetically modified organisms negates women’s efforts in promoting
sustainable agriculture and conserving biodiversity.39
Security of women’s sources of livelihoods
There is a set of issues that pertains to the various conditions of insecurity due
to natural and people-made disasters and how these impact on women and their
39
Bertuso, Arma/SARILAYA, “Women and the Environment,” Philippine NGO Beijing+10 Report, ed. Rosalinda Pineda
Ofreneo and Jeanne Frances I. Illo, 2004.

livelihoods. These conditions range from floods and landslides often brought about
by typhoons, to consequence of ‘development aggression’ (that is, contamination and
pollutants resulting from unsafe and environmentally hazardous development projects).
To address the security of livelihood concerns, rural women’s groups raised

the need for: (1) strict enforcement of environmental safety requirements, such as
environmental compliance certificates; (2) prevention of the encroachment of private
companies and extractive industries (logging, mining and plantations) into ancestral
lands; and (3) prevention of the dumping of garbage and promotion of zero waste
management in coastal areas. Moreover, in the context of climate change, women have
been most affected by typhoons and tsunamis that have washed away communities;
while in some areas, women farmers are coping with drought or El Niño. Increasingly,
there is a need to enable women to be able to respond to these disasters.
Capacitating women also means involving them in decision-making processes.

There are already DENR policies that emphasize the need to involve women in
decision-making bodies and processes, such as the inclusion of women in PAMB,
and ensuring gender-aware public consultations in fulfilling Environment Impact
Statements of development projects. In order to monitor and recognize initiatives that
have effectively incorporated gender concerns in community projects, the department
has also been issuing GAD awards. However, other efforts that include organizing
and linking peoples’ organizations with community projects do not necessarily use
gender-responsive approaches.
GENDER MAINSTREAMING STRATEGIES

Since the 1990s, the DENR has been pursuing gender mainstreaming to
systematically respond to the various gender issues it has identified and those raised
by key stakeholders, particularly women’s groups. Its commitment to GAD has been
translated in various ways, including support for gender planning and budgeting, and
the implementation of various activities and projects that underpin the department’s
gender mainstreaming efforts.
GAD Focal Point
The department’s GAD structures have progressed consistently in the past two
decades, as evidenced by policies on GAD structures and mechanisms (see Table 4.2).
According to Bagong Bayanihan, a DENR publication that chronicles the gender
journey of the agency, DENR, with support of Secretary F. Factoran, convened
in 1989 its first GAD body, the Technical Working Committee on Women. Led by
the Management Division Head (V. Orara), the committee was composed of six (6)
bureau representatives and four (4) regional office representatives. In 1992, the group
THE DENR CASE 73

was reconstituted as the Gender and Development Focal Point (GADFP). The Focal
Point was first headed by the Special Concerns representative (A. Plantilla), who later
became the Head Executive Assistant. The succeeding Head Executive Assistants
later became the GAD Focal Points.
Table 4.2:
4.2: Policies on the GAD
DENR policies structures
on the and mechanisms
GAD structures and mechanisms
Year GAD structures and mechanisms in the bureaucracy
1989– Evolution of the Technical Working Committee on Women to the establishment of the GAD
1993 Focal Point
AO 95-07: Guidelines for the Implementation of Gender and Development Activities in the
1995
Department
DepartmentofofEnvironment
Environment Natural Resources
and Natural (DENR); 8(DENR);
Resources March 1995
8 March 1995
AO 96-23: Launching of the Gender and Development (GAD) Service Awards and Providing
Guidelines for its Implementation; 28 June 1996
AO 96-33: Implementing Rules and Regulations on the Anti- Sexual Harassment Act of 1995
(R.A. 7877); 31 Oct. 1996
1996
DENR Memorandum Circular No. 96-08: Amendment of the Flexi-Time Work Schedule at the
DENR Central Office; 4 November 1996
DENR Memorandum Order No. 96-15: Protected Area Management Board Membership
(inclusion of women as members of PAMB); 11 September 1996
AO 97-26: Revised Guidelines on Gender and Development (GAD) Service Awards;

1997
31 July 1997
AO 98-15: Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of Gender and Development (GAD)

Activities in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); 27 May 1998
1998 AO 98-55: Amending Certain Sections of Administrative Order No. 98-15 on Gender and
Development; 11 Aug. 1998
AO 98-07: Declaring the month of March as GAD month; 1 February 1998
AO 99-27: Amending Certain Provisions of DAO [Department Administrative Order] No. 98-55
1999
on the Implementation of Gender and Development in the DENR; 19 July 1999
AO 2001-18: Amendments to DENR AO 99-27, dated July 19, 1999 re: Implementation of Gender
and Development (GAD) in the DENR; 29 June 2001
2001
Administrative Order No. 2001-21: Revised Guidelines on the Gender and Development (GAD)
Service Awards; 16 Aug. 2001
2002 AO 2002-25: Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations on the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act
of 1995; 11 November 2002
AO 2004-31: Admission of Women into the Corps of Commissioned Officers of the Coast and
2004
Geodetic Survey Department of NAMRIA; 31 August 2004
2006 AO 2006-04 Revised Guidelines on Gender and Development Service Awards, 16 January 2006
AO No. 2007-11: Representation of GAD Focal Points to the Promotion and Selection Board (PSB),
2007 Policy Technical Working Group (PTWG), Performance Evaluation Review, Program on Rewards and
Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE), Grievance Committee and other Personnel Mechanisms
in the ENR Sector; 18 June 2007
The GADFP planned and conducted activities that are mostly focused on gender
orientation seminars and gender sensitivity training, research and compilation of sex-
disaggregated data, review of sexual harassment policies and the conduct of Women’s

Month activities. However, the GAD advocates did not have the capacity to pursue GAD
in people-centered environment governance. Bagong Bayanihan also reported that for
a few years after the formation of the GAD structure, gender mainstreaming “took the
traditional siesta.” This period of dormancy was attributed to several factors. For one,
GAD work was not considered as part of regular work of Focal Point members, causing
them to operate on ad hoc basis. They also lacked commitment and time for GAD work.
Yet, another was the observable absence of GAD among the performance indicators.
In 1995, the year of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, two
factors reanimated the GADFP. Its members’ involvement in the preparations of
the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development was one. The other was
the issuance of AO 95-07 by the Secretary (V. Ramos) that set the Implementation
Guidelines for GAD in DENR. The order pursued the plan of the previous Secretary
(A.C. Alcala) to create GAD executive committees at all levels of the agency.
In 1996, the Secretary was named as the National GAD Chair, and the Head
Executive Assistant, the GAD Focal Point. Together they pushed both functional
and structural approaches to pursue GAD commitments of DENR. The functional
approach involves the use of gender tools at policy, program and project levels while
the structural approach requires forming a network of GAD focal points from all the
offices, and re-launching, upgrading and expanding children’s day care facilities.
The GAD Implementation Guidelines was revised several times (Table 4.2). In
1998, Administrative Order No. 15 detailed the statement of policy and the objectives
for GAD, and specified the composition of the National GAD Executive Committee.40
The committee would be headed by the Department Secretary, who will be supported
by the National GAD Focal Point System (NGADFPS) headed by the Head Executive
Assistant. The Guidelines was further revised by AO 98-55, under which the NGADFPS
would be headed by the Special Concerns Office. In 1999 and 2001, further revisions
were introduced in the composition of the National GAD Executive Committe and
NGADFPS. Substantially, however, the objectives of the Implementation Guidelines
remain the same (see Box 4.1).
At present, the National GAD Focal Point System is composed of the focal points
at the central office, bureaus, attached agencies, and the regional agencies. The
National GAD Focal Point is headed by the highest ranking female official. In 2009,
this was Undersecretary T. Samson-Castillo. Assistant Secretary Rebuelta-Teh served
as vice-chairperson. In all, there were 14 members of the NGADFPS (11 females and
3 males),41 nine (9) all-female bureau GAD Focal Point members, and four (4) all-
40
Related Special Orders were also issued out for the creation and designation of the members to the NGADFPS Secretariat
(Special Order 2006-33); creation of a DENR GAD Service Awards Technical Working Committee (Special Order 2006-375; 25
April 2006); authorization for the conduct of orientation/reorientation sessions on GAD for DENR key officials and managers
(Special Order 2006-574; 5 July 2006); and conduct of validation for the entries to the 2006 GAD Service Awards (Special Order
2006-660; 8 August 2006).
41
The NGADFPS also includes the head of the Secretariat (the Head of the NGADFPS Monitoring and Evaluation Unit), three
committee heads (Plans and Programs, Training and GAD Service Awards, and IEC), the head of the DENR Day Care Center/Health
Management Services, and four other members. The Secretariat head is assisted by a staff of three.
THE DENR CASE 75

Box 4.1: Objectives of the DENR GAD Implementing Guidelines
1. To integrate gender concerns in the development process through, but not limited to, equal participation
of men and women in all policies, programs, projects and activities of the DENR
2. To review and revise all rules, regulations and procedures to remove gender biases therein;
3. To maintain a database of sex- and age-disaggregated data and other statistics relative to gender and
development;
4. To integrate GAD issues and concerns in all programs and projects of the DENR;
5. To allocate funds from the regular budget and a proportionately equal percentage of Official
Development Assistance (ODA) funds from foreign-government and multilateral agencies and
organizations to support policies, programs, projects and activities on GAD; and
6. To ensure better gender representation in the DENR GAD Focal Point System.
Table 4.3: Gender

Table 4.3: Gender mainstreaming
mainstreaming policies
policies in
in the
the agencyʼs programs
DENR programs
Year Policy Program-related provision

AO 91-04: Revised Regulations Governing the “If the applicant has a spouse, the CSs must be issued in
1991 Integrated Social Forestry Program. the name of both spouses who shall then be co-stewards
27 February 1991 of the land.”
“The DENR shall award SIFMA areas on a first-come,
first-serve basis. It shall be issued in the name of the
applicant, provided, that in case of married individuals,
AO 96-24: Rules and Regulations Governing it shall be issued in the names of both spouses.”
1996 the Socialized Industrial Forest Management
Program. 23 August 1996 “A provision integrating gender concerns in the
implementation of the Agreement to include equitable
participation of women in project activities and
enjoyment of the fruits thereof”
AO 96-29: Rules and Regulations for the “In case of married members, the names of both
Implementation of Executive Order 263, spouses should be listed.”
Otherwise Known as the Community-Based Requirement for POs applying for CBFMA includes:
Forest Management Strategy (CBFMS). 10 “List of members and their respective addresses,
October 1996 including names of both spouses in each household”
AO. 96-37: Revising DENR Administrative
“For projects or undertakings with significant impact on
Order No. 21, Series of 1992, to Further
women, a specific chapter in the socio-economic impact
Strengthen the Implementation of the
assessment shall be devoted to a discussion and
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System.
consideration of gender issues.”
2 December 1996
“In developing the CDMP, IFMA Holders shall integrate
AO 97-04: Rules and Regulations Governing
1997 gender concerns including the equitable participation of
the Industrial Forest Management Program.
women in implementing the CDMP and enjoying the
4 March 1997
fruits thereof.”
MC 97-12: Guidelines for the Formulation of Gender parity as one of the guiding principles:
Community Resource Management “Gender parity — The management and utilization of
Framework and Annual Work Plan for forest resources shall provide equal opportunities for
Community Based Forest Management Areas. men and women to participate and share in attendant
18 July 1997 responsibilities and benefits.”
AO 2002-13: Removal of Gender Bias in the In accordance with RA 7192 and the DAO
2002 Acceptance and Processing of Homestead 98-15 of 27 May 1988 on “Revised Guidelines on
Patent Applications and other Public Land the Implementation of Gender and Development (GAD)
Applications. 24 June 2002 Activities in the DENR”
AO 2003-30: Implementing Rules and Social acceptability is ensured through public
2003 Regulations (IRR) for the Philippine participation, where public participation is defined as
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System. “open, transparent, gender-sensitive, and community-
30 June 2003 based process….”

female GAD Focal Point members for attached agencies. At the regional level, there
were 15 focal points (14 females and 1 male) for the DENR Regional Offices, 10 female
EMB focal points, and seven (7) MGB focal points (5 females and 2 males). Several
regional offices had no designated focal point.
Policies
Gender mainstreaming efforts at DENR has been supported by agency policies, at

the same time that it has resulted in policies that change the way it does business. New
GAD policies have emerged from a process of reviewing and revising existing rules and
processes. Some of the policies installed structures that address key gender issues,
such as sexual harassment and support for women’s reproductive roles, while others
spelled out how the department would proceed in mainstreaming GAD and how it
values gender-responsive efforts and results (see Table 4.2). Yet, others pertained to
how its programs would distribute land and other resources, what should be included
in Environmental Impact Assessments, and who would be consulted by and for its
programs and projects (see Table 4.3).
The last set of policies translated in operational terms the primary GAD mission
of “partnership of empowered men and women for sustainable development,” as
articulated in the DENR Implementing GAD Guidelines (as amended by AO 1999-27).
The policies further reflected the increasing demand for guides on how to address
issues of equity and women’s control over natural resource management. Although
not explicit from the policy titles, most of these policies focused on improving
women’s access to key resources through an emphasis that proof of stewardship and
management agreements should include the names of both spouses.
It must be noted that the agency’s policy initiatives have at least been partly
influenced by external policies. An example is a memorandum from then President F. V.
Ramos to the DENR Secretary (A. C. Alcala) on 7 March 1994. Entitled, “Enhancement
of Women’s Participation in Environmental Management and Ecology Programs and
Projects of Government,” the memorandum instructed the DENR to integrate into
their regular programs the following: (1) policy recommendations of the NCRFW to
enhance women’s participation in environment and natural resources management;
(2) a gender framework for conservation and resource management focusing on
freshwater; (3) a guidebook or checklist for planning, review and evaluation of natural
resources conservation and management programs and projects; and (4) a case study
on San Pablo freshwater lakes.42
Another external influence is gender legislation, particularly the Women in

Development and Nation-Building Act (RA 7192), and the implementation of the
national GAD Budget Policy as inscribed in JMC 94-1 of the DBM, NCRFW, and NEDA.
42
NCRFW, Laws on Women: A Compilation Volume II, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, n.d., p.737.
THE DENR CASE 77

In line with RA 7192, for instance, DENR has incorporated in its Administrative Order
No. 95-07 a provision that commits the agency to setting aside a portion of ODA funds
and its regular budget to support GAD policies, programs and projects.
GENDER PLANNING AND BUDGETING
Gender Budgeting Process
The allocation of appropriate budget for GAD activities has been consistently
stipulated in the various versions of the Implementing Guidelines for GAD.
Specifically, the fifth objective states: “To allocate funds from the regular budget and
a proportionately equal percentage of Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds
from foreign government and multilateral agencies and organizations to support
policies, programs, projects and activities on GAD.”
The gender budgeting at DENR starts with the circulation of a Department

Memorandum to all its offices, divisions and units. The communication follows closely
the DBM national budget memorandum where its annex, BP600, specifies that a GAD
Plan would serve as the basis for the agency’s GAD budget formulation and resource
allocation. The GAD Budget and Plan should reflect the priorities set in the Framework
Plan for Women, and should consider relevant gender issues and concerns, consistent
with the provision of the JMC 2004-1.
The Department Memorandum specifies the GAD targets and programs that
have been identified during the departmental GAD congress and regular focal point
system meetings. The plans are then prepared by the members of the GAD focal point
system and consolidated by its secretariat. Each gender plan and budget is expected
to respond to the priority issues embodied in the Memorandum.
However clear the instructions from the DBM may be, there are still difficulties
in determining and in consolidating the GAD Plans. One problem lies on the ability
of GAD focal points to come up with an updated Plan, especially since many of these
focal points are undertaking other tasks as well. While GAD work is not considered
an additional burden or a token task anymore, still it must be recognized that it is
additional work that seriously needs time and commitment.43
Another problem is linked to the budget determination itself. The NGADFPS

members reportedly understand that the gender budget should constitute 5 percent
of the MOOE of the agency.44 As a DENR budget officer cautioned, however, this does
not automatically mean that they should be applying the 5 percent to the whole of the
43
Juliet U. Texon, Chief of the Project Development and Evaluation Division (PDED) and Head of Secretariat of the NGADFPS
Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, personal interview, 19 June 2009.
44
J.U. Texon, personal interview, n.d.

MOOE, as the DBM guideline includes mandatory expenditures that should be taken
from it.45 Also reportedly deducted automatically from the MOOE are the Secretary’s
commitments.46 Mandatory expenses pertain to those incurred in maintaining offices,
such as utilities, while the Secretary’s commitments are linked to DENR’s thrusts.
The resulting gender budget is,
therefore, 5 percent of the MOOE The Central Office interprets the GAD budget
less these two expenditure items. as 5 percent of the MOOE net of the mandatory
expenditures and Secretary’s commitments. Of
the GAD budget, 25 percent is set aside as
Unfortunately perhaps, there is
GAD operating budget and 75 percent as GAD
no department policy that states and mainstreaming budget.
clarifies the target budget allocation
for GAD, nor advises on how this has to be interpreted relative to the whole DENR
budget. The general guideline on GAD implementation (AO 1999-27, as amended by
AO 2001-18) states that the gender budget shall be allocated and sourced from the
regular budget and from ODA funds. There was supposed to be one conference that
tackled the gender budget policy of the agency and where a draft administrative order
on the gender budget was discussed, but there is no trace of the draft policy.
In June 2008, two of five employees of the DENR were women. Most of the women,
however, were in the central and bureau offices where they constituted 56 percent and
54 percent, respectively (see Table
4.4). In contrast, they accounted Table 4.4: DENR employees, by sex, as of 30 June 2008
for just over a third of regional Position Male Female Total Percent
female
(field) staff. This situation is partly By type of employment contract
due to the fact that office condition Regular & co-terminus 11714 7791 19505 39.9
is perceived to be friendlier for the Casual 817 728 1545 47.1
Contractual 52 51 103 49.5
women to manage their productive Total 12583 8570 21153 40.5
and reproductive tasks.47 This is By office
also the main context why multiple OSEC 364 466 830 56.1
Bureau Offices 452 520 972 53.5
burdens of women are considered a Regional Offices 9985 6319 16304 38.8
gender issue confronting the office Attached Agencies 1782 1265 3047 41.5
EMB 369 374 743 50.3
and its employees.
While women may be well represented among the employees, the data in Table
4.5 shows that gender disparity is evident across all leadership positions. Gender
disparities persist at the regional, provincial and community field offices, where
managers were mostly male. Percentages of women in leadership position are
45
Evelyn G. Nillosan, DENR Budget Division Supervising Administrator Officer, personal interview, 17 July 2009.
46
Roy Tolentino, Planning and Programming Division, NGADFPS Secretariat, personal interview, 2 December 2009.
47
DENR, Ang Bagong Bayanihan: Gender and Development in Environmental Governance, Manila, 1998.
THE DENR CASE 79

Table 4.5: Number and percentage of women DENR officials and managers, by Secretaries’ terms,
1987-2008*
Factoran Alcala Ramos Cerilles Alvarez Gozum Defensor Reyes Atienza

Position 1987- 1992- 1995- 1998- 2001- 2002- 2004- 2006- 2007-
1992 1995 1998 2001 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008
Secretary 0 ( 0.0) 0 ( 0.0) 0 ( 0.0) 0 ( 0.0) 0 ( 0.0) 0 ( 0.0) 0 ( 0.0) 0 ( 0.0) 0 ( 0.0)
USEC/ 2 (25.0) 0 ( 0.0) 1 (25.0) 2 (33.3) 2 (50.0) 1 (25.0) 2 (33.3) 5 (41.7) 4 (36.4)
ASEC
Directors/
Asst. Dir. 3 (13.6) 3 (13.6) 4 (17.4) 6 (25.0) 4 (18.2) 9 (33.3) 9 (33.3) 8 (29.6) 14 (29.8)
Regional
Executive 1 ( 7.1) 0 ( 0.0) 0 ( 0.0) 2 (13.3) 1 ( 6.2) 1 ( 6.2) 1 ( 6.2) 1 ( 6.2) 2 (12.5)
Directors
RTD/
ARED/ 1 ( 1.4) 1 ( 1.5) 5 ( 6.4) 6 ( 7.1) 6 ( 9.4) 9 ( 9.5) 9 ( 9.5) 10 (10.5) 12 (12.8)
RD
PENROs 2 ( 2.8) 1 ( 1.4) 1 ( 1.4) 0 ( 0.0) 1 ( 1.4) 2 ( 2.7) 2 ( 2.7) 1 ( 1.4) 4 ( 5.4)
Total 9 ( 4.8) 5 ( 2.8) 11 ( 5.7) 16 ( 7.9) 14 ( 7.8) 23 (10.6) 23 (10.6) 25 (11.1) 36 (14.0)
CENROs 2 ( 1.2) 1 ( 0.6) 5 ( 3.0) 4 ( 2.4) 2 ( 1.2) 7 ( 4.0) 12 ( 6.7) 10 ( 5.4) 13 ( 6.9)
Division
23 (34.3) 23 (34.3) 23 (34.3) 24 (35.3) 25 (36.8) 25 (36.8) 25 (36.8) 30 (44.1) 58 (41.4)
Chiefs
Total 25 (10.8) 24 (10.4) 28 (11.9) 28 (11.9) 27 (10.3) 32 (13.3) 37 (15.0) 40 (15.7) 71 (21.6)
*The figures in parentheses pertain to the percentage of women in relation to the total officials or managers in the particular category.
relatively higher among the lower ranks of Division Chiefs. Here, women account for
as much as 44 percent during the Reyes term (2006-2007).
Gender disparities such as these have been among the gender issues that the DENR
had to contend with early during its gender mainstreaming campaign. The data in Table
4.5 suggests, however, that the agency seems to have made an effort to name women
into new posts created or those vacated by retiring male managers. Improvements have
been noted in the past decade, as more and more women occupy visible and influential
positions, like assistant secretaries, deputy administrators, directors and assistant
directors, head executive assistants, and service and division chiefs.
Other gender issues that required actions did not have to wait for retirements of
officials. As could be deduced from the gender plans and budgets for 2000 to 2008,
GAD conferences and meetings of focal points explored organization-focused issues
that deal mainly with strengthening of the GAD Focal Point System, structures and
mechanisms; developing a gender database that would allow the tracking of impacts
of environmental concerns on women; and addressing such concerns as sexual
harassment and support for gender-related needs of employees. They also covered
client-oriented concerns, such as, participation of women in programs and projects,
and gender-related inequities in access to resources and benefits. The budget for these
is labeled by DENR as ‘support to gender mainstreaming.’

Organization-focused issues and PAPs: Support to the GAD Focal Point System
GAD structures and mechanisms. At the outset, DENR recognized as an issue

the need to strengthen its GAD structures if it were to sustain its initiatives to address
gender issues. It also had to contend with a general attitude among the employees that
GAD was a mere add-on and not considered as part of their work.48 Addressing these
required the installation of and support to a system of focal points, groups, committees
and other processes. The gender budget funded a number of projects and activities, such
as, regular gender assessment and planning workshops, GAD congresses (including a
GAD Congress on Climate Change), and the institutionalization of women in decision
making. There are also PAPs related to the conduct of gender audit (or performance
audit of the GADFPS), an item that appears in the gender budgets in 2002-2004 and
in succeeding years. A GAD financial audit is being proposed for 2010. As important
as all these are PAPs that reward performance in the area of gender and development,
an item that appears consistently in the GAD Plans and Budgets, including PAPs that
support networking activities with other institutions (such as focal point systems of
other government departments and community women’s organizations) and support
for the participation of GAD advocates in conferences.49
GAD capacities. The issue of capacity development has attracted a large

portion of the PAPs, which focused on GST and GAD orientation, gender-responsive
planning, gender analysis, Gender Empowerment and Advocacy Training, and
training on the Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines. There were also
sessions on women counseling, the New Family Code, key gender laws (Anti Sexual
Harassment Act and Anti-Violence against Women and Children [VAWC] Act), and
the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
However, a few PAPs pertained to HRD training, some of which may be generic
in coverage. The GAD Plans and Budgets for 2001-2002 included HRD training
on financial management and leadership; and for 2002 to 2004, seminars and
training workshops for persons with disability (PWD). For 2005 to 2008, the GAD
Plan included a seminar on effective communication between couples, and several
activities related to education, advocacy and extension services.
GAD supports. A cluster of PAPs that are expected to provide key support to gender
mainstreaming at DENR also found their way into the gender plans and budgets. In
what can be labeled as advocacy, research and data PAPs are: continuing maintenance
of the GAD Bulletin Board (2000-2008) and a GAD Information Corner (2002-2008),
photo exhibits (2002-2004), and maintenance of a GAD webpage. In addition, all the
gender budgets included an item for the celebration of Women’s Month.
48
DENR, Ang Bagong Bayanihan, 1998.
49
These conferences included the First Philippine Health and Nutrition Summit, Seminar-Workshop on Maximizing GO-
NGO Initiatives for Women Economic Empowerment, the Convention of Philippine Society of Nutritionist-Dieticians, and the Third
Global Congress on Women in Politics that focused on climate change and disaster reduction.
THE DENR CASE 81

The GAD Focal Points need a database to inform and through which to track their
initiatives. To this end, the gender plans and budgets have allocated funds for the
setup and updating of a sex-disaggregated database on its staff, trainees, members
in decision-making bodies created by DENR programs, and recipients of free land
patents and other land titles. For 2005 to 2008, PAPs were included to help regions
to maintain a database on forestry, lands, protected areas and wildlife, coastal zone,
marine management, ecological solid waste management programs, and personnel.
An important basis for their advocacy and programming are gender studies. In
the early years of gender mainstreaming at DENR, the gender budget supported the
analysis of the different gender roles in small-scale mining and upland development,
and the conduct of studies on the impacts on women of coastal-zone programs and
environmental hazards brought about by mining and export processing zones.50 In
2000, the GAD plans again cited among the gender issues the inadequate information
and limited studies in determining the extent of gender roles and related issues in
the environment and natural resources sector. Studies that were undertaken in the
following years included impact studies on women in various policy and program
concerns, namely ancestral domain claims, protected areas, and mining. It was also
deemed important to look into how information on upland programs, like forest
protection and forest fire control, would benefit the women. A related set of PAPs
consisted of reviews of existing and new ENR policies, laws, and rules and regulations.
With relatively numerous studies already undertaken by the different DENR units,
it seems that addressing the impact of environmental policies on women requires a
conscientious linking of the study and research findings to actual policy formulation.
Apparently, the difficulty lies in bridging research and policy action; hence, the issue of
“lack of information and analyses on the status of women as basis for gender-responsive
policies” persists in most instances, as would be indicated in the gender plans. An
exception, however, is the set of policies that address equity issues between men and
women. Some studies pertaining to ENR management were said to have helped with
the formulation of certain policies, as illustrated in the next section.
Welfare concerns. The department’s GAD Plans and Budgets also cover several
contentious issues, such as, employees’ welfare, economic livelihood, and maintenance
of day care centers. Classified as “people’s welfare” PAPs are activities that address
generic employee-welfare issues. These concern physical fitness or ‘healthy lifestyle’,51
which appeared in all the gender budgets; the organization of employees’ cooperatives
(2000-2001), and a refresher on Government Service Insurance System employees’
benefits (2000-2004). More gender-related PAPs have also been included, such as,
flexi-time, and introductory sessions on reproductive health and GAD counseling on
domestic violence; and for 2005-2008, breast cancer awareness campaign.
50
DENR, Ang Bagong Bayanihan, Gender and Development in Environmental Governence Part IB, 1998, p.37.
51
Before 2005, these activities pertain to physical fitness, sports and aerobics. For 2005-2008, six types of lifestyle activities
were launched: aero total body conditioning, aero boxing, aero dancing, stretch and tone, body pump and belly dancing.

The need of employees, particularly women, for additional income has been
consistently raised in GAD meetings. This has led to a problematic area in gender
budgeting: support for livelihood-related initiatives. From 2000 to 2008, the DENR
GAD Plans and Budgets included seminars on candle making, entrepreneurship and
environment-friendly livelihood, and training for the offices, agencies and bureaus on
food manufacture with malunggay leaves or seeds as ingredients, and similar topics.
A less contentious gender budgeting area is the funding for day care centers, which
covers establishment, maintenance and training in the operations of the centers. The
GAD budget was supporting 23 day care centers in 2005, 11 in 2006, and 10 in 2007.
Client-focused issues and PAPs: Support for gender mainstreaming
The DENR started off gender blind in most of its development projects, often
foreign-funded, that were designed to address economic and social inequities in the
rural and upland areas. The early 1990’s saw the introduction of gender mainstreaming
policies, along with policy measures that would ensure equal opportunities between
men and women over environment and natural resources. Among the policies is
Department Administrative Order 91-04 that instructs the awarding of the Certificates
of Stewardship Contracts to both spouses.52
Other policies were reviewed to focus on gender biases in promoting access and
control of resources in the upland, watershed, and coastal areas. This also meant
looking into the roles of men and women in community. Strong peoples’ organizations
are expected to have direct and, hence, more effective stewardship of the natural
resource. Thus, as important as monitoring how contracts are titled, is the need to
monitor women’s involvement in community organizing and partnerships.
The implementation of these policies is supported by program and project-level

interventions. Funded by the gender budget are the costs of radio plugs, mini libraries,
and the production and dissemination of IEC materials on GAD and on women’s
rights. There were also projects and activites to mainstream GAD in biodiversity
conservation; continuing GSTs in ENR program management, implementation and
evaluation; and orientation sessions on the importance of women in the promotion
of sustainable ecotourism; protection and conservation of wildlife resources and
endangered species, the environment, marine life resources and sustainable solid
waste management.
52
An early impetus to the issuance of the administrative order focusing on equal entitlement to men and women can be traced
back to a 1987 workshop on gender issues in rural development that was facilitated by the Institute of Philippine Culture. One of
the cases discussed was the Cebu social forestry pilot project of the Forest Management Bureau. One of the major concerns of the
forestry project was the equity issue regarding land security. As noted in the background paper, “the project’s narrow view of the role
of women in upland farming is further reinforced by the rules governing membership in the farmers’ association and participation
in the project ... Project resources are coursed through the farmers’ association, and membership in the association is based on the
possession of stewardship certificates. Because of these procedures, the project denies the women access to its resources. It also
denies itself access to a valuable resource in the uplands: the women.” Borlagdan, Salve B., Edna M. Alegado, Isabel M. Carillo, and
Joselito Francis A. Alcaria, “The Cebu Integrated Social Forestry Project.” In Gender Issues in Rural Development: A Workshop
Report, ed. Jeanne Frances I. Illo, Quezon City: Institute of Philippine Culture, Ateneo de Manila University, 1988, p. 52.
THE DENR CASE 83

At the subsector level, the PAPs included activities that are generic, but may
involve women, the collection of sex-disaggregated data, and/or the conduct of GSTs
in the implementation of activities. For instance, the Forest Management Bureau
GAD budget funded regular agency activities, such as forest management service
and production and distribution of seedlings; watershed planning, management and
rehabilitation; and upland agro-forestry and sustainable watershed management.
There was also support for livelihood projects through agro-forestry farm development,
and alternative livelihood on upland non-timber forest products, among others. More
directly related to GAD are projects and activities to implement the integration of
GAD in the Watershed-Community Based Forest Management Program.
For protected areas, the integration of women in regular activities was funded
by the GAD budget. These activities included the establishment of Protected
Area Management Boards, dissemination of technology, forest fire control and
management, establishment of plantation of selected forest species, protected areas
wildlife resources and development, management of toxic substances and wastes, and
environmental management and pollution control. Meanwhile, the land subsector
GAD budget for 2000-2001 underwrote the cost of assistance to the evacuees of the
mudslide of the Mayon Volcano,
and the improvement of land In 2008, the DENR signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Philippine Commission on
management services. It was not Women for its involvement in the PCW’s GREAT
until the middle of that period Women Project. This partnership aimed at raising
when the gender budget-funded awareness on environmental laws that will make
GAD activities, such as, lectures women’s enterprises sustainable under the EMB
programs, providing support to micro-enterprises
and IEC on rights of women
through information kits on how to make natural
and public land disposition, and resources-based enterprises more economically viable
orientation on property and land and environmentally sound, and documenting and
rights. replicating ecotourism models.
In the biodiversity and coastal marine sector, gender plans and budgets listed
management of coastal and marine resources. These also funded coastal database
management, including database on foreshore occupants and the development and
packaging of data into municipal coastal environment profiles. For 2002-2004,
the gender budget supported training (such as gender sensitization sessions) and
technical assistance on the establishment and management of marine protected
areas, and the preparation of coastal resource inventory or assessment. In succeeding
years, the focus of gender plans and budgets shifted to briefing sessions on women’s
participation in campaigns against wildlife poaching, and to organizing women in the
coastal areas.
In addition to GAD initiatives that are supported by the gender budget are projects
that are financed, directly or indirectly, by ODA funds. Examples are initiatives under
the GREAT Women Project, a women’s economic-empowerment project of the

PCW that is supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Another example is the Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP),
which is funded by the World Bank and AusAID. Box 4.2, below, describes the LAMP
initiative.
Box 4.2: LAMP 2

The second phase of LAMP (or LAMP 2) is a program that is expected to be carried out in the next 15 to
20 years. Supported by the World Bank and AusAID, it aims to “improve tenure security and the provision
of land administration services to enhance the sector contribution to good governance, economic growth,
and sustainable management of natural resources.”
The LAMP2 builds on the lessons from the first phase (2001-2004), which focused on the conduct of
land policy studies and the development of a land administration reform agenda. The first phase also
identified cost-effective procedures in titling and records management procedures, and tested streamlined
and integrated service delivery methodologies like the One Stop Shops (OSS). Hence, in the selected
provinces of Leyte, Bohol and Bukidnon, LAMP 2 is expected to ensure land tenure security and improved
land administration services through the following components:
• Development of policies, a regulatory framework and reform of the institutional structure for land
administration and management
• Institutional development and capacity building in the sector
• Issuance of titles and other forms of secure property rights in urban and rural areas; setting up of OSS
to improve service delivery
• Strengthening of property valuation system through the establishment of an efficient and fair, equitable
and uniform valuation that meets international standards
• Project management, including planning systems and performance monitoring and evaluation.
These project components are governed by policies, procedures and systems, one of which is the Gender
Mainstreaming Policies and Guidelines. Introduced in 2006 and updated in 2009, the LAMP2 Social
Development and Gender Framework anchors its gender goals on key issues in the land administration and
management (LAM) sector, namely: gender gap in land tenure security, inability of land tenure instruments
and land information system to provide gender data, need to set up mechanisms to ensure compliance with
gender-responsive land laws, and preference for men in hiring LAM-related human resources.
Key to making the framework responsive to the gender issues in the LAM sector, is how to operationalize
GAD in each policy component both in terms of targets and resources. At the onset, LAMP 2 has subscribed
to the mandate provided by the Philippine GAD Budget Policy. Specifically, this means the allocation of at
least 5 percent of the Project Budget for activities that will directly and indirectly contribute to GAD goals.
The GAD budget for 2009 totaled to P91.1 million. This amount covers LAMP 2 activities that directly or
explicitly pertain to gender equality (2.6 percent of the total activities) and the activities are not explicitly
about gender but can be made gender-responsive (66.7 percent). The LAMP 2 claims that only about 30.7
percent of the project activities were considered to have no relation to gender. However, the gender budget
actually accounts for only 1.2 percent of the total project budget, which is explicitly for GAD operations
(P1.1 million), while the rest still need further defining or conversion into an explicit GAD budget.
Compliance
Available gender budget data suggests that allocations for GAD varied widely from
year to year, averaging at around P22 million for the past 15 years (1995 to 2010).
THE DENR CASE 85

For the period 2001 to 2008, the highest share (49.5 percent) of the average annual
gender budget was accounted for by the Office of the Secretary, while the remaining
50.5 percent was shared by the nine bureaus and attached agencies.
During the same eight-year period, more than half (61 percent) of the agency units
have submitted their GAD Plans and Budgets in any year. For these years, too, the
department has made a total of 119 submissions (see Table 4.6). These are much more
than the total 80 had the DENR made one submission for the central office (Office
of the Secretary) and one each for the nine (9) line and staff bureaus and attached
agencies for each year. However, these are but 57 percent had the department also
submitted separate GAD Plans and Budgets for each line region.
Table 4.6: Summary information
Information on GAD
on GAD Plans andPlans andand
Budgets Budgets and Accomplishment
Accomplishment Reports ofReports, 2001-2008
DENR, 2001-2008
Item =)
Total (in P =)
Average (in P No. of submissions
For all DENR units
GAD Plans and Budgets 188,279,242 23,534,905 119 (119)
GAD Accomplishment Reports 3,044,417 380,552 9 (6)
Percentage of average GAD budget utilized 1.6
For DENR units with GPB and ARs (6 units)
GAD Plans and Budgets 25,952,092 3,244,012 27
GAD Accomplishment Reports 3,044,417 380,552 7 (6)
Percent of average GAD budget utilized 11.7
In terms of the Accomplishment Reports, there is a very low submission rate,

with only nine agency unit submissions for the period 2001 to 2008. Only six of these,
however, included expenditures from the gender budget.
How does the gender budget compare with the DENR’s Congress-approved
total appropriations, or with the department’s miscellaneous operational budget, or
MOOE? Table 4.7 indicates that none of the gender budgets during the period 2001
to 2008 reached the 5-percent mark of either the DENR’s total budget or MOOE.
The picture may be rosier if one were to base the computation on the MOOE less
the mandatory deductions and the Secretary’s commitments. Unfortunately, the re-
computed MOOE figures were not available.
Table 4.7: GAD budget of DENR as percentage of total agency and MOOE budgets
GAD Budget 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
As percent of Total 0.31 0.04 0.20 0.32 0.03 0.03 0.18 0.29
As percent of MOOE * * 0.78 * 0.14 * 0.56 0.83
*No data could be obtained for the year

The low compliance with the 5-percent GAD Budget Policy has not been lost on
the GAD advocates at the department. Neither has the low rate of budget utilization.

Computing for the gender budget execution rate has not been easy, as very few DENR
units had available GAD budgets and accomplishment reports. In fact, the research
team had complete sets for only six agencies. These offices had reportedly spent no
more than 11.7 percent of the average gender budget (see Table 4.6).
Access to the GAD Budget
The Budget Division of the central office reportedly releases budgeted amounts
based on a Work and Financial Plan. This means that access to the gender budget
occurs only when the GAD Plan reflects the activities with corresponding budget
allocation.
The gender budget is divided into the GAD operating budget and the GAD
mainstreaming budget. The operating budget supports the GAD Focal Systems. It
covers the costs of meetings, attendance in conferences, printing costs and other
activities for leading or facilitating gender mainstreaming efforts in the DENR
programs. It is targeted at 25 percent of the gender budget. In contrast, the gender
mainstreaming budget, which supports the integration of GAD in the programs
of DENR and its agencies and bureaus, consists of the remaining 75 percent. The
NGADFPS Secretariat head (J. Texon), however, noted that the release of the desired
operating budget is often not met, as was the case in 2009.
Based on the gender budget for the central office in 2009, which reached P34.7
million, the allotment for gender operating budget in the central office should have
been almost P9 million, which is 25 percent of the total gender budget. But what was
released was only P0.91 million, a mere 10 percent of the expected GAD operating
budget. According to J. Texon, this is simply not enough to sustain the GAD priorities
and activities envisioned by the GAD focal points. The maintenance of the day care
center alone costs P0.3 million. She claims that the situation limits the capacity of the
focal points in the central office to conduct developmental activities under their GAD
operations.
The 2009 experience is not an exception. Rather, it reportedly exemplifies the

gender budget execution at DENR. The low budget utilization was discussed as
recently as the 2008 GAD Congress, where participants agreed to make a strong
demand for the release of the gender budget. To accomplish this, the Congress asked
the GAD focal points to put in a written request to the DENR planning and budget
division to allocate the 5 percent gender budget to all the regions. The request would
be addressed to all the regions, bureaus and attached agencies, and signed by the
NGADFPS chair, Undersecretary Castillo, and all the GAD Focal Points. In doing so,
the GAD advocates would be making a strong case for the utilization of gender budget
to the Regional Executive Directors and bureau and agency directors.”53
53
Memorandum on Highlights of Business Meeting during the DENR GAD Congress, 17 December 2008, signed by
Undersecretary Teresita Samson-Castillo.
THE DENR CASE 87

The strategy confirms two things. First, the release of the GAD budget needs to be
constantly lobbied for, and second, there are constant bottlenecks within the agency
structure. The inadequate budget support to GAD operations persists because unless
someone complains, nothing is done to rectify the situation.
There are apparently procedural reasons for the reported low utilization of the
gender budget. One factor cited was the lack of monitoring of gender budget releases
and expenditures; another, the manner of reporting GAD activities. Yet, another could
be the absence of Work and Financial Plan to support budget release requests.
In connection with budget support to gender mainstreaming, all the agency’s

training and research may be declared or ‘attributed’ as part of the GAD budget if they
wish. This implies that the budget for a specific program, project, or activity may be
monitored and reported under the program’s gender mainstreaming activities. In this
approach, however, simple attribution may undermine funding for GAD interventions
that do not fall under regular program or project activities, but can address program-
or project-relevant gender issues.
Accounting and Reporting
Who is accountable for the GAD budget? The Budget Division claims that its role
is limited to being the controller of the funds.54 The main accountability lies with the
GAD Focal Systems, being the ones responsible for the actual disbursement of the
funds.
The annual gender accomplishment report can be the main instrument for
accounting for GAD expenditures. As envisioned by the NCRFW, this matrix-type
report consists of two parts: a listing of accomplishments, and expenses associated
with the accomplishments. However, the narrative report, which is also posted in the
DENR website, seldom includes financial data.
The DENR narrative accomplishment report consolidates the accomplishment

reports (in matrix form) of various offices, bureaus, agencies, and regions. All these
primarily reflect the physical data on the accomplished units of the targeted activities.
For example in 2005, the accomplishment report cites that 308 focal points were
maintained and strengthened and 58 training sessions were conducted in support
of raising the awareness and capacities of the GAD Focal Points. Also included was a
comparison of the accomplishment rate compared with the original targets.
It may be argued that the full completion of planned gender activities could imply
full utilization of the gender budget. This does not explain, however, why for some
years and agencies, reported accomplishments exceeded the target. Going back to the
54
E.G. Nillosan, personal interview, 17 July 2009, in lieu of the Budget Division Chief.

2005 example, the 58 training sessions conducted were actually six more than the
targeted 52 sessions, thus, a reported 112-percent accomplishment rate. Meanwhile,
the 308 focal point members that were ‘maintained and strengthened’ were five times
the target of 61. The report made no mention as to the implication of these to the
budget. For instance, was the budget for the specific gender activity changed? Will
there be an increase in budget for the same activity the following year? Apart from
the implications to the budget, the variance in the physical accomplishments against
the targets also imply that decisions were made to depart from the plan, indicating
exercise of agency by the GAD Secretariat in an effort to consider (not neglect) needs.
Auditing
In 2001, the department initiated its own GAD financial audit to look at how the
gender budgets were being used. One of the findings referred to the misuse of the budget
for honorarium for some regional officers. The Central Office promptly demanded
the return of the money.55 This audit was never followed by another, although the
NGADFPS is contemplating an internal audit of its gender budget in 2010.
In lieu of formal audits, internal or external, the NGADFPS Secretariat and

focal points occasionally monitor activities funded by the gender budget. As can be
gleaned from the activity reports submitted, the monitoring focused mainly on the
participation and involvement of women and men in the project activities. Meanwhile,
project implementers monitor budget utilization in terms of costs of staging events
like Women’s Day and Environment Day.
GAD RESULTS
Developed Internal GAD Network
The GAD budgets supported activities that enabled the internal network of GAD
focal points to operate. Funds were made available for the development of advocacy
materials, establishment and maintenance of gender information base, and the
conduct of GAD orientation sessions. As important as these are GAD congresses and
meetings that brought together the members of the focal points to discuss obstacles
and opportunities for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment goals
and gender mainstreaming at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The department first convened a GAD Congress in 1996. It has since staged five
such congresses. A congress is usually held for three days, and attended by around
200 participants. It facilitates the discussion of actual experiences, emerging
contexts and potential issues that inevitably impact on the agency’s thrust and GAD
55
Juliet Texon, personal interview, 19 June 2009.
THE DENR CASE 89

commitments. A business meeting is also often included in the congress. The meeting
usually leads to some gender mainstreaming recommendations, such as, the inclusion
of the GAD focal points in the implementation of the rationalization plan; and in
the implementation of programs, like the Upland Development Program and the
Integrated Coastal Management Resource Project.
Some of the business meetings have produced key strategies and plans. The first
congress provided inputs to the first roadmap for gender mainstreaming in DENR.
Known as the GADMAP, the roadmap spelled out the strategies adopted in 1997 in
the four main entry points for GAD mainstreaming: people, policy, programs, and
enabling mechanisms. Meanwhile, the 2008 GAD Congress tackled the effects of
climate change on the country, the gender implications, and recommended actions.
It also explored how to mainstream gender into the DENR thrusts on climate change
adaptation and mitigation.56 Of direct relevance to the GAD Budget Policy, the GAD
focal points also mapped out a strategy for securing the support of the budget office
and heads of offices to improve their access to the gender budget.
Improved GAD Commitments and Competencies
Development of GAD capacities through continuing training—GST, training in

gender analysis tools, gender-responsive planning and VAWC, and training of women
in ENR program management—has been built into the institutionalization of GAD
structures at DENR. So has the recognition, through the GAD Service Awards, of
commendable efforts in gender mainstreaming. The awards are given to the Most
Gender-Responsive Projects, Most Gender-Sensitive Project Implementor, and
Most Effective GAD Person. From 1996 to 2006, some 18 projects and 14 project
implementors have received the GAD Service awards.
In 2007, the department used its gender budget (central and regional) to build
the competencies of GAD Focal Point members and planners in the application of the
Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines to various stages of the program
or project cycle. In November 2006, DENR sent several NGADFPS members to a
trainers’ training on the Guidelines organized by NEDA. The DENR participants, with
the help of a GAD expert on the Guidelines, rolled down the training to two batches
of participants from the bureaus and regional offices. A third training, for the staff of
the Foreign-Assisted Projects Office (FASPO) has yet to materialize. This training was
intended to build the capacity of the people who prepare project feasibility studies
and assist with the various grants and loans provided to the agency. It could have also
enabled FASPO to ‘pilot’ the Guidelines.
Long-time GAD Focal Point members have demonstrated their knowledge and
competence in running GSTs, using gender analysis tools in key DENR programs, and
56
DENR, “2008 Gender and Development Annual Report.”

applying a gender lens in internal and external discussions on such issues as climate
change. But in the case of the use of the Harmonized GAD Guidelines, it is difficult to
ascertain how far or how well they have done.
However, ODA-funded DENR projects may be applying the Guidelines. This

is not because the department is pushing it, but, rather, because its partner donor
agencies are requiring project design teams to refer to the Guidelines, and for the
project management offices to accomplish the Guidelines’ checklist for project
implementation. Moreover, some donors are requiring projects to develop their GAD
strategy in consonance with the Guidelines.57 LAMP 2 is one example of a DENR
project that has a GAD strategy that is helping it identify and address gender issues
systematically. Based on the Guidelines, AusAID and the project agreed that indeed
LAMP 2 is gender-responsive not only by design, but also as implemented.
Limited Application of Research Results to Policies
Sex-disaggregated data is considered a basic output of gender mainstreaming

in the agency’s programs, and a key gender budget item. In the forestry sector, the
database covers the forest guards and the women involved in forest protection. In
the biodiversity and protected areas, the target data covers the involvement of men
and women in PAMB. In the mining sector, data may include the participation of
women and men in geo-hazard assessment and mapping; and in the land sector, the
beneficiaries of patents and homestead applications. A gender database on patentees
is also available from 2003 to 2007, part of which is summarized in Table 4.1.
Gender studies constitute another major area supported by the gender budget.
Some of the studies are linked to gender mainstreaming in programs. For example,
the 2000 GAD Plan and Accomplishment Report noted the completion of 14 studies
that would provide program management baseline information on gender roles, rights
and privileges. In 2002, two studies were conducted in relation to mainstreaming
GAD in ENR programs and projects, and evaluation of six GAD Service Award entries.
None of the accomplishment reports, however, clearly related how a particular impact
study serves as a tool for the review or improvement of policy.
Targeted Improvements in Gender Situation and Relations
The GAD program provides some services, including support for reproductive
roles through day care centers; response to health risks, such as breast cancer for
women and prostate cancer for men; livelihood training; and other activities that
can help address gender relations. In 2008, the DENR Central Office conducted
an Effective Communication Program that targeted married couples who are both
working in the agency. Attended by some 21 couples, the program aimed to enhance
57
Ms. Lilihua Garcia, FASPO GAD Focal Point member, personal interview, 10 December 2009.
THE DENR CASE 91

productivity in the workplace by especially making the participants more aware of
their behaviors and communication styles. The activity also provided space for the
participants to draft their personal re-entry plans for their work and family. None
of these welfare and HRD initiatives, however, has been evaluated to show whether
indeed there have been improvements in the practical and strategic gender concerns
of women and men employees of the department.
Some Improvements in Women’s Access to Decision-Making

and Key Resources
The DENR has several policies that mandate equal treatment of women and
men as recipients of land titles and stewardship contracts, and to equitable women’s
representation in decision-making bodies. By 2007, women account for 39 percent to
45 percent of recipients of land titles, not exactly equal but significant nonetheless. In
the case of the PAMB, women continue to be represented, but they constitute no more
than 15 percent of the total membership.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
The DENR case highlights continuing and emerging challenges, as well as factors
that enable progress to be made in GAD mainstreaming, and in gender budgeting
in particular. Efforts to account for the gender budget have raised several urgent
concerns and challenges at the level of both the organization and its clients. At the
agency level, the GAD focal points have clear expectations as to the source of the budget
support to GAD operations, but the major problem lies with the budget release. At the
clientele level, the men and women in environmental protection and natural resource
management programs need to get involved in the active monitoring of the bigger
portion—the 75 percent that goes to ‘gender mainstreaming’—of the overall gender
budget. One could only wonder whether the same difficulties bedevil the release of the
gender mainstreaming budget as the GAD operations budget.
Enabling Factors and Challenges
Bases for GAD budget determination are in place at DENR. There are guidelines
for identifying gender budget items and which of these falls under GAD operations
and which under gender mainstreaming. Another enabling factor is that the agency
creates opportunities to periodically assess the relevance of policies, and GAD plans
and activities through its GAD congresses, case studies, and discussions within
the NGADFPS. Significant policy formulations promote equal entitlements of
women and men in stewardship contracts, recognition of both spouses in peoples’
organizations, and representation in decision-making processes and in consultations

for environmental impact statements. Together, these should enable the GAD focal
points to register stronger demand for the allocation of adequate budget.
The monitoring of the GAD budget was identified as one weakness in reporting
GAD budget utilization and accomplishments. ‘Attribution’ is one way of reporting
expenses related to gender mainstreaming. There is also the matter of monitoring
performance and results against the GAD plans, where targeted activities should
correspond to specific gender issues. Monitoring also means not only looking at the
budget but also at how well the agency is doing in improving the substance of its
gender activities through the years. The department’s GAD Strategic Plans (2001-
2004; 2005-2010) should provide benchmarks for evaluating significant results.
Monitoring these should be the priority, and attributing other activities as gender
mainstreaming only secondary.
The practice of attribution can be beneficial to policy formulation and program

improvements, especially if clear analysis is provided to mark a particular outcome as
“attributable” to GAD because of its link with an improved (more gender-responsive)
policy, or perhaps resulting from gender awareness or sensitization processes. This
may also help explain the facilitating factors for GAD accomplishments that go beyond
the targets, as opposed to some activities falling below target.
Stakeholders’ participation in the budget monitoring is important. At present,

the GAD focal points are the main stakeholders who are involved in direct gender
budgeting. It is worth noting that among the GAD focal points, the gender budget
is viewed as an agenda in itself, beyond just being a technical task in the budgeting
process.
How about non-state stakeholders? Policy dialogues and participation in

programs are possible entry points for influencing the gender budget. But in the
experience of rural women’s advocacy groups, there is little discussion on the gender
budget. Perhaps, the awareness and interest of the clients in the gender budget is
not as intense as their awareness and interest in the actual programs that would
produce immediate effects. Moreover, dialogues with organized women’s groups are
focused on strategic issues that are more often than not areas of resistance rather
than areas for engagement, such as, mining, logging, quarrying and other extractive
industries.58 This actually poses a challenge for the gender budgeting process. How
can the GAD budget be maximized not only in integrating gender concerns into the
programs, but also in transforming the programs by introducing more sustainable
paradigms of natural resource management from the women’s perspective? There is
hope, however, with the increasing number of women in the decision-making bodies,
processes, and bureaucratic leadership. Indeed, the agency has the heart to pursue
the GAD objectives; it just needs stronger hands to make things more real.
58
This can be reflected in the several dialogues conducted by the PKKK with DENR agencies.
THE DENR CASE 93

Final Comments on the DENR and the PPGD
The DENR alone cannot address what the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive
Development, or its Plan Framework, identified as key issues, namely: women’s
invisibility in economic systems, lack of access and control over resources, and
non-involvement in community-based and environment-related technologies. The
issues of rights, recognition and inclusion are concerns that are related, as well, to
agriculture, food security, agrarian reform, research and technology; thus, not just for
the department to address. However, for its part, the DENR has instituted policies and
mechanisms that proved to be positive steps toward achieving the objectives of the
PPGD for the ENR sector. In particular, there have been improvements in the women’s
status and representation in the agency’s management and in the policy requirements
of ensuring women’s representation in resource stewardship and management.
However, the level of gender awareness and skills continues to vary among the
development agents and beneficiaries of the environment and natural resources
programs, and the GAD focal points carry much of the gender mainstreaming tasks.
There also remains much to be done with the objective of improving the living
conditions of women and their families in the environment and natural resources
subsectors. The GAD advocates have noted the limited resources for direct and
community-based services, which is quite understandable given that the objective
was mainstreaming and not direct services. Ideally, the corresponding result to
this objective should emanate from the other ENR programs that impact on the
community and the environment. At the very least, there should be protection of
women and their families whose immediate environment is being threatened by other
development sectors, such as, infrastructure, energy, agro-fuels, and mining. All these
emphasize that one cannot separate the condition of the women and their families
from other social and economic issues that put pressure on the environment, issues
that are accentuated by the government’s economic agenda. It is therefore, within this
bigger frame that the PPGD’s environment and natural resources should be assessed.

CHAPTER 5
THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

THE
The labor sector is a key area that needs to institute coherent and sustained GAD
mainstreaming policy and program. The highly gendered occupational structure in
local and overseas labor markets and other vital gender issues have been necessary
catalysts in applying the gender lens in the labor and employment sector. These
are also the reasons why the Department of Labor and Employment has been one
of the first among government line agencies to respond to the initial call for GAD
mainstreaming and budgeting.

The labor and employment department is one of the oldest bureaucracies in the
Philippines. It was created as a small bureau in 1908, just ten years after independence.
It was converted into a full-fledged line ministry or department by virtue of Act 4121
in 1933.
The Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended, and other relevant and pertinent
laws provide the framework that guides the department to carry out its organization
and functions. The Administrative Code of 1987 mandates the DOLE to pursue:
“(1) The promotion of gainful employment opportunities and the optimization
of the development and utilization of the country’s manpower resources; (2) The
advancement of workers’ welfare by providing
for just and humane working conditions and
Vision: “attainment of full, decent
terms of employment; (3) The maintenance and productive employment for every
of industrial peace by promoting harmonious, Filipino worker”
equitable, and stable employment relations Mission: “promote gainful
that assure equal protection for the rights of all employment opportunities, develop
human resources, protect workers
concerned parties.” The perennial problems and promote their welfare and
of unemployment and underemployment maintain industrial peace.”
suggest that the task has not been easy.
95
Because of the government’s active promotion of overseas employment, DOLE
has expanded its organizational structure over the years. As of late 2009, it was
composed of 16 regional offices, 34 Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs), six
bureaus and seven services.59 Also attached to the department are 11 agencies, namely:
Employees Compensation Commission (ECC), Institute for Labor Studies (ILS),
Maritime Training Council, National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB),
National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), National Maritime Polytechnic
(NMP), National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), Occupational Safety
and Health Center (OSHC),60 Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA),
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). According to the department’s
Human Resources and Development Service (HRDS), as of early 2010, DOLE has a
total staff complement of 8,456 plantilla positions, including the regional offices and
attached agencies.
This chapter investigates the gender plans and budgets of DOLE and its agencies.
Initially, the implementation of the gender budget was relegated to the central office.
This meant that it could command compliance from attached agencies and regional
offices. However, in recent years, this has been decentralized to allow greater flexibility
and autonomy to regional offices and attached agencies.
Development Goals
Over the years, the Philippine labor sector has been threatened by forces of
globalization. It has brought flexible work arrangements and new workplaces that
warrant new strategies for ensuring that the decent work agenda is enforced. Overseas
Filipino workers (OFWs) have been instrumental in protecting the country from the
negative effects of globalization, and they need better protection and monitoring
mechanisms.
Under the Medium-Term Philippine Development 2004-2010, the DOLE has

adopted four major strategies, which are to generate, facilitate, preserve, and enhance
employment. These coincide with the four functions of the department: (1) promotion
of employment, (2) manpower development, (3) maintenance of industrial peace,
and (4) workers protection and welfare. In 2006, the department also articulated as
strategic goals a workforce that is gainfully employed, globally competitive workforce,
secure, and safe.
59
The POLOs have since increased to 34 and the number of attached agencies to 13, with the inclusion of the Professional
Regulatory Commission (PRC), 2 September 2010 http://www.dole.gov.ph/secondpage.php?id=57.
60
Funding for the ECC, OSHC and ECC is not covered by the General Appropriations Act. The ECC is a government corporation
that was set up to implement the government’s Employment Compensation Program. It is funded by the State Insurance Fund (SIF),
which was primarily established to fund the ECC. The SIF gets funding from the contributions of public and private sector employers
collected by the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System. The OSHC, which is functionally under the
ECC, also gets funding from the SIF. Finally, the OWWA sources its funds from the US$25 membership contributions of foreign
employers, land-based and sea-based workers, investment and interest income, and income from other sources.

The department has also a strategic role in promoting women’s economic
empowerment; thus, it is well-poised to carry out GAD programs that will result in
improved well-being of women workers. Aside from the MTPDP, the DOLE is also
mandated to help implement the goals of the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive
Development and the Framework Plan for Women. It is also expected to contribute to
the realization of the country’s commitments to the Beijing Platform for Action and
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Among its urgent tasks is to comply with some of the concluding comments of the
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against WOMEN,61 particularly
those that request the government to address high unemployment rates of women,
the wage gap and occupational segregation, trafficking of women migrants and the
high proportion of women in the informal economy. All these provide the backdrop
for DOLE’s gender planning and budgeting.
KEY GENDER ISSUES

Gender issues in the PPGD
The success of utilization of the GAD
• Gender gaps in unemployment and
budget in DOLE relies to a great extent
underemployment
on how it links the key gender issues to its • Low representation of women in trade
institutional tasks and mandate. The PPGD or labor unions
• Inadequate training in non-traditional
suggests several key gender issues that range skills for women
from gender-based discrimination in the • Inadequate promotion of welfare and
labor market and the workplace, to gender protection of rights
• Gender-based discrimination
division of labor that constrains organizing • Multiple burdens of women
of women workers, to institutional obstacles • Women’s multiple roles as constraints
to self-employed women’s access to resources to organizing women workers
• Low-level of participation of women in
(see sidebar). decision-making positions
• Legal and administrative impediments
Access to paid employment is a crucial for women in loans transactions and
gender issue because it provides workers, access to other resources
• Lack of gender-responsive plans and
particularly women, with a way out of poverty. programs for women
It is also important to women’s empowerment,
as it enables them to increase their mobility, enhance their decision-making power in
the household, and seek better reproductive health62 and nutrition for their family.
Women’s economic participation, however, is affected by their unpaid work at home,
especially child care, a situation that has been partly attributed to the consistently
high fertility rates that had not been fully addressed by the government.63
61
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, “Concluding Comments of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Philippines,” Thirty-sixth session, 25 August 2006, pp. 4-6.
62
Grown, Caren, Geeta Rao Gupta, Aslihan Kes, Taking Action: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women,”
London: Earthscan, 2005, p.9.
63
Orbeta, Antonio, “Children and Labor Force Participation and Earnings of Parents in the Philippines,” PIDS Discussion
Paper Series No. 2005-20, Manila: Philippine Institute for Development Studies, 2005.
THE DOLE CASE 97

The gender division of labor has resulted in a continuing, though declining, gap
in the labor force participation rate of men and women. In 1988, the gender gap was a
high 35.9 percent, and while it has since dropped, it was still 29.5 percent in 2007. A
similar tapering off of the gender gap has been noted in women and men’s employment
rates. Both trends have been attributed to the increasing proportion of women in the
services sector, both formal and informal. Latest estimate from DOLE indicates that
informal workers number about 15.5 million,64 which is half the work force and most
of whom are women.65 Home-based work as a micro-entrepreneur or a subcontractor
appears to be preferred by many women because this can be easily combined with
housework and caring roles.66 However, women in this sector are saddled with low
pay and lack of rights and protection enjoyed by those in the formal sector.
In the formal sector, gender-related patterns in men and women’s employment

have been noted. Women can be found in jobs that are an extension of their
reproductive tasks, such as nursing, teaching, and domestic service. Men, on the other
hand, can be found in construction, fishing, transport and mining and quarrying.
Domestic helpers who are oftentimes abused and exploited account for a big number
of Filipino women employed locally and overseas. New workplaces, such as business
process outsourcing (BPOs) and other information and communication technology
(ICT)-based industries,67 have created hundreds of thousands of jobs for educated
women and men. Studies have, however, noted that women’s predominance in some
sectors owes to gender stereotyping in occupations and industries and in the tertiary-
level course chosen,68 as well as, bias in employment recruitment.69
Yet, another gender issue is the disparity in wages of women and men. This seems
to be particularly true in the agricultural sector where women receive, on the average,
83 centavos—or 17 centavos less—to every peso men get as daily basic pay. Outside
agriculture, the gender gap is narrower at 9 centavos.70
All these gender issues and more have been noted by DOLE whose GAD
mainstreaming strategy is reportedly anchored on seven priority areas, namely:
1. Promotion of equality in employment opportunities and treatment;
2. Advocacy against sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment;
3. Protection and promotion of the welfare of women in the informal sector,
particularly the home-based workers;
64
DOLE, 8 May 2008 http://www.dole.gov.ph./news/details.asp?id= N000000540.
65
Institute for Labor Studies, “Gender Equality at Work: Progress after Beijing and Continuing Challenges,” Philippine Labor
Review, Volume XXIV, Number 1, 2000, Department of Labor and Employment, pp.15-81.
66
ADB, CIDA, EC, NCRFW, UNICEF, UNIFEM, and UNFPA, Paradox and Promise in the Philippines: A Joint Country
Gender Assessment, Manila, 2008, p.35.
67
Paradox and Promise in the Philippines, p.28.
68
Institute for Labor Studies, “Gender Equality at Work: Progress after Beijing and Continuing Challenges.”
69
Illo, Jeanne Frances, “Promoting Gender Equality, Equity, and Women’s Development,” 2005 http://www.plcpdfound.org/
New%20Look/PT5-Illo-Full%20Paper.htm.
70
DOLE, Gender Statistics, Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, CD, n.d.

4. Protection and promotion of the welfare of female overseas Filipino workers;
5. Enhancement of the participation of women in policy-making and decision-
making processes in trade unions and other workers’ organizations;
6. Protection and promotion of the welfare of the girl-child; and
7. Harmonization of work and family responsibilities.
The list of issues evolved through a series of workshops, planning exercises and
local and international developments in the first half of the 1990s. The first three issues
were identified during consultations with women’s groups in 1991. In view of the rising
incidence of women’s labor migration and reports of abuses and exploitation in the
1990s, the issue of women OFWs was added by the DOLE Secretary who was also
an NCRFW commissioner at that time. The last three issues in the list were added
during a strategic planning workshop in 1994 (for the fifth issue), or in response to the
suggested areas of action of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women (for the last
two). Finally, gender legislation (see Table 5.1), such as the anti-sexual harassment
and anti-VAWC laws, has influenced DOLE to allocate part of the gender budget to
advocacy and services to eradicate or curb abuses against women.
Table 5.1: Selected legislation related to women workers
Law Short description

RA 6725: An Act Strengthening Under the law, the following are acts of discrimination:
the Prohibition on Discrimination Against Women "(a) Payment of a lesser compensation, including wage, salary or
with Respect to Terms and Conditions of other form of remuneration and fringe benefits, to a female
Employment Amending for the Purpose Art. 135 employee as against a male employee, for work of equal value; and
of the Labor Code, as Amended "(b) Favoring a male employee over a female employee with respect
(12 May 1989) to promotion, training opportunities, study and scholarship grants
solely on account of their sexes.”
RA 6972 : Barangay-Level Total Development Establishes day-care centers in every barangay in the country
and Protection of Children Act (23 Nov. 1990)
RA 7877: Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 Punishes sexual harassment. “Work, education or training-related
(14 February 1995) sexual harassment is committed by an employer, employee, manager,
supervisor, agent of the employer, teacher, instructor, professor
coach, trainor, or any other person who, having authority, influence
or moral ascendancy over another in a work or training or education
environment, demands, requests or otherwise requires any sexual
favor from the other, regardless of whether the demand, request or
requirement for submission is accepted by the object of said Act.”
RA 7882: An Act Providing Assistance to Women Grants credit assistance to women engaged in micro and cottage
Engaging in Micro and Cottage Business business enterprises
Enterprises and for other Purposes
(20 Feb. 1995)
RA 8042: Migrant Workers’ and Overseas Seeks to protect migrant workers and their families with the grant
Filipinos Act of 1995 (7 June 1995) of legal assistance, counseling, scholarships, etc.
Grants paternity leave of seven (7) days to all married employees

RA Act 8187: Paternity Leave Act of 1996
in the private and public sectors for the first four (4) deliveries of the
(11 June 1996)
legitimate spouse with whom he is cohabiting
THE DOLE CASE 99

Continuation of Table 5.1
Law Short description
RA 8289: Magna Charta for Small Enterprises Provides incentives and privileges to small enterprises
(8 May 1997)
RA 8425: Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Establishes the NAPC and institutes microfinance as a strategy
Act (11 December 1997) for poverty alleviation
Provides for benefits and privileges to solo parents and their children,
appropriating funds therefore and for other purposes. The Act aims
to develop a comprehensive package of social development and
welfare services to solo parents and their children to be carried out
RA Act 8972 : Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000
by the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(7 November 2000)
(lead agency), various government agencies and other related
NGOs. The comprehensive package of programs/services for solo
parents includes livelihood, self-employment and skills development,
employment-related benefits, psychosocial, educational, health and
housing services.
RA Act 9262: Anti Violence Against Women and Provides the legal framework governing the act of domestic violence
Children Act of 2004 (8 March 2004)
Source: Senate of the Philippines, House of Representatives Bills and Index Service

Gender budgeting was introduced at the Department of Labor and Employment
years after it embarked on gender mainstreaming. The latter began in the late 1980s,
shortly after the department conducted consultations and GSTs in connection with the
preparation of the Philippine Development Plan for Women.
GAD Leadership and Structures
The institutional structure for gender mainstreaming was first set up in the
department in 1990 when the GAD Focal Point was named and the Technical
Working Group was created to pilot test the implementation of the PDPW. The
first Chairperson of the Focal Point was then Undersecretary Nieves Confesor;
Undersecretary Cresenciano Trajano was named as Co-Chair. The members were
grouped into the regular clusters: labor relations, workers’ protection and welfare,
employment promotion, management services, policy and international affairs, and
regional office. Until 2006, the Bureau of Women and Young Workers (BWYW) served
as the Secretariat. (Pursuant to the DOLE Rationalization Plan, the BWYW and the
Bureau of Rural Workers were merged to form the Bureau of Workers with Special
Concerns, or BWSC.) In 1992, DOLE issued Administrative Order No. 103, which
provided a more defined role for the TWG and the focal point and their relationship.
Much of the gender mainstreaming successes through the mid-1990s at DOLE

could be attributed to the top-level support that gender mainstreaming was enjoying
during that time in the department. Indeed, leadership and political will to support
and mainstream GAD concerns is a hallmark of DOLE’s initial successes, and a

primary reason why in 1996 the NCRFW lauded DOLE as a “trailblazer in gender
mainstreaming,”71 and why it has reached Stage 3, or the GAD application phase,
by the late-1990s.72 Among these champions were two former Secretaries, Nieves
Confesor and Cresenciano Trajano, and Assistant Secretaries Mary Ann Fernandez
and Carmela Torres. The late Aura Sabilano, who headed the BWYW in the 1990s,
provided leadership to the technical mainstreaming work. It must be noted, too,
that the bureau had already been undertaking programs on women long before
gender mainstreaming became a government policy, although these programs rarely
considered the gender-relations context of women’s situation, the interventions and
their possible consequences.
Under the leadership of Secretary Confesor, the GAD Focal Point and the Technical
Working Group were revitalized but the TWG membership was reduced since it was
difficult to get a quorum during meetings. In 1997, a focal point and TWG were created
in every DOLE office, thereby replicating the structures in bureaus, regional offices and
attached agencies. In each office, the GAD focal point was tasked to direct the GAD
agenda and see to it that it is implemented within their unit, while the TWG, composed
of division chiefs, was initially responsible to implement projects in pursuit of PDPW.
The institutional setup and membership of GAD focal points and the TWG
have changed over time through a series of administrative orders. The issuance and
implementation of these policies—together with the CIDA-assisted Institutionalization
Strengthening Project of the NCRFW, of which DOLE was one of the pilot agencies—
also helped the department reach the third stage of the gender mainstreaming process
in 1996. However, the frequent reconstitution and changes in the TWG membership
and GAD Focal Point leadership have hampered, to some extent, the definitive
institutionalization of gender mainstreaming in the department.
Landmark GAD Policies
In addition to the policies that created and refined the GAD focal point and
TWG, there are several policies on GAD for which the DOLE has been known. These
provided important impetus for addressing gender concerns within the department
and its attached agencies and among their clients.
Years before the law on sexual harassment was passed, the DOLE had already
been putting in place the guidelines for an anti-sexual harassment policy in the
workplace through the issuance of AO 80 in 1991 and AO 68 in 1992.73 The formulation,
71
NCRFW, “Using the Tool for Gender Mainstreaming, Book 3,” A Guidebook on Gender Mainstreaming: How Far Have
We Gone?, Manila, 2001, p.2.
72
The NCRFW’s gender mainstreaming evaluation framework (GMEF) identifies four stages with which to evaluate agency
efforts in gender mainstreaming: Stage 1, or the foundation formation stage; Stage 2, the installation of strategic mechanisms;
Stage 3, GAD application; and Stage 4, commitment enhancement and institutionalization phase, which is the full realization and
implementation of gender mainstreaming.
73
NCRFW, “Using the Tool for Gender Mainstreaming, Book 3,” p.7.
THE DOLE CASE 101

dissemination and implementation of the policy profited from working closely with
trade and labor unions. The policy was crafted during a series of consultations with the
unions, making the process highly participative. Because of this, DOLE became a very
important player in the advocacy for the passage of the anti-sexual harassment law.
All these transpired at the time when it was in the forefront of gender mainstreaming
within the Philippine government bureaucracy. The BWYW cites its work on the issue
as something they were proud of.
Labor standards comprise an area where DOLE could make a great contribution
in promoting gender-fair work conditions. It has crafted and modified regulations
involving employment contracts of domestic helpers, and raised the minimum age
requirement for their deployment overseas. It has also developed guidelines on the
training, testing, certification and deployment of performing artists; policy guidelines
for workers in the informal sector; and module on negotiation skills and grievance
handling. The labor and employment department also attempted to come up with
guidelines (AO 71, series of 1991) on equal employment opportunities. It likewise
reviewed the Labor Code of the Philippines. The review covered maternity leave
benefits and involved considering the inclusion of a gender perspective, particularly,
protection against sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination in the workplace.
Aside from these initiatives, the department issued and carried out AO 250, series
of 1995. This order embodies the rules and regulations for implementing the anti-
sexual harassment law (RA 7877) in the department, and mandates the formation of
the Committee on Decorum and Investigation in the DOLE central office, regional
offices and attached agencies. The department also helped craft the Implementing
Rules and Regulations of landmark, gender-related labor laws, such as RA 6725 and
RA 8187 (see Table 5.1).
In addition, DOLE embarked on promoting GAD consciousness and appreciation

among officials and staff, building and maintaining a gender database, and
integrating GAD concerns in the department’s projects and services. All these gender
mainstreaming efforts have been made possible by the implementation of the GAD
policy by the department.
Planning Process
The gender planning and budgeting in DOLE begins when the DBM (or, in some
years, the NCRFW) asks the department, through the Secretary, to submit its GAD
Plan and Budget. The Secretary then instructs the Planning Service (or BWYW when
it was still the Secretariat) to draft the memo for the other agencies to craft their

plans that would be integrated into the department’s GAD Plan.74 The Plan is then
presented to Congress in a public hearing, as part of the department budget.
The annual corporate planning and mid-term assessment are venues for the
institutionalization of the gender budget in DOLE.75 The central office consolidates
the gender plans and budgets of the various services, bureaus, and regional offices,
and reported the result as the Office of the Secretary (OSEC) GAD Plan and Budget.
Attached agencies, for their part, prepare their own GAD Plans. Their respective
technical working groups and GAD focal points meet to craft the agency’s GAD Plan
and Budget. These plans and budgets often contain the same things as the previous
year, mainly because these are viewed as activities that would surely be approved.
This, and the fact that the plans do not cost more than a hundred thousand pesos, also
make it easy for the agency to monitor and evaluate the plans for compliance.
The department has some stakeholders’ consultation mechanisms in place. Its

regional implementers are required to consult women or women’s organizations
during preparation of project proposals for skills and livelihood training.76 Regions
usually have accredited partner-women’s organizations that participate in focus group
discussions on the kind of skills training the women wish. Meanwhile, in the formal
sector, tripartite consultations (involving labor, management, and government) are
intrinsic part of program implementation. All these may have influenced gender
planning and budgeting, but rarely were consultations organized purposely for it.
According to the BWYW, they have dutifully used GAD guidelines and tools,
including the GMEF and the NCRFW guidelines on GAD budgeting, in their GAD
planning and budgeting exercises. But the frequent changes in these guidelines have
often made it difficult to comply with these. To help attached agencies and regional
offices catch up, they need the help of NCRFW to orient them on these guidelines.
Even the Planning Service recognizes that GAD budgeting is a new area in which they
need technical support, compared to BWYW, who had handled the task for years.
The DOLE had a good head start in gender mainstreaming primarily because
of its involvement with the crafting of the PDPW. To write the chapter on labor in
the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development, the members of the GAD
Focal Point and/or TWG attended a series of workshops that also allowed them to
identify key gender issues that impact on their mandate. It helped that DOLE had the
BWYW. This enabled DOLE to easily identify programs for women, but this meant
that many of the programs focused on women’s practical needs and on women as a
special sector. The latter perpetuates the view that women’s needs are separate from
74
Ma. Evelyn Lita P. Managan and Cecile Javier, interview, DOLE Central Office, 14 July 2009.
75
Delia Obedoza, Planning Service, personal interview, DOLE, 14 July 2009.
76
Comments on a draft version of the chapter from the BWSC, 20 September 2010.
THE DOLE CASE 103

the other mandates of the department and that BWYW should only be concerned with
women.
After the PPGD engagement, DOLE has been using its annual planning and mid-
year workshops as venues for identifying current issues and prioritizing these for
action. The issues and programs, activities and projects consist of those related to the
organization, and those focused on clients.
Organization-related
There are key organization-related gender issues that are key themes of the gender
plans and budgets of DOLE and its attached agencies. These refer to capacity building,
participation in Women’s Month celebration, and gender-responsive human resources
development.
• Capability building and gender sensitivity training. The GAD training and
seminars are perennial entries in GAD Plans and Budgets. These are very
important for apprising DOLE employees and officials of trends, developments
and tools that need to be learned. The reconstitution of TWGs also requires
recurring training and follow-up sessions. The projects and activities include
training sessions aimed at creating awareness of migration-related issues,
such as, trafficking and exploitation of women; developing an understanding
of the changing nature of women’s work and required legislation and policies;
and building skills to implement programs in gender-responsive ways. It is
not clear, however, whether these capability-enhancing activities have yielded
more gender-sensitive and competent DOLE officials and staff. Hence, while
DOLE must be commended for having taken a lead in capacitating its staff,
an evaluation of the capacity-development program is needed. Recurrence of
GSTs and similar training in the gender budget may also indicate that the
department has not moved to higher-level gender training.
• Advocacy. Formal sessions are often not sufficient to create an appreciation

of gender mainstreaming. At the NCMB, the GAD Focal Point has created a
GAD corner wherein division chiefs and employees can have coffee, talk, and
peruse GAD issuances and magazines. The gender PAPs also include sessions
that have resource persons or speakers on specific GAD issues.
Messages need to be reinforced, something that celebratory activities

may accomplish. It is no surprise, therefore, that all the GAD plans contain
activities to observe the Women’s Month. The department has included other
events, such as Rural Workers’ Month, and, in the case of NLRC, the agency’s
anniversary. For most agencies, the Women’s Month budget covers the cost of
t-shirts for employees attending the celebrations. In sharp contrast, the GAD
Focal Point of NCMB claimed that they celebrate Women’s Day by gender

role-switching for the day. Men are required to cook and do women’s work in
the office while women sit back and rest.
• Gender-responsive human resource development. The gender plans,

almost always, also include three human-resources issues: equal training
opportunities for female and male employees, wellness of employees, and
poverty alleviation for the DOLE staff. Gender equality in access to training
opportunities is especially important since the department has a policy on
gender balance and gender-aware criteria for recruitment, hiring and training
of employees. Wellness and poverty alleviation activities, however, are rarely
backed by a solid gender analysis. Wellness activities have been included
in the plans without any clear link to a gender issue or a gender equality or
equity goal. Meanwhile, livelihood training sessions have covered anything
from haircut to network marketing.
• Sex-disaggregated data. The gender budgets regularly support the profiling

of women workers and the conduct of surveys of special group of workers
that provide valuable information on the conditions of women workers. In
contrast, the HRDS does not have sex-disaggregated data on the department’s
personnel complement.
Client-focused
A second set of gender issues and PAPs refers to the clients and partners of the
Department of Labor and Employment. These are workers’ organizations, rural
workers, migrant workers, informal sector, and the like. Some of the issues require
policy review and action; others, training and advocacy.
• Policy guidelines for women workers. Labor standards help shape the terms
and conditions for both women and men workers. To facilitate assessment
of policies and their possible gender-related impacts, the department has
included PAPs to review its policies, International Labour Organization (ILO)
conventions on maternity protection, and implementation of new laws that
affect women workers, such as the night work prohibition.
• Advocacy for women’s membership in trade or labor unions. Under the

PPGD, CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action, and the Magna Carta of
Women, DOLE is committed to advocate for gender balance in labor and
trade union membership and leadership. To this end, it has included PAPs
for GSTs and advocacy materials for workers’ organizations.
• Capacity development for women in the informal sector. Due to the huge
number of women workers in the informal sector, the DOLE has prioritized
projects and activities that build the capacity and improve the livelihood skills
THE DOLE CASE 105

of informal-sector workers. But because of the nature of their jobs, it might
also be very difficult to cover all women workers and account for them.
• Implementation of legislation. The DOLE has been involved in the crafting of

a law (the Paternity Leave Act) or provided inputs to the employment-related
provisions of the IRR (the Solo Parents’ Law) that could help abate women’s
multiple burdens. Meanwhile, under its child labor program, DOLE, the Visayan
Forum and the ILO have actively sought the passage of the Kasambahay Law,
which would increase the legal protection for girl children working as domestic
helpers. While private companies might be influenced by DOLE to implement
laws, such as the Solo Parents’ Law, and the usual maternity benefits, the
challenge remains that most women are in the informal sector where there is
little social protection. In the case of child labor projects, some are planned for
local-level implementation with the help of NGOs.
• Programs for women OFWs. In view of the rising feminization of labor

migration, DOLE agencies—particularly, POEA and TESDA—have included
PAPs for training programs, and the development of modules and advocacy
and information materials that are geared towards increasing the protection
of women migrant workers, especially domestic helpers and caregivers.
In general, the DOLE central office has found a balance between organization and
client-focused issues in their GAD plans. However, in key attached agencies, the plans
cite the same ‘gender issues’ but with PAPs (such as, internship program for poor
students and skills enhancement for the youth) that may not really be considered as
related to GAD. The fact that these have gender budgets lower than P100,000 might
also be a real constraint for a thorough gender analysis prior to gender planning.
Compliance
Reporting
From 2000 to 2007, the DOLE Central Office submitted a total of eight (8) GAD
plans, all of which included a budget (see Table 5.2). Of its 11 attached agencies, ten
(10) submitted GAD plans for least one year during the eight-year period. However,
the OSHC lone GAD plan submission in 2004 was actually financed by ODA funds.
A total of 44 GAD Plan submissions were noted, of which 38, or 86.4 percent,
included both a plan and a budget (see Table 5.2). The 38 Plans and Budgets
constituted 47.5 of the expected 80 reports from the Office of the Secretary and the
nine agencies. Aside from the Office of the Secretary, which has consistently submitted
its GAD Plans and Budgets during the period under review, ILS and NWPC have been
most regular in their submissions.

Table 5.2:
5.2: GAD
GADPlans
Plansand
andBudgets
Budgetsand
andAccomplishment
AccomplishmentReports by DOLE
Reports of the Office
DOLE of the Secretary
Office of the Secretary and
and attached
attached agencies,
agencies, 2000-2007
2000-2007
GAD Plans and Budgets, Accomplishment Reports,

2000-2009 2000-2008
Office/ % to total Average % to

% to
Agency Total GAD Average No. of Total GAD GAD yearly GAD average No. of
DOLE
budget per year GPBs* budget spent budget budget GAD ARs*
total
spent spent budget
OSEC 988,708,934 60.39 123,588,617 8 (8) 585,416,311 89.75 73,177,039 59.21 4 (4)
ECC 25,000 --** 3,125 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 (0)
ILS 3,772,000 0.23 471,500 8 (8) 259,740 0.04 32,468 6.89 2(2)
NCMB 45,983,000 2.81 5,747,874 4 (3) 7,483,000 1.15 935,375 16.27 1 (1)
NLRC 1,320,000 0.08 165,000 2 (1) 0 0 0 0 1(0)
NMP 30,974,850 1.89 3,871,856 3(2) 25,440 --** 3,180 0.08 1 (1)
NWPC 32,312,000 1.97 4,039,000 8 (7) 32,985,000 5.06 4,123,125 102.8 8 (7)
OSHC*** - - 1 (0) - - - - -
OWWA 906,730 0.06 113,341 2 (1) __+ __+ __+ __+ __+
POEA 1,110,621 0.07 138,828 2 (2) 2,510,665 0.38 313,833 226.06 2 (2)
TESDA 532,062,000 32.50 66,507,750 5 (5) 23,597,355 3.62 2,949,669 4.44 2 (3)
TOTAL 1,637,150,135 100.00 204,643,767 44 (38) 652,277,511 100.00 81,534,689 39.84 21 (21)
TOTAL
less ECC, 1,636,218,405 204,527,300 40 (36) 652,277,511 81,534,689 39.8 21 (21)
OSHC,
OWWA
*The GPB and AR entries refer to the number of all GPBs and ARs submitted, both complete and incomplete, while the entries in
parentheses refer to complete submissions, that is, GPBs including both GAD Plan and Budget, while ARs include amount spent for
planned activities that were undertaken during the year.
**Less than 0.01 percent
***The lone OSHC submission (in 2004) amounted to P9,357,000, which reportedly came from foreign-assisted projects.
+
No available data
Prior to 2000, the department had three consolidated GAD Plan and Budget
submissions: one in 1995 for P37 million; another in 1996 for P26 million and the third
in 1999 for P281 million. In 1998, separate GAD plans and budgets were prepared by
10 of the 11 attached agencies, and submitted to NCRFW and DBM. Since then, the
numbers had fluctuated but never exceeded ten.
From 2000 to 2007, the gender budgets for DOLE and its attached agencies
varied from year to year, but averaged about P205 million a year. Not surprisingly,
the Office of the Secretary, which consists of the services, line bureaus and regional
offices, accounts for 60.4 percent of the average annual GAD budget. The TESDA,
with P66.5 million, contributes 32.5 percent. This is understandable since the two
offices receive the biggest portion of the entire DOLE budget. The NCMB, NMP and
NWPC combine for 6.6 percent.
In the case of the annual GAD Accomplishment Report, complete submissions

should include indications of budget utilization. If all agencies that submitted GAD Plans
and Budgets turned in a complete report, there would have been a total of 80 reports for
THE DOLE CASE 107

2000 to 2007. However, only 21 were actually submitted, or an average submission rate
of 26.2 percent. Of the 21, only 15 were complete submissions (GAD Plan and Budget
and Accomplishment Report) for the same year. These 15 complete submissions make
up 18.8 percent of the total submissions from the 10 agencies, but only a reporting
compliance rate—based on the total expected 96 complete reports from the Office of the
Secretary and the 11 attached agencies of the department—of 15.6 percent.
Budget
The department’s GAD budget levels for 2000 and subsequent years are reasonably
high. If one discounts the high numbers, they account for 0.6 percent (in the case of
POEA in 2000) to 9.1 percent (NWPC in 2004) of the total agency budget, and 1.3
percent (POEA in 2000) to 16.7 percent (ILS in 2002) of the MOOE (see Table 5.3).
5.3: GAD
Table 5.3: GADbudget
budgetasofpercentage
DOLE as percentage of total(GAA)
of agency budget agency and
and MOOEforbudgets,
MOOE, selectedselected
years years
GAD budget as percent of

Agency 2000 2002 2004 2006
Total MOOE Total MOOE Total MOOE Total MOOE
No. of agencies
6 5 5 3
with GAD budget
OSEC 2.3 3.8 17.0 38.0 22.0 2.6 5.2
ILS 2.7 6.8 5.3 16.7 2.3 8.3 0.7 2.2
NCMB * * 18.6 51.0 * * * *
NMP 36.5 95.0 * * * * * *
NWPC * * 5.0 13.0 9.1 28.0 5.0 13.3
POEA 0.6 1.3 * * * * * *
TESDA 6.5 12.4 3.5 8.8 5.4 15.0 * *
With no GAD 4 5 5 7
budget for ECC, NCMB, ECC, NLRC, NMP, NCMB. NLRC, NMP, ECC, NCMB, NLRC,
the year NLRC, NWPC OWWA, POEA OWWA, POEA NMP, OWWA,
POEA, TESDA
With GAD
budgets, but no
OWWA ECC
agency budget
from the GAA
*No GAD budget for the year obtained from sources
Of the DOLE agencies, NWPC complied most consistently with the 5 percent
required by the GAD Budget Policy, whether in terms of the agency’s total or operating
budget. Except in 2002, TESDA has also been compliant vis-à-vis the total agency
budget. Some agencies who claimed that they have allocated above the 5-percent
requirement might actually be comparing their GAD budget to their MOOE. For
instance, the ILS (which has complete data entry in Table 5.3) more than complied
with the 5 percent requirement for the years 2000, 2002 and 2004 if the GAD budget
were based on the MOOE, but not when compared with the total agency budget
appropriations.

The highlighted high figures in Table 5.3 suggest problems in the way the GAD
budgets have been determined, and expenses attributed to it. Some of the high
budgets include inappropriate allocations. These are either for non-GAD concerns,
or for projects and activities that have unclear links to GAD. A good example is the
gender budget for the National Maritime Polytechnic. In 2000, it had a training PAP
that was valued at P28 million, which was 36.5 percent of the total agency budget
and a whopping 95 percent of the MOOE. The program was for the training of the
maritime sector, which is practically the mandate of the agency. However, the plan
was not clear how the training would be gender-responsive. The erroneous inclusion
of non-GAD programs and projects in budgets and GAD reports might not actually be
a deliberate attempt by officials to bloat the budget, but, rather, a result of a lack of
sufficient technical skills in gender analysis.
In the case of the 2002 and 2004 gender budgets for the Office of Secretary, these
(mistakenly) included the budget for the Special Program for the Employment of
Students, which ranged from P140 million to P180 million a year, based on the argument
that the program would cover women anyway.77 The NCRFW and the Financial
Management Services of DOLE called the attention of the BWYW, which prepared the
gender budgets, since the budget went beyond 5 percent of the departmental budget.
Moreover, it was told that the program was not necessarily related to GAD. The BWYW
has excluded the program from the GAD Plan and Budget after 2004.
There have been ambiguities surrounding GAD budget determination and

attribution. Although there is a GAD budget, this is expected to be integrated into the
relevant agency budget items. Moreover, interviewed officials of DOLE and attached
agencies explained that DBM rules bar them from using personnel and capital outlay
items of the budget, such that they are convinced that the gender budget should only
come from the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses, even if it runs counter
to the mandate of the law. To many at DOLE and its agencies, personnel and the
capital outlay are key budget items that cannot be ‘touched.’ Because of this, even the
establishment of a day care center or the hiring of a gender expert or consultant is
taken from the MOOE.
Drawing the entire GAD budget from the MOOE reinforces the notion of gender
mainstreaming as a separate concern. An alternative attribution of items in the gender
budget would have staff hired for the day care and lactation centers and for keeping
records and documents related to the GAD budget and mainstreaming functions of the
department ‘attributed’ or allocated from the DOLE or agency personnel budget item.
Meanwhile, the establishment of a women’s center such as that of TESDA (although this
is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency) could be treated as a capital
outlay item. In whatever way the gender budget is actually integrated in the agency
budget, this would cause problems at the budget execution and reporting stages.
77
Cecile Javier, personal communication, 18 June 2010.
THE DOLE CASE 109

The GAD Accomplishment Reports of the Office of the Secretary and Central Office
claim that it has spent 59 percent, on the average, of its gender budget (see Table 5.2).
Outside the Office of the Secretary, the utilization rate can be as low as 0.6 percent,
which was recorded by NMP. This could be due to the difficulty of actually attributing
regular programs, projects and activities to GAD. The reverse seems to be true in the
case of POEA, which claims that it has spent twice as much as what it has budgeted
for GAD projects and activities. The variations in the GAD budget execution may be
caused by several factors, but most importantly by the ease or difficulty of getting the
GAD funds released. 78
As in most government agencies in the country, access to the gender budget at

DOLE depends to a great degree on the presence of champions who are committed
to advocate for it. Up to 2006, the GAD champions at DOLE included Secretaries,
Undersecretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and several bureau and agency heads. They
moved the GAD Focal Points, TWGs, and Central Office Services and agency budget
and finance offices to support gender mainstreaming, thereby facilitating the release
of gender funds.
More recently, access to the GAD budget has been constrained by several issues.
Foremost of these is the notion within the DOLE central office, for instance, that there
is no need for a specific GAD budget release, as the work of DOLE necessarily involves
women and all its expenses have ‘gender’ elements, with or without the GAD budget.
The second issue relates to the transfer of the GAD Secretariat from the BWYW
to the Planning Service. This has caused some dissension within the department.
On the one hand, the Planning Service does not see itself as the appropriate office to
serve as GAD Secretariat, believing that it does not have the mandate to implement
or manage projects, including gender mainstreaming. The BWYW, on the other hand,
holds that gender mainstreaming is “inextricably linked with planning functions.”79
It maintains the view that the secretariat needs to be lodged with the Planning
Service considering its broad oversight function and its unique role in facilitating
the annual department-wide corporate planning exercise and mid-year assessment
activity. Moreover, the Service is the repository of individual agency plans, targets and
accomplishments. These constitute the bulk of the information needed for DOLE-wide
annual GAD reports (plans and accomplishments) for submission to the NCRFW.80
78
Despite the different projects and activities supported by the GAD budgets, there is a pervasive notion within the agencies
that a large part of the GAD budget—about 60 percent per estimate of the DOLE Financial and Management Services—are usually
spent during the Women’s Month of March.
79
80
Comments from BWSC, 20 September 2010.

The difference in opinions between BWYW and the Planning Service has affected
gender mainstreaming work at the department, including GAD planning, budgeting,
and the movement of gender funds that have already been allocated.
Lastly, government directives for expenditure cuts invariably reduce the actual
allocations for GAD. In recent years, extra bonuses usually announced by the President
at the end of the year, often require that it be taken from the savings of the agency. To
increase savings that it could report, government agencies, including DOLE, scrimp
on budgetary items, including the gender budget.
Accounting for the GAD Budget
In the 1990s, the department had oriented its agencies and bureaus on how
to properly monitor and evaluate programs and assess their impacts on target
beneficiaries against its seven priority gender issues.81 The DOLE Financial
Management Service, however, admits that it has always been difficult to account for
and report on accomplishments against the gender budget. There are no budget line
items for GAD, making it hard to identify which projects or costs could be allocated
for GAD, and which they could not. In some instances, this has resulted in the wrong
attribution of expense items to GAD, thereby bloating GAD expenses. Conversely, a
lack of expertise in gender analysis might have lowered the reported gender budget
executed since it may not account for PAPs that could have otherwise been included.
The Financial Management Service proposes that a code be included in the financial
management system so that they can easily monitor GAD budget projects.
The annual GAD Accomplishment Report is a tool for assessing how well an
agency has utilized its gender budget. None of the DOLE agencies, including the Office
of the Secretary or the Central Office, have complete reports for the period 2000 to
2007. When asked for the GAD reports, the central office was able to provide complete
reports for only four years. They admit that some files may have been lost due to
frequent transfer of offices of the BWYW, and also the transfer of GAD Secretariat
responsibilities to the Planning Service. Attached agencies cited similar reasons
on why they have no complete file of GAD documents. This suggests little interest
in keeping records for future evaluation. This is, however, endemic in government
offices, not just on GAD concerns.
The resulting lack of systematic recordkeeping has prevented the agency from
building a complete database that would have allowed it to analyze the performance of
the department and its agencies in addressing their priority gender issues. The hiring
or assignment of GAD staff to attend to the filing and storage of GAD documents,
including gender budgets, may be an important step to building the database.
81
NCRFW, “Using the Tool for Gender Mainstreaming,” 2001, p.14.
THE DOLE CASE 111

The gender budget has supported GAD mainstreaming efforts in the Department
of Labor and Employment and its attached agencies. As the discussion, below, would
show, the results have been mixed, with gains sometimes outweighed by problems.
Because leadership is crucial in pushing for gender mainstreaming, it is unfortunate
that when GAD champions are no longer around, the initial gains are threatened.
Evolution of a More Inclusive Gender Mainstreaming Mechanism
The series of administrative orders issued by DOLE relative to the constitution

of the GAD focal point and the TWG reflected its continuing efforts to convince and
involve other units in the work of gender mainstreaming. Today, regional offices and
attached agencies are urged to have their own GAD structural mechanism. Supported
by the gender budget, this decentralization has widened the opportunity for gender
mainstreaming. However, this has caused some problems because a number of offices
or agencies found it difficult to find advocates and officials who are willing to take
on the task of gender mainstreaming, or who have competence in GAD. In some
attached agencies, such as the NCMB, the focal points are rotated so as not to burden
a few with additional work that is not really their job. This rotation has prevented
advocates from developing capacities in GAD. While the decentralization of gender
mainstreaming may also be sound, the DOLE experience suggests that officials and
staff at the regional and attached agency levels need constant training and advocacy
so that they can influence the work of mainstreaming GAD in their own organizations.
Development of Gender Awareness and Competencies
Training, workshops and seminars are key inputs to moving gender mainstreaming
forward in an agency like DOLE. Because of the continuous reconstitution of the
GAD focal point and technical working groups, most of the training sessions were
actually GSTs that aimed at raising awareness of gender issues, unlike in the first
years of the implementation of the gender budget policy, when the department was
able to offer more advanced gender training to the focal points and TWG members.
Particularly during this period, two factors were crucial to the efforts to build GAD
capacities. In addition to DOLE funding, ODA donor support has been important; so
has the institutional guidance by NCRFW. The ILO and the Canadian International
Development Agency are key international donors that figure in the DOLE gender
mainstreaming documents. The NCRFW is also cited by DOLE officials as having
“held their hand” in terms of training and guidance while they were doing their initial
stages of gender mainstreaming.

Increased skills in gender planning and programming can be seen from the
integrated plan that the focal points and TWGs crafted for DOLE in 2000, their successful
policy advocacy, their incorporation of GAD concerns in the various programs of the
department, and the training programs they developed and conducted for key clients
of DOLE. These series of training focused on, among others, sexual harassment and
other gender laws that impact employers and workers, and skills training for domestic
helpers and informal-sector workers. However, some of the so-called GAD training
do not have clear GAD goal or dimension. Even the institutionalized pre-departure
orientation seminars for migrant workers, which has been hailed internationally as
a good ‘model’, is being criticized by some sectors as still lacking in terms of tackling
gender issues of migration and migrants’ work.
Drafting of the DOLE Integrated Plan for 2000
As a forward-looking agency, the Department of Labor and Employment formulated

its Integrated GAD Plan 2000, or simply ‘GAD 2000’. To boost the implementation
of the PPGD at DOLE and the labor and employment sector, GAD 2000 aimed to
restructure all the ongoing programs and projects of the department. Key to this
restructuring is the incorporation of specific GAD strategies in labor legislation and
education, enforcement of labor standards, the promotion of trade unionism, and
skills training. It also aimed to refocus its overseas employment program by shifting
the deployment of Filipino women workers away from unskilled and low-paying jobs,
where they are more susceptible to unfair labor practices, to higher paying ones.
The GAD 2000 mapped out several key result areas, or KRAs (see Box 5.1).82 It also
assigned the units, bureaus and offices that would implement the KRAs and the time
frame for their completion. While this plan is commendable for its comprehensiveness,
it is difficult to assess whether in fact all the KRAs have been successfully met.
Box 5.1: DOLE Key Result Areas (2000)

1) Mainstreaming gender concerns in DOLE through improved gender responsiveness of resource
allocation for policies, plans and programs; improved gender responsiveness of the labor statistical
system; enhanced gender awareness of DOLE’s top officials and rank and file employees; improved
capability of program implementers on gender-responsive planning and implementation; and
integration of gender concerns in DOLE’s regular plans and programs
2) Advocacy of gender concerns among DOLE’s social partners through increased awareness in GAD;
and strengthened networking and linkages
3) Expansion of current programs and projects addressing gender concerns through improved participation
of women trade union leaders in grievance machinery and collective bargaining negotiations;
improved access of women to training opportunities to enhance their chances for employment;
representation of women in major policy-making bodies; full enforcement of laws, particularly in terms
of promoting equal employment opportunities and curbing sex-based discrimination in the workplace;
and development and implementation of reintegration programs for returning women overseas contract
workers.
82
NCRFW, “Using the Tool for Gender Mainstreaming,” 2001, p.14.
THE DOLE CASE 113

Generation of Sex-Disaggregated Data
The DOLE may have lacked a database on its gender budgets, but it has successfully
maintained and published sex-disaggregated data on labor and employment. Its major
achievement, the “Gender and Labor and Employment Statistics,” is produced every
year in hard copy and in CD format, with some information available on the Internet.
The data compilation has been valuable to researchers and policymakers.
The department, particularly BLES and ILS, began collecting and collating
sex-disaggregated labor and employment data as part of its gender mainstreaming
program in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It draws from the labor force surveys of
the National Statistics Office for the “Gender and Labor and Employment Statistics,”
and has conducted its own surveys and studies on occupational mobility of women,
women participation in unionism, and similar studies. The DOLE agencies, however,
have found it hard to compel its offices to collect and collate sex-disaggregated
administrative data and other gender-related information because most still consider
these as an additional burden. Such was the experience of the NLRC, whose plans
to have sex-disaggregated data on labor disputes and decisions were thwarted by
uncooperative heads of offices. Nevertheless, there is a need to have more localized
data, and gender-aware way of collecting and recording data particularly in key
attached agencies, such as the NLRC, NCMB, and POEA, that deal with gender issues
that might not necessarily always be captured by government surveys. Moreover, as
already noted above, the DOLE central office does not maintain sex-disaggregated
data of DOLE officials and employees.
Gender Balance
As one of the key policy outputs of the early gender mainstreaming efforts,
Administrative Order No. 71, Series of 1991, has institutionalized equal-opportunity
employment and gender balance in DOLE. As a result of this, more females have
been promoted and appointed to key positions in the agency and its attached offices.
This was also aided by the fact that the department has had two female Secretaries.
Currently, the head of POEA and OWWA are both females. In the NCMB, an office
tasked with conciliation and mediation of labor concerns, there are 110 female
mediators fielded all over the country compared to 85 males. Meanwhile, the GAD
Focal Point for NCMB is a male. The feminization of migration has also compelled
DOLE to have more women labor attaches.
While DOLE has sought to imbue its employees and officials with gender
sensitivity, this has been problematic when there is an organizational culture that
relegates gender concerns only to female employees or officials. Indeed, during the
administration of Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, she put in place gender-responsive

criteria in the selection, placement and promotion of personnel and in the selection of
nominee for both foreign and local scholarships and training programs.

To a certain extent, the gender mainstreaming achievements of DOLE reflect
its commitment to CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action, and other GAD-related
conventions. The gender budgets have supported programs and projects that address
the key gender issues in the labor and employment sector. However, reported
successes have limited reach, and policies have yet to be fully implemented to effect
improvements in the conditions of women workers.
Improved Women’s Access to Economic Opportunities
The Women Workers’ Employment and Entrepreneurship Development (WEED)

Program, a very important project of DOLE, aims to increase the capability and access
of women to opportunities and resources. Introduced during the administration
of President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, the program provides credit or capital
resources, livelihood, and capability building activities for the women in the informal
sector. It was modified during the term of Secretary Sto. Tomas to focus on training
cum production scheme to further improve the viability of the program. The promotion
of rural employment was also given a boost by the implementation of the Promotion
of Rural Employment and Entrepreneurship Development (PRESEED) training cum
production. This is very important especially for women who mostly work in the
agricultural sector in the rural areas. From 2004 to 2007, DOLE provided services
to 61,698 women through the WEED program. Meanwhile, from 2001 to 2007, it
granted 40,006 jobs through its PRESEED program.
On a different vein, the relaxation on night work prohibition is said to be a result

of the PAPs involving a continuing review of policy guidelines on women workers. It
has given women access to the job opportunities in the Business Process Outsourcing
industry, more popularly known as call centers. Today, about 60 percent of call center
employees are women.83 For this to be possible in view of the Philippine Labor Code
provision on night work for women, DOLE grants exemptions to call centers. In lieu of
the painfully slow process of amending the Code, the department issues an exemption
15 days after it receives the request letter. A copy of the exemption is provided to
the legal and regional labor offices for monitoring purposes during site inspections.
In response to the growing concerns of some sectors regarding the health effects of
night work, DOLE has also issued a circular instructing all call centers to comply with
certain safety and health standards.
83
Keitel, Robert and Melissa Dorothy Ledesma, “Night Work Prohibition of Women Workers in the Philippine Call Center
Industry,” a paper presented at the International Conference on Regulating for Decent Work, Geneva, 8-10 July 2009, 16 June 2010
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/pdf/rdwpaper35b.pdf.
THE DOLE CASE 115

Creating Awareness on Gender Issues in the Workplace
As part of its mandate to implement the anti-sexual harassment law, DOLE has
incorporated GAD projects and activities to prepare and disseminate information kits,
and to support training and technical assistance. It took charge of orienting managers
of Public Employment Service Offices on the anti-sexual harassment law and assisted
companies all over the country in creating their CODI. The NCRFW claims that there
has been a decrease in reported cases from 53 in 2004 to 18 in 2008.84 The data, of
course, could mean merely a decline in interest to report, rather than a real reduction
in incidence. However, a female trade union officer reportedly views the trend as
suggesting that sexual harassment complaints may have been resolved by the grievance
machinery, hence, have not resulted to full-blown sexual harassment cases.85
In addition to sexual harassment-focused PAPs, the department has included in

its GAD plans advocacy PAPs, such as the preparation of modules on GST, counseling,
and the rights of household helpers and women workers; and, the development of
primer-comics on home workers, the majority of whom are women. The Family
Welfare Program is another fine example of a DOLE project that seeks to institute
within member establishments a general sense of awareness on women’s issues in the
workplace, such as, sexual harassment and other needs that have gender dimensions.
Family Welfare Committees have been established in member establishments that
are continually trained on key gender issues, including income and livelihood-related
concerns.
Created Legal Support for Balancing Work and Family Life

Responsibilities
As a result of DOLE advocacy, technical assistance and partnership with civil

society partners, all budgeted in its PAPs, landmark laws that support balance
to work and family life have been approved by Congress (see Table 5.1). The Solo
Parent Law grants seven (7) working days of parental leave to legally defined single
parents, a majority of whom are women. Meanwhile, the Paternity Leave Law grants
seven (7) working days to married male employees in private and public companies
whose wives gave birth. This aims to give support to women during their recovery
period. Nonetheless, existing maternity leave benefits in the country still fall short of
standards in other countries that usually last up to 12 weeks, compared to the eight
weeks (for normal delivery) and 78 days (for caesarian operation) in the Philippines.
On a different vein, the anti-VAWC law provides for a VAWC leave of up to ten (10)
days to private-sector women employees who are victims of violence, as defined by
law. The leave benefit shall cover the days that the women spent to attend to her
84
NCRFW, “Statistics on Violence against Filipino Women,” 2009, 16 June 2010 www.ncrfw.gov.ph/index.php/statistics-
onfilipino- women/14-factsheets-on-filipino-women/73-statistcs-fs-violence-against-filipino-women.
85

medical and health needs. Although these legislative results provide a much-needed
legal framework, implementation and enforcement of the laws do not necessarily
follow nor do the results.
Enhanced Protection of Specific Sectors
Informal sector
The informal sector is an important employer of women workers, but it has been
in the margin of the country’s economy. The DOLE has sought to create an enabling
environment to build the capacities for the protection of the informal sector. It partly
drew on the GAD budget for its micro-finance program, the conduct of GAD orientation
sessions and seminars in five pilot areas, and consultation initiatives with LGUs to
facilitate informal-sector workers’ enrolment in the Social Security System (SSS). The
DOLE has also partnered with NGOs to promote self-help schemes among informal-
sector workers. It likewise worked with the Balingasa chapter (in the National Capital
Region) of PATAMABA, a network of home-based workers, which pioneered the
Automatic Debit Account program in Quezon City, in partnership with the PS Bank.
Under the program, informal-sector workers can open accounts at the PS Bank from
which their SSS contributions would be deducted. Largely self-employed, informal-
sector workers form part of the 5.4 million self-employed SSS members in 2009.
In the area of occupational health, some 2.2 million workers in medium and
large enterprises, all in the formal sector, benefit from occupational safety and
health protection and services. This is less than 10 percent of the total work force,
and does not cover the large majority consisting of informal-sector workers.86 Finally,
membership of individually paying Philhealth members, among which are informal-
sector workers, numbers 3.33 million, a mere 17 percent of total membership.
Overseas Filipino workers
The feminization of out-migration has put pressure on DOLE to exert extra

effort in protecting women migrant workers. While the GAD projects and activities
of TESDA and the POEA contain series of training and information campaigns to
combat trafficking and other abuses, it remains to be seen whether these activities
are indeed working, given the still huge proportion of irregular Filipino migrants
overseas. Despite knowing the risks, many women still seek employment abroad due
to lack of much better opportunities in the country. Moreover, policies may backfire.
For instance, the recent POEA guidelines that pegged the salary of domestic helpers
at US$400 a month and the minimum age at 23 may, on the one hand, regulate the
hiring process, but may, on the other, increase irregular labor migration.
86
Proceedings at the Colloquium on Workers’ Protection in the Informal Economy held in Manila. 2006. 17 June 2010. www.
ilo.org/public/english/region/ asro/manila/downloads/ilapi06.pdf.
THE DOLE CASE 117

Girl child
The DOLE Sagip Batang Manggagawa Project aims to protect and rescue
children engaged in the worst form of child labor, including girl child laborers who
are often victims of abuse and exploitation. In 1998, the department started to gather
sex-disaggregated data on rescued victims. By 2008, it has conducted 687 rescue
operations, and recovered 2,389 children, of which 52 percent were girls.87
The department and its partner organizations have also advocated for the passage
of the proposed Kasambahay Law, which would protect the interest of househelpers
(kasambahay). First filed in 1996, the bill has not been approved by the 14th Congress,
and has to be re-filed in the new Congress.
Labor and trade union members
Workers’ unions have worked with DOLE in its Family Welfare Programs, which
involve training on gender issues. As a result, several unions are now more aware
of gender issues in the workplace, such as sexual harassment and gender-based
discrimination.
Moreover, some of the workers’ organizations have had GAD programs for years.
Despite this and the PAPs in DOLE’s gender budgets that advocate for gender equality
among trade and labor unions, gender balance is far from being a reality. According
to the DOLE’s 2009 Gender Statistics on Labor and Employment, only 5,148 (or
21 percent) of the 24,078 union officers are women. Among union presidents, the
percentage is smaller, 11 percent, as women number 292 to the men’s 2,399.
CONCLUSIONS
Key department and agency officials helped lay down the foundation of gender
mainstreaming in the labor department. The bureau that served as the GAD Secretariat
through the first 15 years or so has provided critical support to the GAD Focal Point
and Technical Working Group. The rotation of focal points and the frequent change
of TWG members have affected continuity and sustainability of programs. These have
also hampered the members’ learning curve on GAD. In addition, they have prevented
systematic record keeping of GAD files and documents, including gender plans and
budgets. The most recent change, transferring the secretariat from the BWYW to the
Planning Service, has created additional challenges. Addressing all these may help
the department move forward in the gender mainstreaming process. However, one
should not forget the past achievements of DOLE and to learn from these.
87
Data provided by the BWSC, 20 September 2010.

Enabling Factors
The DOLE owes the progress it has made in gender mainstreaming, and gender
budgeting and budget execution, to several factors. First, early on, the department has
chosen what gender issues to pursue, which was made possible by its participation in
the preparation of PDPW and the subsequent PPGD. Second, it has GAD champions
in key posts and agencies. They were supported by competent and committed mid-
level staff. The GAD champions made it easy to influence the entire department into
subscribing to GAD programs, activities and projects. In addition, having an office like
BWYW that specifically caters to women’s concerns made it easy for the employees in
DOLE to understand why they have to have specific programs on women. Personnel
of this office were also one of the first employees in the bureaucracy to have been
trained in gender mainstreaming. Finally, the conscious effort of DOLE to provide
sex-disaggregated labor and employment data, and special studies on special workers’
groups are valuable for planning projects for clients. The data also serve as basis
for the department and its agencies to determine at what point they are making a
difference in the lives of men and women.
Constraints
The factors that contributed to the much-cited success in the first 15 years
are unraveling. The transfer of the GAD Secretariat to the Planning Service was a
well-intentioned plan to institutionalize gender mainstreaming in the department.
However, the uncertainties surrounding the commitment of the new GAD Secretariat
appear to be a key constraint to the campaign to mainstream GAD at the Department
of Labor and Employment.
An equally important, if not greater, constraint has been the perceived lukewarm
top-level support to gender mainstreaming, which has compromised the initial gains
of DOLE. So has the persistent belief among officials and staff that GAD is an issue
separate from the main business of the department. Although there is awareness among
them about gender and development, not many associate this with a perspective that
can be used for planning and budgeting.
Yet, another factor is the perceived lack of support from NCRFW in recent years.
The GAD advocates suspect that given DOLE’s achievements, NCRFW might have
assumed them to be able to hold their own, and to be able to apply GAD concepts
and tools on their plans, policies and programs. They found the expectations rather
overwhelming. However, they admitted that when they needed NCRFW’s technical
support with the regional offices and attached agencies that were just beginning to
implement gender mainstreaming and budgeting, NCRFW did conduct GSTs and
other technical assistance sessions on gender planning and budgeting for these groups.
THE DOLE CASE 119

Finally, gender planning and budgeting, and evaluation of budget execution have
been greatly affected by poor recordkeeping, a perennial issue among government
agencies. Efforts to assess the department’s GAD budget performance are hampered
by a spotty gender database. This is surely an area that needs to be improved not only
at DOLE, but in all government departments and offices.
A Final Note
How has DOLE performed relative to the PPGD issues? The department has
generally responded to the key gender issues in the PPGD, issues that it helped to
identify. This created a sense of ownership that facilitated and sustained advocacy
and implementation in the succeeding years, especially in incorporating some of these
key PPGD issues in the GAD budget process. Leadership support in the 1990s has also
provided great impetus within the DOLE in responding to the PPGD.
The DOLE’s various gender mainstreaming efforts, including gender budgeting,

have yielded results. The DOLE has in place institutional mechanisms, policies and
programs that can help identify and respond to gender concerns in its own work force
and its constituencies. However, unless resolved by DOLE management, the problems
surrounding the oversight of its GAD program are bound to continue to derail the
gender mainstreaming (including gender planning and budgeting) in the department.
Moreover, gender biases and disparities in labor and employment persist alongside
reported successes. This is partly because DOLE is but one player, albeit an important
one, in the labor and employment sector. The changing nature of work brought by
globalization and inroads in information technology are also creating new workplace
issues and posing great challenges to DOLE, employers, and workers’ organizations.
A review of the PPGD gender issues on labor should provide the DOLE with a revised
framework for responding to new contexts and issues.
As DOLE reconfigures its gender mainstreaming strategy in the light of the new
framework and issues, several groups and institutions external to DOLE will be crucial
to the sustainability of its gender mainstreaming initiatives and to the promotion of
accountability of its gender budget. Among these groups are its traditional partners
(especially workers’ groups and civil society groups), the Philippine Commission on
Women, and key ODA donors.

CHAPTER 6
THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

AND HIGHWAYS
Roads, bridges, and other public works are seen as gender neutral, as they are used by
and benefiting both men and women, young and old. This, in a nutshell, is the context
within which the Department of Public Works and Highways continues to engage the
GAD Budget Policy. Within the agency, gender and development figures in attempts
to address the two major institutional issues that confront DPWH: corruption and
the marginality of women in the infrastructure sector. The department, however,
did not have the institutional mechanisms to fully explore and address the gender
dimension of these institutional issues. Dormant since the middle of 2005, the GAD
program was reactivated in late 2008, which offers the department an opportunity for
reacquainting itself with the GAD Budget Policy.

Tracing its roots to the Spanish colonial era and its institutionalization in
Philippine bureaucracy to the First Philippine Republic in 1898, the DPWH has
evolved with the different political regimes and the stages of national development or
underdevelopment. Through all these, it could not shed its graft and corruption-ridden
image, a sad marker of what has gone wrong in Philippine society. Nonetheless, as a
key agent of national development, the DPWH is also strategic in effecting gender-
responsive development.
The DPWH is mandated to undertake “(a) the planning of infrastructure, such

as roads and bridges, flood control, water resources projects and other public works,
and (b) the design, construction, and maintenance of national roads and bridges, and
major flood control systems.” In 2009, it had five (5) bureaus, six (6) services, 16
regional offices, 24 project management offices, 16 regional equipment services, and
118 district engineering offices, in addition to corporations and councils attached to
the department for administrative supervision.
121
In relation to the GAD Budget Policy, the DPWH implements a centralized GAD
program inclusive of all the bureaus, services, regional offices, project management
offices, and engineering districts, but exclusive of the corporations and councils
it supervises. Especially for GAD, the corporations and councils are considered
financially and operationally separate from the department. For instance, the National
Water Resources Board and Toll Regulatory Board (when it was still under the
DPWH) formulate and implement their own gender plans and budgets. Also, though
some regional offices, at certain times and by their own volition, submit gender plans
and budgets to the NCRFW, the implementation of the programs, activities, and
projects are dependent on the allocation and disbursement under the central GAD
program. Following these arrangements, this chapter covers only the DPWH’s central
mainstreaming program, that is, the GAD Plans and Budgets submitted by the central
office.
Development Goals
Roads and bridges are essential to the integration of the country’s island economies.
The road and bridge network handles 90 percent of the country’s passenger movement
and about 50 percent of freight movement.88 The DPWH provides for and maintains
national roads, which, in 2004, comprised 15 percent of the 202,000 kilometers of
roads nationwide.89
The 2004-2010 Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan recognizes road

development as critical to promoting tourism, bringing peace and development in
conflict areas, decongesting Metro Manila, and spurring economic growth in Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao. The expansion and maintenance of highways and bridges is
expected to facilitate the development of tourist spots and provide access to tourists.
As affirmative action for peace and development in Mindanao and other highly
impoverished areas, the improvement of road networks is strategic in bringing peace,
order, and development to conflict areas, particularly Mindanao, Bicol, and Eastern
and Western Visayas. The decongestion of Metro Manila requires the expansion and
improvement of national highways to speed traffic into and out of the metropolis
and spur economic activities and housing development outside the National Capital
Region. The highways connecting the ports are essential to the nautical highway to
facilitate land transport between ‘roll-on roll-off’ ports.
Achieving the above goals and contributing to national development means

institutional reforms and human resource development for DPWH. The reforms
involve not only ensuring transparency and accountability in the bureaucracy, but
also improved monitoring and maintenance of roads, which requires an increase in
and development of DPWH field personnel.
88
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 2004-2010, Manila,
2004, p. 75.
89
NEDA, 2004, p. 76.

The Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development calls attention to the
male dominance and claims of gender neutrality of the infrastructure sector. In general,
it calls for the systematic involvement of women in infrastructure development and
utilization particularly of water supply, transport and sanitation facilities. More
specifically, it seeks the following:
• Increased participation of women in policy formulation, decision making,

planning, implementation, operation and maintenance activities in the infra-
structure sector, including transportation and communications;
• Consideration and integration of the specific needs of women in infrastructure
development; and
• Development and expansion of information generation and dissemination
within the sector to encourage greater participation and to provide a database
for policy formulation and decision making.
The PPGD argues that the effectiveness, convenience and sustainability of water
supply, sanitation, flood control, and road projects rest in harnessing women’s
participation and the consideration of the differing needs, contributions, and benefits
of women and men from infrastructure development. To bring this about, the PPGD
sets the following general targets for the infrastructure sector: (1) sensitization and
consciousness-raising of at least 80 percent of people involved in the sector; (2) at
least 30 percent of students in courses related to infrastructure-related courses are
women; and (3) at least 20 percent of planners and decision-makers in the sector are
women.
At the community level, women need to be involved in the planning, design,

construction, operation and use of highways and other public works. This entails
organizing and capacitating women to work and decide alongside men, technical
people and other stakeholders.

Notwithstanding the claims of gender neutrality of the infrastructure sector,
the socioeconomic and cultural contexts of public works and highways programs
suggest gender systems at work. As human life is gendered—that is, men and women
experiencing life differently—the social context within which this life is lived actualizes
and magnifies the disparity between men and women. Infrastructure development
can either exacerbate or mitigate the inequities experienced by men and women.
For instance, the efficient completion and quality of concrete farm-to-market roads
impact women farmers more than the men in areas where women are usually the ones
who buy inputs and bring produce to the market. Conversely, delays and corruption in
road projects constrain women’s economic work and exacerbate their marginalization.
THE DPWH CASE 123

Water supply, sanitation and flood
control tend to affect women more Some gender issues in the PPGD
than men. The lack of clean water and On women as users of infrastructure
proper sanitation impinges on women’s • Inadequate road networks and poor road
domestic work and their opportunities quality that constrain women’s mobility
and access to socio-economic services and
to engage in other activities. During opportunities and raise cost of transportation
floods and natural calamities, women and transactions
(and children) face greater risks and • Inconvenience and lack of appropriate
vulnerabilities than men. Women have highway facilities (e.g., toilets, rest areas) for
the safety and convenience of women
equal and specific stakes in the water
• Lack of access to information to facilitate
supply and flood control facilities. Yet, women’s use of roads and transport facilities
women are largely excluded in the • Inadequate traffic safety measures (e.g.,
planning, installation, operations and signage/road markings, illumination, multi-
lanes) for new motorist, many of whom are
management of these facilities. Their
women
knowledge of the local geography and • Lack of, and inconvenience in the use of
culture are ignored and untapped, community water and sanitation facilities
which could result in poor design and
On women as actors in infrastructure
unsustainable use of facilities. development
The PPGD notes that, despite a • Lack of voice for women to demand roads
and public works, such as water supply,
1991 DPWH policy instructing its water
sanitation, and flood control facilities;
supply and road projects to involve • Limited employment of women in public
women, actual women’s participation works and highways projects;
has been limited to water associations. • Limited number of women in decision-making,
technical, implementing, and monitoring
Even there, men had been routinely
positions in the DPWH;
representing the women’s sector in • Limited participation of women in planning,
water boards. To address this, the Local design, decision making and implementation
Water Utilities Administration issued of community infrastructure projects and
a policy, Memorandum Circular No. facilities, including barangay roads, flood
control, and water and sanitation program
007, Series of 1993, directing that only operation and maintenance.
women shall be allowed to represent
the women’s sector in the Water District Board. This policy appears to pave the way
for women’s participation in Barangay Waterworks and Sanitation Associations
(BWSAs), which reportedly include women among their members and officers. Some
women have also served as caretakers of BWSAs.

In the early 1990s, the DPWH constituted a Committee on Women in Development
(COWID), with then DPWH Assistant Secretary Carolina Mangawang as chair. She
was later replaced by Director Clarita Bandonillo, who promoted the GAD agenda in
the department until her retirement in early 2005.

The committee was tasked to lead the implementation of the Women in
Development and Nation Building Act (RA 7192) and the Philippine Development
Plan for Women in DPWH. When the GAD Budget Policy was enacted in 1995, the
department reconstituted COWID into the Committee on Gender and Development
(COGAD). As the incumbent committee chair, C. Bandonillo, then Director of the
Project Management Office for Special Projects, ushered the transition from the
exclusive focus on women to the gender mainstreaming approach. Her subsequent
appointment as Director of the Bureau of Construction (BOC) gave her greater
leverage to push GAD in the department. Having the highest ranking woman to chair
the committee proved advantageous, even crucial in stirring interest and securing
resources for gender mainstreaming.
When she retired in 2005, she left behind a medium-term GAD Plan and Budget
for the period of 2004 to 2006 and the annual GAD plans for 2005 and 2006. The
department submitted these in compliance with the gender budget policy. After 2006,
the DPWH did not have a GAD plan until late in 2008.
For months after her retirement, the COGAD and the GAD program went into
dormancy. There was no one who could absorb the committee’s additional work in
her or his regular portfolio. In late 2008, DPWH Assistant Secretary Maria Catalina
Cabral was convinced to assume the committee’s chairpersonship. Her appointment
as chair has reportedly revived and animated the gender program. As head of the
Planning Service, she can mainstream GAD in the operational and financial processes
of the department. In addition, she is deemed knowledgeable of the issues, both gender
and institutional, that the COGAD has to address. She also brings on board the GAD
program the DPWH Strategic Planning Committee, which oversees the department’s
fiscal management.

Gender planning and budgeting in the DPWH reflects the many struggles of
COGAD in promoting gender mainstreaming in a male-dominated organization and
a gender-blind infrastructure sector. The lack of movement in the PAPs, however,
shows the few inroads made with gender budgeting in the department.
The GAD Planning Process
In the years prior to the stoppage of the gender program in mid-2005, gender
planning and budgeting was conducted by a small group of active members who came
from several COGAD working groups. The committee met sometime in the second
or third quarter of the year, when the budget call was issued, to draft the succeeding
year’s GAD Plan and Budget. However, anytime during the year, the regional offices
THE DPWH CASE 125

sent in requests for project funding under the GAD budget. The COGAD deliberated
on the requests and tried to accommodate as many regions, thus, keeping each fund
release to a minimum. The GAD budgets go through the Planning Service, which has
control over the department’s budget. Requests for release of budgets go through
them as well.
In the late 1990s, COGAD, specifically, Director Bandonillo, obtained institutional

support for a standard GAD budget figure of P20 million a year. After the NCRFW
reviewed the GAD budget plans of DPWH for 1998 and 1999, it endorsed the
department’s proposal to use its gender budget for the construction or rehabilitation
of employees’ quarters, establishment of day care centers, installation of Level-1 water
system, and construction of restroom facilities along the national highways on very
specific conditions (see Table 6.1). For two years, 2000 and 2001, fund releases were
guaranteed and realized for the proposed activities.
Table 6.1: Conditions for the NCRFW recommendations to the DBM relative to the DPWH GAD Plan
and Budget
DPWH Plan Condition for NCRFWʼs recommendation for funding

under the GAD budget
Construction and rehabilitation As long as these “will be designed to provide a separate bedroom
of employeesʼ quarters for female field workers and, thereby, encourage them to do field work.”
Construction of day care center As long as these are “designed to provide assistance to both female and
male employees, who cannot afford to have caretakers for their children.”
As long as it is “designed to reduce the adversity of women in their
performance of the household work and women to have specific roles in
Construction of Level 1 the maintenance and operation of water facilities. If the objective of
water system constructing a water system is to provide an adequate source of water
in the rural community per se, then the funding for such project must not
be charged against the GAD Budget.”
Construction of restrooms along As long as “it will provide separate restrooms for female and male travelers.”
national highways
Source: Letter of Ermelita V. Valdeavilla, then Executive Director of the NCRFW, to the DBM, dated October 1999
In 2002, the Committee on Gender and Development received specific instructions

from DBM on how to reflect the GAD budget, and what it can include. The budget
department cited the ballooning budget deficit as a reason for withholding the release
of the 2002 gender budget and advised that it be included in the following year’s
budget. However, the DBM disapproved the inclusion of a separate GAD budget line
in the 2003 approved budget appropriations for DPWH. The GAD program, thus,
reverted to competing with other programs for the limited funds.
In 2003, the DBM also instructed the COGAD to adhere to the DPWH’s mandates
when proposing GAD projects and activities. Contrary to agreements reached in 1999,
DBM decreed that providing employees’ quarters and day care services are not part of

the DPWH’s functions and, thus, should not be included in the GAD program. However,
it emphasized that roads and bridges are in themselves GAD projects, as these can be
built with consideration for needs of men and women in specific locations. The above
decrees of the DBM put into effect the attribution of the GAD budget, and put an end to
allocation or, much less, release of funds specific for GAD projects.
The COGAD formulated rolling medium-term gender plans and budgets for the
periods of 2002 to 2004 and again for 2004 to 2006, which it adjusted each year
based on accomplishments and requests for funding. The regular and unimplemented
PAPs are usually carried over to the succeeding year’s GAD Plan.
For the most part, regions request funding for local infrastructure needs that
cannot be funded by the office budget. The COGAD later notified them on the projects
and respective allocations that have been accommodated into the GAD Plan and
Budget. The limited participation of regional offices in the planning and budgeting
was understandable, as the same PAPs were submitted with little modification over
the years.
When the department’s GAD program was revived in 2008, the reconstituted GAD
committee managed to put together a GAD Plan and Budget for the 4th quarter of 2008
mainly to serve the requirements for the 2009 budget proposal and deliberations.90
The 2008 GAD Plan and Budget largely took after previous plans, particularly the
gender issues and PAPs of 2006. Likewise, the 2009 GAD Plan and Budget mainly
adopted the 2008 GAD Plan and Budget.
The inclusion of certain construction projects (employees’ quarters, day care

centers, water system, and toilets along highways) in the annual gender plans of
DPWH was largely supported by the 1999 guidelines from NCRFW. The few changes
in the GAD projects and variability in implementation were in part determined by
directives from the DBM.
The lack of consideration of gender equity and women’s empowerment in designs

of DPWH projects is probably due to the perceived absence of guidelines for applying
GAD in specific infrastructure-sector projects. There has, purportedly, been a set of
guidelines drafted some years ago, but what became of it or where it ended up could
not be ascertained. The COGAD is reportedly aware of the GAD design checklist for the
infrastructure sector that forms part of the Harmonized GAD Guidelines. However,
the actual application of the checklist still needs to be institutionalized, which forms
the basis for the World Bank technical assistance.
90
The current COGAD includes representatives from the following units: Management Information System (MIS) Division;
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Rural Water Supply; Korea Economic Development Cooperation Fund; Urban Road
Project Management Office; a District Office; and the DPWH Central Office Employees’ Union.
THE DPWH CASE 127

The basic issue in gender planning at DPWH is the very limited capacity for
applying a GAD perspective in project planning and implementation, even at the
COGAD level. The understanding and appreciation for GAD, by itself and in relation
to the department’s mandate and operation, is said to be only emerging among the
committee members, and this appreciation has yet to be reflected in the GAD plans
and budgets of late. Nonetheless, the COGAD has recognized the need to build its
capacity. To do this, it requested for a GAD technical assistance from the Asian
Development Bank, as part of its Road Sector Improvement Program. The technical
assistance is set to be completed in 2010. This is on top of the recently completed
World Bank technical assistance on Mainstreaming GAD in Road Infrastructure. The
effects of all these will probably be evident in the next five years.
At the DPWH, the implementation of the GAD Budget Policy has focused on
providing comfort to land travelers, access to potable water, and easing the constraints
on women at work in the DPWH office and on the field. As noted above, some of
these issues and programs and activities have been disqualified as GAD projects and
activities by the DBM in 2003.
Organization-related gender issues and PAPs
Over the years, the COGAD has directed the department’s GAD program to the
following organizational-level gender issues: (1) lack of gender awareness among
employees and executives; (2) lack of support for the GAD program; (3) inconvenience
and lack of appropriate facilities for women personnel doing field work; (4) corruption
in the DPWH and women’s capacity to address this; and (5) burden of child care
among personnel, especially women.
• Gender awareness. Lack of gender awareness and sensitivity is an issue for

both top officials and employees, men and women alike. Among women,
there is the lack of awareness of their rights and the gender disparities in the
workplace. Among men, there is sexism and sexual harassment of women
staff. The awareness issue for women and men and the male-dominated
hierarchy come together in cases of sexual harassment, which is reportedly
prevalent in the organization. The COGAD had tried to address the awareness
issue through gender sensitivity training in 1996 and 1997, and again in 2008.
Although gender sensitivity training appeared in every GAD Plan and Budget,
they have been de-prioritized due to lack of interest among the mostly male
department personnel.

• Support for the GAD program. The few years of inactivity of the GAD program
indicates limited awareness and support for GAD among top officials. The
approval of top officials is seen as lip-service and the support as tokenism,
partly because gender training stopped after 1997, thereby, not allowing
GAD briefing for new sets of officials. Amid varying priorities, the recent set
of officials, male and female, has been too busy for GAD. The inclusion and
implementation of activities aimed at raising the awareness and commitment
of DPWH officials to GAD, as in 2008, is noteworthy.
• Women’s professional advancement. Even as women are already a minority

in the engineering field and at the DPWH organization, their professional
advancement has been constrained mainly by difficulties in doing technical
and project-related work. The concrete issue is the lack of facilities that give
women ease in doing field work. Included in the gender plans from 1998
until 2003, the construction or repair of employees’ quarters in the regions
sought to provide women assigned outside the central office safe, affordable
and comfortable accommodations. In 2003, the DBM decreed that the cost of
providing employees’ quarters could not be part of the GAD Plan and Budget.
Nevertheless, the DPWH included the cost of employees’ quarters in its 2009
GAD budget.
• Public perception of corruption. The DPWH has been regarded as among the
most corrupt government agencies. Women’s role in fighting corruption gained
prominence when C. Bandonillo, who chaired the COGAD, was appointed as
BOC Director in 2003. Her appointment recognized the difference women’s
leadership might make in a department that is widely perceived as graft and
corruption-ridden. Unlike male heads of the BOC, she would not be “wining
and dining” with contractors; hence, she was expected to be less susceptible
to and more active in curbing anomalous practices. Succeeding department
Secretaries kept her as BOC head at a time when the DPWH was struggling
with its disrepute.
The effect of C. Bandonillo’s appointment took concrete shape in

the anti-corruption movement facilitated by the GAD program in 2003.
Director Bandonillo mobilized women into the Women against Graft (WAG).
Organized nationwide, WAG called for reforms in the DPWH. Shortly after,
drawing inspiration and motivation from the WAG, a group of men who were
also advocating for reforms in the department formed themselves into the
Men against Graft (MAG). The gender budget funded the orientations and
meetings on anti-graft and anti-corruption actions.
• Burden of child care. The burden of child care for women became a workplace
issue when it was observed that women’s attendance and productivity at the
THE DPWH CASE 129

office was being adversely affected by their child-rearing role. The day care
center was included as a GAD project in 1999 as a response to Executive Order
No. 340 of 1997, by then President Ramos, which directed government-owned
and controlled corporations to provide day care services for employees. For
the women employees, the centers were intended to ease their burden of child
care and enable them to work and pursue a career; for the men, they offered
an opportunity to take greater part in the care and rearing of their children.
This was disqualified as a GAD budget-supported PAP by the DBM in 2003.
Community and client-related gender issues
For the public that the DPWH seeks to serve, the GAD program sought to address
two gender issues: the inconvenience and lack of appropriate highway toilet facilities
especially for women and the aged, and the burden to women and children caused by
inadequate water supply and sanitation facilities in rural areas.
• Toilet facilities for women and the elderly. While men can relieve themselves
just about anywhere, women and the elderly need enclosed, safe and clean
toilets for comfort and convenience during long travels. The facilities, however,
need to be maintained and have clean, running water. In view of all these, GAD
budgets included the construction of public toilets along national highways as
the primary client-focused PAP of the department’s GAD program.
• Rural water supply and sanitation facilities. Women, more than men,
generally attend to the problems arising from the absence of water supply and
sanitation facilities in rural areas. The lack of potable water supply exacerbates
the burden and difficulties of women in attending to their traditional
domestic chores, and hinders their efficiency and limits their opportunity to
engage in other beneficial social and economic activities. Thus, among the
PAPs assumed under GAD, the water supply project has the clearest link to a
gender-related benefit, particularly the contribution of and benefit to women
from the water system.
Compliance with the GAD Budget Policy
Based on available data and documents, the DPWH was able to comply with
the formulation and submission of GAD plans and budgets from 1995 to 2005 and
accomplishment reports from 2000 to 2004, (see Table 6.2). Just before Director
Bandonillo retired, the department was able to submit GAD Plans and Budgets for
2005, based on the 2004-2006 medium-term GAD plan. With the COGAD in dormancy
until late 2008, there was no GAD Plan and Budget formulated for 2006 and 2007,
but one was crafted for the last quarter of 2008. There were no Accomplishment
Reports from 2005 to 2007, as there were apparently no PAPs implemented during

those years. Narrative reports, without data Table 6.2: Gender
Table 6.2: GAD Plans
Plansand
andBudgets
Budgetsand
(GPB)
and Accomplishment
Accomplishment Reports
Reports (AR),1995-2009
of DPWH, 1995-2009
on actual expenditures, have been initially
drafted for 2008 and 2009. % of GPB
Year GBP (in P ) = AR (in P ) = spent
1995 1,125,000 nd -
For two consecutive fiscal years, 2000 1996 10,710,000 nd -
and 2001, the DPWH allotted P20 million 1997 7,000,000 nd -
1998 11,661,000 nd -
to the implementation of the GAD Budget 1999 21,574,571 nd -
Policy (see Table 6.2). The budget provision 2000 20,000,000 18,000,000 90.0
2001 20,000,000 16,556,000 82.3
was a specific budget line for the GAD 2002 22,349,300 ? -
program. The COGAD determined that, 2003 22,400,000 ? -
2004 22,400,000 ? -
though far from the required 5 percent of 2005 20,000,000 * -
total annual budget, the P20 million was 2006 20,000,000 * -
2007 No submission * -
an amount that has been negotiated with 2008 93,300,000 ? -
the DPWH administration as reasonable for 2009 25,000,000 ? -
Legend: nd, no available data/document; ‘?’; AR submitted
implementing the GAD program. but no amount cited; and ‘*‘, no fund release for the year
In the years that the DPWH submitted Table 6.3:

6.3: GAD
GAD budget
budgetsand
andtotal
total
a gender budget, the amounts were never appropriations, of
appropriations 2000-2009
DPWH, 2000-2009
close to the 5 percent of total DPWH annual Year GBP Total %
appropriations as required by the GAD 2000 20,000,000 nd -
2001 20,000,000 45,824,079,000 0.044
Budget Policy (see Table 6.3). As anticipated 2002 22,349,300 47,998,332,000 0.042
by RA 7192, the 5 percent could not possibly 2003 22,400,000 32,756,022,000 0.068
2004 22,400,000 41,172,231,000 0.054
be made to apply to DPWH with its huge 2005 20,000,000 42,472,572,000 0.047
departmental budget and project costs. In 2006 20,000,000 55,078,613,000 0.036
2007 - 65,286,040,000 -
the years with available data (2001 to 2009), 2008 93,300,000 94,717,536,000 0.098
the GAD budget ranged from 0.02 percent 2009 25,000,000 129,890,023,000 0.019
Legend: GPB, GAD Plan and Budget; and ‘nd’, no available
to 0.1 percent of total annual appropriations Legend: GPB, GAD Plan and Budget; and ‘nd’, no available data/
data/document
document
for the department.
For the most part, the GAD budget has been in the area of P20 million, even as
total annual appropriations have fluctuated significantly. The gap is most remarkable
in 2009, where the percentage dipped to 0.02 percent, especially after 2008 posted
the biggest GAD budget ever in terms of both percentage and real value. Apparently,
the high spirits of the revival calmed down with the practical realities that gird the
implementation of the GAD program.
Several issues on the mechanics of budgeting and accounting also impinge on

the budget compliance and performance. Particularly since the revival of the GAD
program in 2008, the COGAD has been confounded by the differing compliance
requirements of the NCRFW and the DBM relative to the GAD Budget Policy. These
differences undermine the capacity and resolve of the DPWH for complying and
implementing the GAD programs, projects and activities.
THE DPWH CASE 131

The NCRFW requires the (5-percent) GAD budget as a separate provision in the
agency’s budget and that it is supported by a GAD plan. Given the GAD Plan and
Budget, the NCRFW assumes that the gender budget is guaranteed in the overall
agency budget. In accounting for compliance and performance of the agency, the
NCRFW assesses how the gender budget was utilized.
The DPWH included the gender budget as a separate budget line in 2000 to 2002.
The budget line, called “Infrastructure Support to the Gender and Development
Pursuant to RA No. 7192,” amounted to at least P20 million and was included in
the department budget under the General Appropriations Acts for those years. The
budget allocations were released by the DBM for 2000 and 2001, but disapproved for
2002, and DPWH removed it as a budget line item the following year.
Unlike the NCRFW, the DBM requires that the gender budget be incorporated in
the proposed budget of the agency in a process called “attribution.” In disapproving
the separate GAD budget line, the DBM decreed that the budgetary requirements of
the GAD projects and activities should form part of (or be attributed to) the relevant
regular-operations budget lines of the department. Thus, there is no specific gender
budget to speak of and, much less, release.
The fiscal structure of DPWH infrastructure projects is deemed too tight to

designate or attribute anything to the 5-percent GAD budget. The gross budget of a
project is not wholly spent on directly implementing the project. The budget that goes
into the construction is only 96.5 percent, with the balance (3.5 percent) deducted
upfront as overhead charge by the implementing unit. On what will the 5-percent
GAD budget be based then, the gross budget, the direct implementation budget, or
the overhead charge?
The gender budget is viewed favorably by many, as it is treated as a window for

funding projects that cannot get allocations either from the office budget or from
external sources, such as the Congressional Countryside Development Fund. However,
the GAD program is also regarded by a number of those involved as additional work
of less priority. It can be a very heavy and stressful responsibility, largely because
the work is shared by very few people and the program does not easily elicit positive
response from the administration and staff of the department. It is unrewarding,
involving no additional pay and receiving very little organizational recognition.
Thus, gender planning and budgeting is undertaken mainly for compliance with
the requirements for the department’s budget preparations. After the retirement of
Director Bandonillo in 2005, the DPWH merely resubmitted those of the previous
year for 2005 and 2006, but did not submit anything for 2007.
The significance of the GAD budget can be easily overlooked or ignored during
the preparation of the DPWH budget, unless someone persistently reminds, or
makes noise (“may nag-iingay”) to bring it to the attention of the budget group.

The reminder can come from within (GAD committee members), but it can also
come from outside. For instance, during hearings in Congress, in the early 2000s,
a member of Congress (Rep. Cynthia Villar) called attention to the need for gender
provisions in the DPWH budget. More recently, during the department’s budget
hearings in Congress in 2008, another member (Rep. Mitzi Cajayon) asked about the
performance of the department’s gender program, specifically the utilization of the
GAD budget. In response, the DPWH submitted a list of infrastructure projects based
on programs that it purportedly completed and considered to qualify under the GAD
budget.
Budget Components
From 2000 to 2006, gender budgeting at the DPWH prioritized the provision of
comfort of personnel on field and the training of regional personnel. The construction
or repair of employees’ quarters nationwide got the majority share of the budget, with
the highest (75 percent) recorded in 2003. A far second is the construction of training
centers. Its share of the GAD budget ranged from 8 percent in 2001 to almost 20
percent in 2004. It is not clear, however, why the cost of the training centers could
be charged against the GAD budget, as the centers should be regular facilities of the
department. In contrast, the share of GAD training ranged from 3 percent to 7 percent,
while GAD program administration, including the operation of the day care centers,
was allotted from 3 percent to 8 percent.
In the case of client-focused PAPs, the allocation for the centerpiece GAD
project—the construction of rest areas and toilets along highways—accounted for
3 percent of the GAD budget in 2002, but a high 14 percent in 2006. Meanwhile,
the construction of community water systems got 5 percent in 2001 but none for the
next three years. This happened because the mandate for the provision of rural water
supply was transferred to the Department of Interior and Local Government and
the local government units on the strength of NEDA Board Resolution No. 4, which
was passed in 1995, or about seven years before. But in her 2004 State of the Nation
Address, then President Macapagal-Arroyo committed funds through the DPWH to
implement rural water projects; these accounted for 0.3 percent of the gender budget
in 2005 and 2006.
In 2008, GAD budgeting got a significant facelift. Of the previous projects, only
the construction of water system remained, and it was given top priority, getting
81 percent. The second chunk, about 16 percent of the GAD budget, went to the
construction of an evacuation center in Lanao del Norte as part of a flood control
program. The rest of the budget addressed operational and promotional needs of the
GAD program, including an office for the COGAD.
THE DPWH CASE 133

In 2009, the biggest share of the budget reverted to the construction of employees’
quarters, which has been resurrected despite the DBM’s previous disapproval. Another
resurrected project, construction of toilets, got some 7 percent for its feasibility study.
In contrast, construction of water systems was allotted only 2 percent. That year
the provision of rural water supply was eventually transferred to the Department of
Health. Promoting GAD and raising awareness got a relatively sizeable allocation: 10
percent for the construction of a GAD website and 16 percent for GAD training.

Requests for release of the GAD budget usually go through the DPWH Planning
Service. This applies to both central office and regional office requests. Since 2008,
the request for and release of the funds for specific projects are negotiated with the
DBM through the DPWH Central Office.
For a number of years, an institutional commitment to allocate P20 million for the
gender program boosted the implementation of the GAD Budget Policy at the DPWH.
However, except for 2000 and 2001, the release of the P20-million gender budget was
never guaranteed. Generally, the release of funds for the department abides by the
approval and release of the DBM, and is not guaranteed even with the endorsement of
the Secretary. Moreover, the disapproval of a separate GAD budget line in the DPWH
budget made access to the budget for PAPs in the GAD Plan and Budget more difficult.
The operation of the day care center was among the projects that suffered from
the changes in gender budgeting. The remuneration of the center workers was not
institutionalized in the DPWH budget, and budget requests for wages of the workers
were disapproved by the DBM because the center operation was not within the
department’s mandate. Until she retired in 2005, Director Bandonillo sustained the
operation of the center and the wages of the workers, scrounging from every possible
source, including her own pocket.
The COGAD also struggled with limited human resources and lack of GAD technical
capacity, in addition to restrictive fiscal measures. Like other DPWH infrastructure
projects, the implementation of projects that are part of the gender budget is coursed
through the appropriate engineering units. The gender-mainstreaming management
and secretariat work is the additional work that GAD advocates found burdensome.
Prior to the three-year inactivity, only a handful (Director Bandonillo, a staff member
and a few active members of the COGAD and its working groups) shared the tasks
and responsibilities. When the GAD program was reactivated in 2008, the surge
in activities also needed more people, but few were available. The crucial task of

rebuilding GAD awareness and capacity rests on a very few old hands. Given the
freeze in hiring in the government, there is no hope yet of adding personnel for GAD.
Accounting for GAD Expenditures
A fundamental issue in accounting for the gender budget is that the projects
implemented and reported under the GAD program have not been evaluated for their
gender responsiveness. As with other projects of the department, those implemented
with GAD funds are inspected for physical accomplishment, that is, if they were built
at all; and evaluated for compliance with engineering specifications. However, no
GAD specification was introduced into the design during planning and, consequently,
none were examined during evaluation. For one, the toilets along highways are not
part of the standard design of DPWH road projects. It is, therefore, not covered by the
evaluation and audit of the road projects.
A similar project whose design has not been guided by GAD considerations is
the construction or renovation of employees’ quarters. A COGAD technical working
group member noted, though without the aid of formal inspection, that many of such
projects did not provide for sleeping quarters specifically for women or for separate
toilets and bathrooms for women and men, contrary to the condition for NCRFW’s
recommendation in 1999 (see Table 6.1).91 In addition, the maintenance of such
quarters is not part of the costing of the projects. As a result, the quarters are poorly
maintained, making them unfit accommodations for both women and men.
The differing interpretations of the GAD Budget Policy by NCRFW and the DBM
have affected the accounting for, and auditing of GAD expenditures. On one hand, a
separate accounting for the GAD component of infrastructure projects departs from
the agency’s accounting procedures. In one case, as an attempt to strictly comply with
the GAD program, the liquidation of a road project in Mindanao specifically declared
expenses for the construction of a toilet along the highway. The toilet was not part
of the road project’s program of work, making the cost of the toilet an unjustified
expense. It, therefore, cannot be liquidated or charged to the road project, not even as
a GAD component of the project.
On the other hand, attributing the GAD component into the departmental budget
complicates the accounting for, and audit of the GAD budget. In many instances, the
Commission on Audit has looked for the 5-percent GAD component of infrastructure
projects. Where the gender budget is said to have been attributed, the Department of
Public Works and Highways could not specifically indicate to the COA its compliance
with the GAD budget requirement.
91
Comments on the chapter received from DPWH (dated 22 September 2009) included a claim that “there is no policy on the
use of sleeping quarters that specifically encourages or reserves rooms for women.” At the same time, however, DPWH referred to
the 1999 letter of NCRFW to DBM, which specified this as a condition for its endorsement of the inclusion of employees’ quarters
in the GAD Plan and Budget.
THE DPWH CASE 135

GAD Expenditure Trends
What budget items were actually funded and spent? For years when there were
accomplishment reports submitted (2000 and 2001), the actual GAD expenditures
were about 0.03 percent to 0.04 percent of the total appropriations of the Department
of Public Works and Highways. Between 2000 and 2006, GAD projects and activities
were implemented only in 2000 and 2001, as these were the only years when the DBM
reportedly released the GAD budget appropriation. The actual expenditures in 2000
amounted to 90 percent of the allotted budget. In 2001, it fell to about 82 percent (see
Table 6.1).
The distribution of expenditures was reflective of the budget allocations. In 2000

and 2001, the P20-million annual GAD budget was spent almost solely—99 percent
and 70 percent, respectively—on the construction and repair of employees’ quarters.
During these years, a total of 17 employees’ quarters were built or repaired. (In 2003,
the DBM decreed that construction and repair of employees’ quarters cannot be
part of the GAD program, but this did not stop the GAD committee of DPWH from
including these in subsequent GAD plans. However, the DBM did not release the
gender budgets for 2003 to 2006, including the budget for the employees’ quarters.)
The rest of the 2000 budget, about P0.24 million, underwrote the installation
of two deep wells in Cotabato. The restructuring of water supply projects returned
as a major GAD undertaking in 2008 and, to a lesser extent, 2009. However, in
2009, the mandate for the provisions of potable water systems was turned over to the
Department of Health.
In 2001, the rest of the budget went to the construction or rehabilitation of day
care centers and the construction of public toilets and rest areas. In 2000-2001, there
were six public toilets constructed in different parts of the country. The toilets were
not in the 2008 Gender Plan and Budget, but it promised a return in the 2009 budget,
with provision for a feasibility study on their re-implementation.
What were not funded? The costs of GAD training and operations were not funded
in those years, that is, in 2000 and 2001. These were in the GAD Plans and Budgets,
but the releases from the DBM did not include them. Instead, their budget allotments,
averaging 12 percent per year, were distributed to other infrastructure projects.
Apparently, the budget releases were made to cover only the infrastructure projects.
The COGAD tried to address this gap by increasing the gender budget by some P2.5
million to extend coverage to the training and operations needs in succeeding years.
But, by this time, the DBM was no longer allowing separate GAD budget line items
nor releasing funds for planned GAD projects.

The results of the implementation of the GAD Budget Policy are reflected in the
animation and inertia—and the struggles in between—of the gender mainstreaming
program in the DPWH. The GAD program has gained prominence with the emergence
and presence of women who took the reins of the program, and waned with their exit.
Many of the gains were short term and nebulous, although a few could have longer-
term effects.
Longer-Term Effects
Some success at institutionalizing GAD
The institutionalization of the GAD program at the DPWH was effected by several
major policies. The first was Department Order (DO) No. 165 of 1989, issued by
Secretary Florencio Estuar, creating the COWID. This was reinforced in 1992, with
the issuance of DO 158 by Secretary Jose de Jesus. The policy attempted to restructure
and reconstitute the COWID, mobilize greater participation among various offices,
and delineate the roles of various working groups. In 1995, DO 86 created the COGAD
for the department’s implementation of the GAD Budget Policy. Finally, DO 76 of
2008 reconstituted the COGAD and revived the GAD program.
Under Director Bandonillo, the gender budget and the GAD program gained
prominence in the DPWH, but only insofar as her authority could affect. She was
able to secure institutional support for the gender budget, and the release of GAD
funds for completed projects. However, these did not strengthen the GAD program
for the long run. The failure to build capacities and to raise awareness undermined
the gains in securing resources. For instance, the capacity for gender analysis and
GAD application of the COGAD and its implementing partners was not developed,
and the overall organizational culture was not sensitized to appreciate the value of
mainstreaming GAD in the DPWH operations and projects.
The reconstitution of the COGAD in 2008 brought the Planning Service into the
current GAD organization by appointing its head, Assistant Secretary Cabral as chair of
the COGAD. This move is expected to facilitate efforts to incorporate GAD concerns in
organizational and technical planning in the department. As overseer of departmental
budgeting and disbursement, the Planning Service can facilitate effective planning
and use of funds for the GAD program.
Another key inclusion into the COGAD and TWG is the Management Information
System (MIS) Office, whose primary role is to establish and manage the database on
DPWH personnel. The participation of the MIS was secured with the appointment
of its head, Director Elizabeth Yap, as COGAD vice-chairperson. The establishment
THE DPWH CASE 137

of a GAD database had been planned as early as 2001, but was not attended to until
the revival of the COGAD in 2008. As of March 2009, the MIS has completed the
gathering of sex-disaggregated data on department personnel.
More women climbing the ranks
While women remain the minority, there are now more women in executive and
technical positions, specifically at the second level as senior engineers and section
heads. It has also become easier for them to climb the ranks than before. The numbers
remain unequal, but the gender gap does not seem so glaring now. Some, however,
argue that there is ‘no gap’ as it has never been the intent of the department to prevent
women from being promoted or appointed to key positions.
Short-Term Gains
Opportunities for women leaders
The DPWH tapped women executives to lead the department through its efforts
at gender mainstreaming. The longtime COGAD chair has shown her commitment to
the GAD program, leading the committee in gender planning and budgeting exercises,
and securing agreements that guaranteed (at least for a few years) the GAD budget.
Another opportunity to showcase women leadership was created by the anti-

corruption campaign. Two groups were organized to spearhead the campaign: WAG
and MAG. Remarkably, it had women at the forefront of the fight against corruption
and cleaning-up the image of the DPWH, recruiting co-workers to the movement.
The WAG and MAG issued manifestos against graft practices and elicited pledges for
honest work and conduct from its members. Unfortunately, the movement was short-
lived.
Then DPWH Secretary, Florante Soriquez, supported and associated himself with
the anti-corruption campaign. Ironically, the clamor for reform within the department
boiled over into a series of strikes by central office employees against Soriquez. The
WAG and MAG did not approve of the strikes. However, they became victims of the
strikes, as the general clamor against corruption somehow fizzled out along with the
strikes. Succeeding Secretaries were also not as enthusiastic in their support of the
anti-corruption movement, and WAG and MAG became moribund.
Awareness of key gender issues
The COGAD had tried to address the awareness issue through GST, though with
very limited success. From 1996 to 1997, the committee managed one round of GST
for all 16 regional offices. In later years, however, funds were no longer available for

GAD awareness-raising activities, even though the COGAD included them in their
yearly GAD Plan and Budget submissions. Among the GAD projects, the training
were, apparently, the first to be de-prioritized principally because of lack of interest
among the mostly-male personnel for gender training. In training needs assessments,
gender training was the least in-demand compared to other technical courses. A GST
was not conducted until December 2008, when 26 female and male focal persons
underwent the seminar on GAD for Focal Persons of regional offices.
The GSTs in the 1990s were compulsory to the different offices. Most of those
who attended, quite expectedly, were women, but the GSTs also opened the door for
the involvement of men, or at least a few of them. For the men, the most salient topic
or issue in the sessions was sexual harassment. High-ranking officials, in particular,
had become conscious about their behavior towards their female co-workers and had
been wary about committing acts that may be construed as sexual harassment. For
the women, the sessions sought to raise awareness on their rights and on gender-
based discrimination. Committee members claimed that the women had become
vocal about any violation of their rights. Probably because of all these, offenses
against women had been minimized.92 However, the momentum created then was
arrested by the hiatus in GSTs since 1998. This also meant that new sets of officials,
including new COGAD members, have not been briefed on relevant GAD issues and
concerns and have, therefore, limited understanding of gender and development and
mainstreaming it in the department. As a result, the veneer of gender neutrality and
the entrenched gender blindness persist.
The DPWH claims that the campaign for gender sensitivity and fairness in
the department has resulted in some direct actions against sexual harassment
and discrimination. A lawyer COGAD member (Lita Sabio) from the Legal Service
provided legal counseling to DPWH personnel experiencing sexual harassment
and discrimination. In one notable case, she counseled and helped a woman officer
in Mountain Province to get reinstated to her original assignment after she was
transferred from one office to another, an alleged retribution by a local politician after
the woman officer refused to sign an anomalous contract.93
Day care services and absenteeism
For several years, several DPWH regional offices around the country had an
operational day care center. The DPWH supported the construction of the facilities,
but not their operations. Of the centers, that in the central office thrived best, although
it, too, was floundering for lack of funds and would have closed down earlier had it not
been for the support of Director Bandonillo. It was no surprise then that in 2006, or
92
This does not mean that sexual harassment is dead in the department. As the researcher waited for some documents to
be reproduced at one of the offices at the DPWH Central Office, a matured man walked up from behind a young woman employee
seated in front of a computer, put his hands on her shoulders and sniffed/kissed her hair. The young woman cringed as the man
walked away.
93
Comment from DPWH on the draft chapter, received 22 September 2010.
THE DPWH CASE 139

shortly after her retirement, the day care center finally stopped operation. Freezes in
government hiring for regular positions also contributed to the demise of the center.
The hiring bans had prevented the employment of new and younger workers, which
meant that there were fewer and fewer employees with young children who needed the
day care center. To make matters worse, the DPWH Secretary did not want children in
the workplace, a situation fostered by having a day care center in the premises.
In the few years that the day care center was in operation, some GAD advocates
noted that there were fewer absences among women workers with young children.
However, a former human resource manager at the DPWH claimed that the day care
center was primarily a welfare program, and had no real impact on the productivity or
the advancement of women.
Field work by women technical officers
Some GAD advocates noted the increase of women’s participation in technical

work and project implementation. Although not backed by a formal assessment of the
impact of the employees’ quarters, they attributed the change partly to the availability
of comfortable and safe quarters for technical personnel, particularly women, working
on projects.
Despite the lack of gender-specific provisions in their design, the quarters, in

general, were deemed comfortable, safe and affordable. A few were also maintained
although there were no specific financial and human resources allotted for their
maintenance that would have responded to women’s specific gender needs. However,
the maintenance of most quarters has been lacking.
The impact of the employees’ quarters could not be optimized and accounted
for, as there was no policy that encouraged women to go on field work. Moreover,
there was allegedly no department policy that reserved rooms for women. If this were
indeed the case, then the continuing inclusion of employees’ quarters in the GAD Plan
and Budget has no gender-related rationale and the DBM action to disallow it has
some basis.

As the design and implementation of projects were gender-blind, the inspection
and evaluation of completed projects also did not set out to measure gender impacts.
On the part of the GAD committee, there was no formal intent or actual assessment
of whether the infrastructure facilitated the desired effect, or how these affected the
beneficiaries. As will be evident in the following discussion, the results were mixed at
best.

Rest Areas or Toilets Available but not Properly Maintained
The construction of public toilets along national highways has been the primary
client-focused project of the GAD program of the DPWH. As an improvement of road
infrastructure, providing sanitary facilities for both men and women, the toilet project
is a major action for mainstreaming gender concerns in DPWH operations. The budget
for toilet construction is actually separate from that of the road project because toilets
are not part of the standard road-project design. As in the case of the employees’
quarters, there are no budgetary provisions for the maintenance of the toilets. During
Director Bandonillo’s tenure, the plan was to engage the barangay government units
to shoulder the toilet maintenance. This never materialized, however. As a result,
most of the constructed toilet facilities could not be properly maintained for the use
and comfort of travelers, especially women.
Water Systems Constructed with Some Women’s Participation
Beginning with the First Water Supply, Sewerage and Sanitation Sector Project in
1991, the DPWH has collaborated with the DILG, DOH, and LWUA in the provision
of Levels I (point source) and II (communal faucet) water supply systems to rural
areas, and the formation of Barangay Water and Sanitation Associations. Under
this collaboration, the DPWH constructed and provided technical assistance for the
operation and maintenance of the system.94 Women have been active in the associations,
but support for equipping them with the technical skills and experience has been
limited. This could be due to the fact that the project design did not include, at least for
the DPWH, women’s participation in the planning, operation and maintenance of the
water systems. The DPWH explained that the problem is more basic: there has been
a dearth of resources for training associations on the operation and maintenance of
water systems. Nonetheless, some caretakers’ training have taken place where women
have participated in, enabling them to become caretakers.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Except in 2008, gender budgets and expenditures focused on organization-related
infrastructure projects, and client-focused infrastructure projects (water systems and
public toilets) received marginal provisions. What were reported as GAD programs
were in fact all-infrastructure program with little provision and action, if at all, for
creating the organizational capacity and culture to promote gender sensitivity and
responsiveness among officals and staff.
After the one round of GSTs for the regions in 1996 and 1997, there was no
program for expanding awareness and appreciation of GAD among the employees and
94
The DOH implemented the sanitation component; the DILG organized the community into BWSAs; and the LWUA did the
technical studies for future projects.
THE DPWH CASE 141

leadership of the DPWH. There was also no program for building capacity and tools
for GAD application in the infrastructure sector. Likewise, there was no investment in
human resources that could have strengthened the GAD structures and cultivated the
COGAD’s imagination for projects and activities that could be included in the GAD
plan.
In spite of the intentions to benefit men and women, the infrastructure projects
did not integrate the possibly distinct needs and usages of these groups. Designs were
gender unaware, and maintenance was rarely a consideration, a shortcoming that
spelled the gap between gender-invisible and gender-sensitive projects. Likewise,
the limited capacity to transfer technical know-how to women in the Barangay Water
and Sanitation Association and the changes in mandates and funding prevented
DPWH projects from making the crucial follow-through. In a different vein, the WAG
and MAG initiative could not optimally apply GAD notions and tools to the issue of
corruption.
Enabling Factors
All these notwithstanding, the fact that a GAD program has been installed in an
infrastructure department, albeit with very limited success, should be lauded. What
made this possible? The GAD program had been driven, and driven well, by a single
woman official. From her position, she was able to bring attention, even higher value to
the GAD program than what the male-dominated organization would have done. She
was able to negotiate for resources and get concessions from the DPWH establishment,
as well as, secure them from sources within her personal and official influence.
Meanwhile, Director Bandonillo credits another woman, Remedios Rikken, then

Executive Director of the NCRFW, for inspiring her to push for GAD mainstreaming
in the DPWH. She remembers R. Rikken’s visits to the department and how these
encouraged her and other women officers to work for GAD goals.
Another enabling factor is the interest shown in the DPWH gender budget by
external oversight bodies, such as COA and the House of Representatives. Though
their reminders were intermittent, these have prompted the DPWH to take action and
stake greater commitment and resources to implementing the GAD Budget Policy.
Hindering Factors
Unfortunately, the very factor that promoted GAD was also its greatest stumbling
block. When the GAD champion retired, the GAD program went with her, at least for
a while. The lack of capacity among the other COGAD members left no one to take
over. The infrastructure projects did not provide the venue for ensuring succession,
as these were implemented just like any ordinary DPWH project.

A second hindering factor, the lack of support or pressure from the top
management has kept GAD in the margins at the department. Though the GAD
Budget Policy was enacted into law, its implementation is not among the key results
areas for which the DPWH Secretaries have worked and have been held accountable.
This has reportedly led to the absence of one real office assigned to implement and
monitor the GAD budget implementation. Mainstreaming GAD is considered as
additional responsibility, on top of the many regular duties and the tight schedules of
the members of the GAD committee and its working groups.
A third factor, the non-release of funds for the GAD program from 2002 and
onwards undermined the institutional provision for the GAD budget. The non-
resolution of the attribution issue is also partly blamed for the few years of dormancy
of the GAD program. It became futile to plan and budget for GAD when no resources
were being released. By all indications, GAD projects were not given priority. To
many, there was nothing lost in the world of infrastructure development when the
GAD projects were not implemented; neither was there anything gained or benefit
extended beyond the usual reach of physical infrastructures.
The fourth obstacle is the recent DBM instruction that, in keeping with the
mandate of the DPWH, GAD funds would be released solely for infrastructure
projects. This would take away—as it has taken away—resources for building capacity
in GAD. Without this capacity, the GAD planning did not benefit from gender analysis
and other GAD tools. They were treated like any DPWH project, with little or no
added value. If the DBM were to be believed, roads and bridges are, in themselves,
GAD projects! The existing gender blindness of the projects is perpetuated even in
GAD-related projects, thereby further reinforcing the notion of gender neutrality of
infrastructure projects.
Opportunities and Challenges
The GAD advocates at the DPWH view several opportunities. They see the
emergence of new leaders as boding well for gender mainstreaming in the department.
With Assistant Secretary Cabral, there is a woman for the first time in the Management
Committee. This could also give gender mainstreaming a greater chance of receiving
support and influencing action from top management.
Integrating concerns of gender equality and equity in leadership training and

qualification for promotion should motivate the staff to strengthen their technical
capacity and commitment for implementing not only the GAD Budget Policy, but,
more importantly perhaps, gender mainstreaming in DPWH. Many of the leadership
courses are sponsored by ODA donors, which should ensure the integration of GAD
modules and issues in the training courses. The incorporation of GAD in leadership
training should work alongside the Civil Service Commission requirements for CESO
THE DPWH CASE 143

(Career Executive Service Officer) qualification, which includes GAD questions in the
oral examination.
The revival of the GAD program in 2008 offers the department another
opportunity to re-design the program. The auspicious signs include the progress in
establishing a GAD database, and the variety and increase in budgetary provisions
for awareness-raising and capacity building in GAD. However, past GAD planning
patterns are re-emerging. For instance, the employees’ quarters and training centers
regained priority in 2009. The likelihood that these will be designed and implemented
as before is great. Without the application of gender analysis and gender-responsive
planning, the same results can be expected and the same dynamics in budget release
is bound to recur.
In the context of GAD budgeting as attribution, a fundamental change in the

project design and costing is needed. Currently, the planning and budgeting for
projects does take into consideration the attributed GAD component. The categories
of funding have to include the GAD component. The design has to integrate gender-
responsive provisions, without the need for separate project funding. When such
provisions are addressed, the amount or percentage of the GAD component becomes
immaterial. For these changes to be operationalized, guidelines and tools for gender-
responsive planning, implementation and evaluation are most essential.
A Final Note on the PPGD Issues
The implementation of the GAD Budget Policy by the DPWH managed to confront
specific gender issues raised by the PPGD, but was unable to engage and impact on
the bigger and prevailing notion of infrastructure as gender neutral. The highway
toilets, water supply projects, employees’ quarters, and day care services, among other
initiatives, were concrete and very promising avenues for addressing the practical
and strategic gender needs of women and men as users and actors in infrastructure
development. However, the specific projects were not guided by an institutional
design for responding to the gender question. This is evident, for instance, in the
non-issuance of policy relating the construction of employees ‘quarters to increasing
women’s advancement in the organization, and the lack of budget provision for
maintaining the highway toilets. Conversely, these specific initiatives could have
been the avenues for interrogating the perception of infrastructure as favoring
neither men nor women. But the limited investment in gender awareness-raising and
building technical capacity for gender analysis and planning curtailed the recognition
and appreciation for the gender dimensions of infrastructure development and the
organizational culture.

CHAPTER 7
THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is one of the major themes of early gender studies in the 1970s. Among
the most tackled topics were the division of labor in farming systems and women’s
multiple roles in rural livelihoods and food security. Most of these studies later lent
support to the claim that investing in rural women means investing in food security.
But could one assume that they have influenced the design of agricultural policies and
programs? This chapter looks at the GAD interventions that have been introduced in
the programs of the Department of Agriculture, and most especially those that have
been facilitated by the agency’s gender budget initiatives.95

Established on 23 June 1898 through a Presidential Proclamation, the agriculture
department is currently mandated to be the principal agency responsible in promoting
development and growth in the agricultural sector. This is pursued through provision
of a policy framework for the development of the sector, direct public investments,
and, in partnership with the local government units, the necessary support services
to make agriculture and agri-based enterprises profitable. It also helps spread the
benefits of development to the poor, particularly those in rural areas.
The agriculture department envisions “prosperous rural communities built on

profitable farms that provide surplus for agro-industry and food security.” As enunciated
in the Agribusiness Chapter of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 2004-
2010, the Department of Agriculture shares with the Department of Agrarian Reform
and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources the responsibility of
attaining the twin medium-term goals of the agribusiness sector, namely: (1) developing
in a cost-effective way at least two million hectares of new lands for agribusiness in order
to create at least two million jobs;96 and (2) making food plentiful at competitive prices
where the cost of priority “wage goods” (rice, sugar, vegetables, poultry, pork and fish)
and other key non-wage goods like corn must be reduced. Such goals are both directed
95
Based on document reviews and on contributions from and interviews of key people in the DA Central Office and Regional
Office (Region XI) conducted in December 2009.
96
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 2004-2010, Manila,
2004, p. 30.
145
towards boosting the profitability of the farmers and in ensuring sufficient, affordable
and accessible supply of food for the country.97
To contribute to the realization of these goals, the DA has been refocusing the use
of its scarce resource to more strategic investments where the returns are high and also
more sustainable. The department is currently implementing the FIELDS Program,
covering fertilizer, irrigation and infrastructure, extension and education, loans,
dryers and other postharvest facilities, and seeds and other genetic materials. This
program has been geared towards boosting farm productivity to increase the income
and competitiveness of the farmers and at the same time, ensure food security.
Organizational Structure
The DA organizational structure is a mixture of organic offices, attached agencies

and corporations. The agency is headed by a Department Secretary, who is supported
by five Undersecretaries and four Assistant Secretaries with different areas of
responsibilities. It is comprised of the following operating units: 15 Regional Field
Units (RFUs), 7 bureaus, 11 attached agencies, and 10 attached corporations. Each of
these units has its own mandated function or role in the department.
Departmental Planning and Budgeting Process
The department through its Planning Service prepares two types of plans,
namely; the Agriculture Sector Plan and the DA Plan. The Agriculture Sector Plan
is a medium-term plan that reflects the goals, objectives, targets, strategies and
financing over a six-year period. Following the enactment of the Agriculture and
Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) in 1997, the sector plan has been renamed as the
Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Plan (AFMP). Attached to the AFMP is the
Medium-Term Public Investment Program, which translates the AFMP targets into
tangible investment programs and projects and reflects the department’s contribution
to the attainment of the AFMP goals and objectives.
The DA Plan represents the annual plan of the agriculture department.

Theoretically, this is derived from the AFMP and it is confined to what the department
can do in one year, subject to its organizational constraints and more importantly,
to its annual fiscal resource. The plan is supposed to focus on what the government
should have been doing or providing as the enabler of development for the sector.
The corresponding budget for the annual plan is prepared by the Budget Division of
the Financial Management Service (FMS).
97
NEDA, 2004, p. 35.

Preparation of the AFMP
When the AFMP was first crafted (2001-2004), a three-level process—local,

regional, national—was observed. At the local level, the RFUs conducted workshops
with the municipal and provincial agriculturists and veterinarians to draft the local
AFMPs which were further validated with concerned municipal and provincial
planners and sometimes, local development councils. At the regional level, the RFUs
worked with the regional office of other operating units of the department to generate
their respective sector plans and to produce an integrated regional AFMP.
A few of the Department of Agriculture agencies and offices had their own long-
term plans from which they derived their functional and sub-sector plans. These long-
term plans included the commodity roadmaps of the program directorates for rice,
corn, livestock, fisheries, and high-value commercial crops.
At the national level, the DA Planning Service consolidated the functional, sub-
sector, and regional AFMPs into the national AFMP. The Service also crosschecked
related submissions to avoid duplication and promote complementation of plans.
DA Annual Plan and Budget
The regular annual planning and budgeting of the agriculture department mainly
follows the DBM-prescribed process for government offices. Following the DBM
budget call and the budget ceilings set for adoption by the Executive Departments,
the DA, through the FMS, determines the budget ceiling corresponding to each of
its operating units. The units formulate their plan and budget proposals based on
the budget ceilings and the guidelines from the Planning Service. The units’ budget
proposals are subject to internal budget hearings where these are evaluated and
reviewed by the Planning Service, FMS, and DA officials and management before they
are consolidated into the department’s plan and budget proposal.
The consolidated proposal is forwarded to the DBM, which subjects it to a budget

hearing before it is included in the President’s National Expenditure Program, or the
National Budget. The Congress, in turn, conducts necessary reviews and hears the
proposed National Budget, followed by a final deliberation by a Bicameral Committee
and the passage and approval of the General Appropriations Act. The issuance of the
approved agency budget appropriations by the DBM signals another round of plan
and budget calibration by the DA units to come up with the current year’s work and
financial plan. The Planning Service prepares and issues another set of guidelines,
together with a memorandum from the FMS, stipulating the DBM guidelines for the
release of funds for the current year. The financial plans are consolidated by the FMS
Budget Division while the consolidation of the work and financial plans of the various
DA operational units is done by the Plans and Programs Division of the Planning
Service. The consolidated Work and Financial Plan is submitted to DBM for review
THE DA CASE 147

and/or approval. Gender planning and budgeting in the department observes the
same process as the DA Annual Plan.

The observance of the National Rural Women’s Day every 15th of October aims
to address the concern on women’s invisibility in the rural economy, which remains
to be a major gender issue in the agricultural sector. For gender advocates in rural
development, the need for government to pay “special attention” to rural women
is expectedly a recurring issue as long as program designs and resource allocations
remain blind to, or biased against women food producers.
The United Nations has echoed this concern. In 1995, the Beijing Platform for Action
noted the need to give special attention to
the plight of women living in rural and Gender issues in agriculture in the PPGD
remote areas in view of the stagnation of
development in these areas. Yet, more than The PPGD notes the following issues related to
women as development agents:
a decade later, in 2006, a similar call had
• Low gender sensitivity of key actors in
to be made in the Concluding Comments government despite the various gender
of the Committee on the Elimination of sensitivity training most of them have
Discrimination Against Women to the undergone;
• Absence of women’s concerns in the
Philippine Country Report on the Status programs, that is, women’s issues are not
of Women. The Committee called on the explicitly stated in the plans, design and
implementation;
Philippine government to pay special • Women have limited participation in
attention to the needs of rural women, decision making because they are not
recognized as a farmer or fisher, which is
indigenous women and Muslim women perpetuated by the stereotype of a farmer
in ARMM, and to ensure their access to or fisher as male;
• Women’s multiple roles are perceived to
health care, social security, education and be barriers to their full participation in the
other social services, fertile land, income- productive spheres; and
generation opportunities and participation • Overall, there has been no study yet
on the probable impact of the General
in decision-making processes. Agreements on Tariffs and Trade
The Philippine Plan for Gender- Issues related issues to women as clients or
beneficiaries:
Responsive Development noted this issue
• Women’s poor access to credit programs
of recognition of women as development and employment opportunities, with
agents and as clients (see sidebar). The Plan women often limited to microfinance;
• Poor access to training and technology
also set several objectives for the sector, and/or inappropriateness of the agri-
namely: (1) raise the level of consciousness cultural technology to women’s needs and
capacities; and
of the rural population and of the decision- • Inadequate data support that could have
makers on the important roles both women facilitated the crafting of plans that are
and men play in agriculture and fisheries, more responsive.

(2) mainstream gender concerns in the sector’s development policies and programs
and in project implementation, (3) develop rural women’s capabilities, (4) expand
income opportunities for women by providing or increasing gainful employment and
entrepreneurial opportunities among rural women, (5) provide infrastructural support,
and (6) forge stronger GO-NGO linkages.98
From 2001 to 2006, the GAD Focal Point of the agriculture department conducted
several GAD conferences that affirmed several issues, namely: lack of gender awareness
at all levels of the organization and among implementers and partners; need to sustain
the involvement and orientation of GAD coordinators in the planning and budgeting
process; lack of information among women on the services available and how to access
the services; and gender inequality in access to and benefits from agricultural support
services. Further, there was still an observed absence of integrated sex-disaggregated
database.99 Where gender data are collected, as in the case of the Bureau of Agricultural
Statistics that produces periodic data sheets on the “Role of Women in Agriculture,”
the data is often not used in agency planning and programming.
The same issues were identified by NGOs, academe, peoples’ organizations and
other members of the civil society. Many agreed that some inroads had been made in
the 1980s and 1990s with the adoption of the Philippine Development Plan for Women.
Its implementation, however, was not easy; despite the PDPW, some challenges
persisted. Ensuring substantial returns of projects and programs to women was one;
another was hurdling gender-based wage or earnings differentials, and credit schemes
and extension services that favor male farmers and fishers. It was likewise observed
that men still dominated decision making in the political spheres, rural development
agencies, rural organizations and even the homes.
Meanwhile, it was recognized that deepening rural poverty in the 1980s to early
1990s had forced people and households to migrate. The men were oftentimes the
ones pushed to work in the cities or overseas, while the women were left in charge of
the farms. Yet, male members of the family were still considered the household heads.
Poverty has also entrenched the situation of malnutrition and illiteracy, often worse
among women and girl children in the rural areas.100
After 1994, poverty has been viewed by many farmers and rural women advocates
as directly related to the economic displacement brought about by global trade
agreements, such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)-Agreement
on Agriculture (AoA), later implemented through the country’s membership in the
World Trade Organization (WTO). The agreement implied the reduction of domestic
subsidies and tariffs, and the opening of the market to imported food products. The
98
NCRFW, Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025, pp.198-199.
99
“Highlights of the Gender and Development (GAD) Seminar-Workshop held on 6-9 June 2001 in Puerto Princesa City,
Palawan,” prepared by Flordeliza P. Cablar, PMED OIC, 20 June 2001.
100
Jeanne Frances I. Illo, Women in Agriculture: The Philippine Case, Manila: National Commission on the Role of Filipino
Women, December 1994.
THE DA CASE 149

arguments in favor of the GATT-AoA ratification included, among others, the promise
of new jobs, increased competitiveness and economic growth. However, despite the
promise of 500,000 new jobs every year, improvements in agricultural employment
were slow. The number of agricultural workers increased from 11.14 million in 1993
to 11.22 million in 2003, or a mere 80,000 new jobs in ten years. With the decline in
the proportion of women in the agricultural work force from 22 percent to 19 percent,
most of these jobs had likely gone to men.
The reduced tariffs under the Philippine commitments to the GATT-WTO and
other regional free trade agreements are resulting in the dramatic entry of low-
priced imported products that directly compete with local produce. Women farmers
are expectedly among those to be displaced in the affected rice, corn, poultry and
swine sectors.101 Rural women advocates and organizations believe that women’s lives
and their livelihoods are not simply affected by the fluctuating market prices (as the
PPGD posits) but, more so, by policy decisions to remove protection from massive
importation and to reduce subsidies and support services (as the WTO imposes). In
view of all these, women’s lack of access to resources can be attributed then as much
to the neo-liberal policies governing agriculture today (removal of domestic support
and protection to local industries) as to gender-unaware or blind agricultural projects
(fixated with the stereotype image of a farmer as male).
Another related issue would be women’s lack of control over productive resources,
especially the land. Women’s marginalization in agrarian reform and land titling
underlies not just the land-ownership issue, but, as well, the extension of support
services and in representation in decision-making bodies.
However, the Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK)

posits that the recognition of women as farmers and fishers should be linked seriously
with the overall food security program, which is also one of the focus of AFMA. Giving
women access to agricultural programs
should be viewed as ways of supporting In a survey of 1,194 women in agriculture,
less than one-fourth has access across the
their roles in securing food sovereignty.
various support services:
This point has been articulated in the
• Irrigation, 24%
Magna Carta of Women, the result of the • Seeds, 19%
strong lobby of rural women’s groups. • Training, 18%
• Extension services, 15%
Finally, disasters and climate change • Farm inputs, 14%
impact men and women differently. • Pest management, 13%
• Calamity assistance, 13%
Natural disasters and climate change • Production capital, 9%
have threatened the biodiversity and have Source: Maria Daryl Leyesa. “Who are the Women in
consequently affected women’s control Agriculture?” Rural Development Review, Vol.2 No.2,
Centro Saka, Inc.: 2008, p.102.
over seeds and increased their work hours
101
Maria Daryl Leyesa, “Gender and Governance: The Rural Women’s Voice of Resistance to the Philippine Agricultural Trade
Policy,” Post-Graduate Diploma Course policy paper, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, 2008.

in securing food and water. As it is, women already keep long hours, reflecting the
multiple burdens that mark their days. Women farmers work an average of 8 to 11
hours a day, while women fishers log in 16 hours a day.102 Half of the time is usually
spent on production activities; while the remaining half is spent on domestic activities,
preparing farm tools or food for the farm workers, fetching water, gardening or
foraging for food, gathering wood for fuel, raising poultry and livestock, and other
livelihood activities. It must be noted that hours spent on other livelihood activities
triple during non-planting and harvesting seasons, an indication of how seriously
rural women take their households’ survival.

The Department of Agriculture was one of the first national government agencies
that embarked on mainstreaming GAD in its operations and programs. The Women
in Development Focal Point System was formed in 1989. In succeeding years, the
department issued a number of policy statements that reorganized the GAD structures,
defined the roles of the officers (chairperson and vice-chairperson) and members, and
created GAD Focal Systems (in lieu of the Focal Point Systems) at three levels: Office
of the Secretary, bureaus and attached agencies and corporations, and Regional Field
Units. Issued at different times by a succession of Secretaries, the policies suggest
some level of engagement of DA leadership with the GAD program.103
The various restructuring efforts came in response to internal assessments of

weaknesses in the GAD structures. As will be evident in the next section, these efforts
have been complemented by capability-building activities aimed at strengthening
gender mainstreaming, particularly gender planning and budgeting. Ambiguities
concerning gender planning, budgeting and reporting would figure in the discussions,
efforts and results of gender budgeting of the department and its operating units.

The planning and budgeting guidelines that the agriculture department issues in
response to the DBM budget call includes several GAD-related items. It reiterates the
requirement of allocating at least 5 percent of the approved budget appropriations
of each agency or unit to gender-related activities and programs. It also attaches the
GAD annexes of the Budget Call: the Annual GAD Plan and Budget matrix (BP 600),
and Annual GAD Accomplishment Report template (BP 600A). The GAD directives
likewise reflect the specific thrusts, assumed to have been vetted with the DA
102
Maria Daryl Leyesa, “Who are the Women in Agriculture?” Rural Development Review, Vol.2, No.2, Centro Saka, Inc.,
2008, p.102.
103
Special Order (SO), No. 432, Series of 2002, which reconstituted the GAD Focal System in the department, was issued by
Secretary Leonardo Q. Montemayor; SO 288, Series of 2005, by Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban; and SO 152, Series of 2007 and
SO 460, Series of 2009, by Secretary Arthur C. Yap.
THE DA CASE 151

Secretary. For example, the 2008 GAD directive includes the memorandum issued by
the GAD Focal System Chairperson (Undersecretary Bernadette Puyat) that specified
that the GAD Plan and Budget should focus on “empowering and educating women”
through the department’s five pillars, namely: irrigation, postharvest facilities
and other infrastructure, credit, technology and extension, and marketing. The
memorandum also identified NCRFW’s list of non-acceptable projects and activities
for the operating unit’s gender budget. As noted in Chapter 2, this list includes, among
others, livelihood, and rest and recreation.
The GAD Planning Process
Although the department got the guidelines and tools on GAD planning and
budgeting, the units responded to the guidelines in different ways. In the first five
years of implementation of the GAD Budget Policy, the Program Monitoring and
Evaluation Division (PMED) was the only unit at the Central Office that budgeted for
GAD activities. The bureaus and attached units treated GAD activities as low priority.
They also interpreted gender mainstreaming to mean that they could ‘attribute’
mainstream projects as GAD. Moreover, most of the attached agencies did not identify
which projects and activities would form part of the GAD Plan. Meanwhile, turnover
of GAD coordinators in the Regional Field Units made it difficult for regions to follow
the guidelines.104
In the past decade, the department’s GAD Focal Systems had conducted eight
gender assessment and planning workshops that helped them discuss strategic
questions related to gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting. For some of the
workshops, they invited technical persons from institutions like NCRFW (for the
2001 workshop), and resource partner groups like the PKKK (for that in 2009), but
most of the time, they themselves provided the inputs and facilitated sessions.
The GAD Focal Point workshops served as venues for providing technical inputs
on gender planning and budgeting. Several issues were covered through the years.
In 2001, the discussions and inputs focused on the department’s gender budget
implementation guidelines, plans for seeking commitment for the planning and
budgeting process, assessment of the agency’s GAD budget utilization from 1995 to
2000, and the thrusts of GAD work and budgeting under President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo’s 2002-2004 term. The focal areas, which would be carried to the president’s
2004-2010 term, are: women’s economic empowerment, women‘s human rights, and
104
“Highlights of the GAD Seminar-Workshop held on 13-16 November 2001 in Aklan State University, Banga, Aklan,”
prepared by Flordeliza P.Cablar, OIC of PMED 1 February 2002.

gender-responsive governance. In subsequent years, the attention of the DA focal
systems for GAD has been on soliciting support of agency heads and budget officers
for GAD implementation (2004); and clarification with NCRFW on the gender
plan and budget submission (2006). On the last issue, the NCRFW required direct
submissions, while agency practice was to submit the forms to the DA Central Office.
As important as all the inputs were the recommendations and plans of action to
improve gender mainstreaming in general, and gender planning and budgeting in
particular (see Box 7.1, next page). However, as can be deduced from the 2009 workshop
discussions, gender issues that were the subject of resolutions in the past eight years
were raised once again. The lack of memory about issues and planned actions among
many participants could be partly due to the fact that many of the GAD Focal Persons
were new and even needed an orientation on gender and development.
In addition to the discussion of gender issues in agriculture, the consultation

workshops reviewed the GAD achievements of the department and involved partner
rural women’s organizations. In 2001, NCRFW suggested that the department focus
on the promotion of the well being of the rural workers, farmers and agricultural
workers; assessment of the impact of new technology and mechanization of threshing
on landless women; and targeting of women as clients of agricultural programs, like
credit and extension. The participants also discussed the Special Order reorganizing
the GAD Focal Point and defining the roles of its officers and members. The second
workshop held in 2001 dealt with the terminal report of the DA-NCRFW Institutional
Strengthening Project Phase II, which included a review and assessment of the
gender responsiveness of AFMA operations, capacity building of DA personnel to
integrate a GAD perspective in the AFMA implementation, and pilot-testing and
institutionalization of the department’s GAD guidelines in key regions.
The workshop in 2004 focused on the NCRFW gender mainstreaming evaluation

framework, and used it to rate the GAD accomplishments of the agency from 2001
to 2003. The review noted that several agencies had activities that were intended to
address specific gender issues and mainstream GAD concerns. However, there were
agencies that still failed to identify their gender issues. Several factors had held back
gender mainstreaming in many agencies. For example, financial constraint and lack of
understanding among managers seemed to have resulted in non-prioritization by and
inadequate support of management to GAD mainstreaming.
The next three meetings in 2005, 2006 and 2009 also assessed the status of
GAD mainstreaming and partnership with rural women. In order to enhance the
implementation of their 2006-2007 Strategic Plan, the participants in the 2005
workshop reviewed the functionality of the GAD Focal Systems. They likewise assessed
the implementation of partnership projects with rural women’s organizations. To this
end, the Central Office GAD Focal System invited the PKKK to present its agenda for
THE DA CASE 153

Box 7.1: Agreements and Recommendations of the Department of Agriculture GAD
Focal Point Consultation Workshops
2001
• Ensure support from the top management
• GAD Focal Person to be involved in the agency’s overall planning and budgeting processes
• Conduct a reorientation of GAD Focal Persons on GAD concepts, especially on the difference between
‘attribution’ and ‘mainstreaming’
• OSEC units to be pro-active in the mainstreaming of GAD-related matters, produce GAD Work and
Financial Plans, and assess impact of GSTs and GAD-related activities to OSEC employees
2004
• For 2005, focus implementation on: (1) assessing the agency’s status, (2) choosing one priority project
or gender issue for greater impact, (3) prioritizing the identified PAPs, (4) categorizing the GAD PAPs
and introducing the results-based framework; (5) soliciting support of agency head to ensure that
required resources and activities are achieved
• PMED to give regular feedback to all agencies/units on GAD accomplishment reports
• GAD coordinators to share ideas and experiences and consider these as learning opportunities, and to
review and approve GAD reports and data from the agencies
• GAD Focal System Secretariat to call NCRFW’s attention on the possible revisions in the prescribed
format and submission requirements, and to ensure proper reporting of all GAD activities
• Conduct assessment of GAD Focal System at the regional level to check status of being active or
functional; involve other agencies with regional presence to the RFU GAD Focal System
• Conduct GST for Budget Officers for them to be aware of and to appreciate gender concerns for
appropriate consideration during planning and budgeting exercises
2005
• Provide copies of Special Order Nos. 432 and 288 as bases for the reconstitution of the GAD Focal
System, with agencies and regional offices to provide their respective GAD Focal Systems of their
Special Order for database purposes
• Formulate guidelines on partnership projects, and RFU GAD Coordinators to submit updates on these
projects
• Identify standard indicators for planning and monitoring GAD mainstreaming
• Include the program directorates and their coordinators in GAD planning and budgeting
• Issue memo from the Secretary stating (1) support to gender mainstreaming, (2) inclusion of gender
concerns in the agenda of Management Committee and Regional Committee meetings, and (3) that all
heads of agencies and units should submit their approved 2006 GAD budget allocations for gender
mainstreaming
• Issue memo for inclusion of the PKKK in gender mainstreaming efforts
• Invite representatives from NCRFW to give updates on gender mainstreaming and to provide mentoring
session(s) on reviewing GAD PAPs and the GREAT Women, and invite representatives from the DBM to
present the guidelines on budget allocation
• Invite top management to attend GAD workshops
2006
• Conduct intensive GAD training for new generation of GAD advocates, and complement this with
setting up a core of GAD trainers
• Assess how the capacity building, training and credit programs have affected women’s lives
2009
• Provide additional GAD inputs to relatively new GAD Focal Point members during the next workshop

rural women. In 2009, PKKK again shared the rural women’s agenda and potential
areas for engagement with the various operating units of the department.105 In 2006,
time was allotted for the participants to visit two Rural Improvement Clubs (RICs) in
Bohol.
The series of workshops and assessments of gender mainstreaming efforts by the

Department of Agriculture and its offices, agencies, and units pointed to several gender
issues that they should address. A number were related to making the agriculture
department more responsive to the gender needs of its workers and its clients, while
some pertained to the gender issues facing the agricultural sector. Other concerns
were identified by rural women’s groups, NGOs, and other stakeholders.
Organization-related issues
• GAD structures. The participants in the 2001 GAD workshop noted that the
GAD structures—the GAD focal point and coordinators—could be considered
weak and their roles unclear. In response to this assessment, the department
issued several policies that created a GAD Focal System, defined the terms of
reference for its officers and members, and provided that the Focal System
should cover the Office of the Secretary and its operating units. In addition,
the gender budget supported a series of conferences or workshops for the
GAD Focal System. Mechanisms were also set up for accessing GAD funds.
• Capability building on gender. The weaknesses noted in the GAD structures

referred not only to the setup itself, but, as well, to the capacities and
competencies of the members to apply gender concepts and tools. To address
these, PAPs included capability-building activities, such as skills development,
professional enhancement, gender sensitivity training, GAD orientation
sessions, consultations, dialogues, and congress or conference of the leaders
and staff. There were orientation seminars on laws against sexual harassment
and violence against women; women’s rights; and health, wellness, and
alternative and herbal medicine. Also considered as capability building were
the scholarship program offered to women employees and the recognition
for the Most Outstanding DA Employee GAD Advocate. The gender plans
likewise included seminars on postharvest technology and symposia on
public service ethic and accountability. Interestingly, seminars on animal
health, rabies awareness, and solid waste management were reported under
gender training.
105
The PKKK Representative (Daryl Leyesa) shared the perspective of rural women leaders and advocates in terms of
allocating resources for GAD and supporting rural women’s agenda of food security and sustainable livelihoods. The PKKK aspires
for the complementation of GAD programs with women’s access to indigenous and local variety of seeds, access to credit, and
strengthening of women’s roles in climate change adaptation strategies, among others.
THE DA CASE 155

• Information campaigns. Appreciation of gender-related concerns and the
application of GAD in the operations and programs of the department were
reported to be low. To respond to these, the GAD program embarked on
information campaigns. Categorized under the human rights component of
the GAD Plan, the projects and activities included the integration of non-
sexist language in advocacy materials on nutrition and the use of fertilizers
and pesticide (for 2002-2004); information campaigns on fisheries concerns,
women’s health and wellness (2005-2006); and information drives on laws
on women’s rights, campaigns to promote vegetable gardens in schools and
barangays, seminar on gender roles and women’s roles in agriculture, and
awarding of women achievers (2007-2008). There were also dissemination
of information about the Socio-Economic Analysis and Gender Analysis
(SEAGA) in the regions, publication of newsletters with GAD news column
in some agencies, and gender-sensitive evaluation of research and extension
services. For 2007 and 2008, too, the PAPs supported other creative ways
of doing the information campaign, namely: photo contest, compilation of
studies (including those on women in rice), a radio program that featured
stories of rural women entrepreneurs, and the publication of a book on women
achievers, “Women in New and Expanded Roles in Philippine Agriculture and
Fisheries (Winners).”
• GAD database. The issue of women’s invisibility in agriculture has been

linked to the absence of a sound gender database, or more particularly,
the inability of DA agencies to consolidate existing databases along specific
gender-based indicators. In 2001, GAD advocates strongly recommended
certain action points that could have been translated into PAPs. These
covered the provision of regional data on the role of women in agriculture
and feedback from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics to the regional
offices. Another was efforts by the Planning Service, which was designated
to integrate all available sex-disaggregated data on crops, livestock, fisheries
production and post-production activities. Finally, the GAD plan included the
monitoring of credit schemes using gender-sensitive indicators, such as, the
number of individuals assisted to access loans, insurance and guarantees, by
gender and type of loans and insurance received.
• Day care and livelihood services. Day care center facilities were considered
one of the programs under gender and governance. The day care centers
sought to address the inefficiencies in work situation arising from demands
of young children on the time and attention of women and men. Other
services that found their way in the gender plans were livelihood training and
partnership for the employees of selected agencies.

Client and community-related issues
Insofar as clients were concerned, the major issues revolved around gender-based
discrimination that influenced access to agricultural resources and decision making.
These issues were reportedly addressed through various PAPs, many of which had
dubious links to gender and development, as evident in the pre-2001 plans.
Reported as PAPs under technical and regulatory support services were:

production and distribution of seeds and planting materials, mostly assorted vegetable
seeds; meat processing technology transfer; training in postharvest technology; and
equipment for the fisherfolk. In 2007-2008, there were specific training in sustainable
agriculture, particularly organic farming for indigenous peoples, and technology
development and services program for market-driven quality tobacco production.
Regulatory services, such as soil analysis, the liver-fluke program, and prevention and
control of diseases also appeared in the GAD plans of the department.
For extension services, the PAPs were mainly livelihood training and farmers’
field schools conducted by various sectors. There were series of training on cut-flower,
bouquet or corsage making, and corn-husk handicraft. There were also technology
demonstrations on coconut-based food processing and training on the utilization
of squash by-products, production of kangkong fritters and ampalaya pickles,
manufacture of liquid soap and rice-based products, and fish processing and trading.
In addition, there were technical inputs on irrigation, organic-based agricultural
development, basic landscaping and floral designing, integrated pest management, and
waste management. There were likewise activities that addressed specific contexts, such
as the integration of GAD in a water resources development project, the community-
based watershed management approach in improving livelihood opportunities in
selected areas, and the hunger mitigation and livelihood program. A consistent GAD
program is the dairy herd build-up and dairy business enhancement program, which is
especially significant for the organizing of an all-women dairy cooperative.
Women-oriented financing programs have been listed as part of GAD programs.

These consisted of the various loan assistance and rural household finance programs
provided by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council and the Quedan and Rural Credit
Guaranty Corporation (Quedancor). To sustain financing, they also provided related
services and capacity-building assistance to cooperatives and to women entrepreneurs.
Under private sector participation and empowerment of farmers and fishers,

the agency units continued to support the formation of regional and provincial RICs,
in addition to the development of farmers’ associations and strengthening of other
rural-based groups, partnership projects (bio-fertilizer and urban gardening), and
organization of cooperatives. The RICs are DA’s primary partner women’s groups. Their
members are mostly women recipients of the department’s home economics extension
services, entrepreneurial projects, and training services for rural life improvement.
THE DA CASE 157

Other activities that included women were the strengthening of commodity cluster
organizations (for vegetables and coconut), the rural agri-development for Bangsamoro
women, participatory resource appraisals and various GAD consultations, deputation
of fish wardens, and creation of Agri-Fisheries Councils with their women’s committees.
Finally, there have been programs and activities pertaining to award-giving

mechanisms and observations of GAD events. Reported under gender and governance,
these are also enabling activities, as they recognize women’s roles in agriculture and
participation in partnership and decision-making activities. Among these awards are:
Most Outstanding DA GAD Partnership Project, Search for Outstanding RIC and Farm
Family, Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Scholar, Outstanding Tobacco Farmer, and
Most Outstanding Rural Women Achievers. These awards are generally handed out
during observations of the International Women’ Day and the Rural Women’s Day.
Compliance with the GAD Budget Policy
Until 2004, the Department of Agriculture has been compliant with the GAD
Budget Policy, even when measured against its total budget appropriations, as
approved by law. The only year when the
Table 7.1: GAD budget of the DA as
department’s gender budget went below percentage of total agency and MOOE
5 percent was in 2002. Small gender budgets, and percentage of complete GPB
budget allocations became the norm submissions, 1997-2007
since 2005, when the GAD budget fell Percent of GAD budget to % of complete
Year GPBs to expected
from 5.9 percent in 2004 to 0.05 percent Total MOOE GPBs
or lower thereafter (see Table 7.1). 1997 5.2 13.4 35.6

1998 7.5 24.6 33.3
1999 5.9 16.5 35.6
The department’s most complete set
2000 7.0 19.0 40.0
of submissions was noted in 2001, when 2001 9.2 21.7 82.2
37 of the 45 operating units (including 2002 0.2 0.6 35.6
the Office of the Secretary) sent in their 2003 5.2 11.6 8.9
2004 5.9 11.9 37.8
gender plans and budgets. On this year, 2005 __** 0.1 4.4
the GAD budget rose to almost P1.49 2006 __** __** 2.2
billion, or 9.2 percent of the agriculture 2007 __** 0.1 2.2
department’s approved appropriations. *The entries in parentheses indicate GPB submissions that
contain both plans and budgets. Sources: DA submissions to
This was slightly lower than the P1.44 NCRFW; DA, for consolidated submission for 2001, 2002
and 2004.
billion reported for 2000, which came **Less than .05 percent
from much fewer units and agencies.
Between 1997 and 2007, the average annual GAD budget reached P696 million,
or P15 million per agency. The figures dipped in recent years to P233 million and P5.2
million, respectively (see Table 7.2).

Table 7.2:
7.2: Data
Dataon
onGAD
GADbudget
budget allocations
allocations andand utilization
utilization, of the DA, 2001-2007
2001-2007*
GAD Plan and Budget Accomplishment Report

Operating Percent
units of
(number of Ave. annual No. of Ave. spent No. of budget
Percent Percent
agencies)** Total budget budget per sub- Total spent per year sub- spent
to total to total per agency
agency missions missions
OSEC 1,407,165,000 86.16 201,023,571 2 (1) 3,688,925 0.08 526,989 7 (5) 0.26
Bureaus (7) 43,652,920 2.67 890,876 23 (22) 46,455,887 1.06 948,079 27 (24) 106.42
Attached
agencies and 165,518,386 10.13 1,074,794 66 (50) 4,328,151,285 98.54 28,104,878 90 (70) 2614.91
corporations (22)
RFUs (15) 16,926,575 1.04 161,2055 13 (13) 13,999,024 0.32 133,324 55 (45) 82.70
All (45) 1,633,262,881 100.00 5,184,962 104 (96) 4,392,295,121 100.00 13,943,794 179 (144) 268.93
Average for __
233,323,209 14.9(13.7) 627,470,732 25 .6 (20.6)
the DA
*The entries in parentheses under the ‘no. of submissions’ columns indicate the GPB or Accomplishment Report submissions that
have complete information: plans and budgets for the GPB, and narrative report and expenses for the Accomplishment Reports.
The averages, however, are misleading. The bulk of the departmental gender budget
has usually gone to the Office of the Secretary, where much of gender mainstreaming
activities occur. For the period 2001 to 2007, as much as 86 percent was accounted
for by the Office of the Secretary, although it only had two GAD budget submissions
during the period. Attached agencies and corporations contributed 10 percent while
the bureaus and the RFUs accounted for 4 percent (see Table 7.2). Thus, while the
Office of the Secretary had P201 million per year, the bureaus had P0.9 million each,
the agencies and corporations P28 million each, and the RFUs, P 0.13 million apiece.
The Department of Agriculture had an average of 15 separate GAD plans a

year. Most of these have accompanying budgets. In contrast, it sent in an average
of 26 accomplishment reports a year. Attached agencies and corporations alone
made a total of 90 submissions, of which 70 were complete, or included not just a
description of outputs and completed activities, but also corresponding expenditures.
However, only a minority of the submissions included both GAD Plan and Budget
and Accomplishment Report. This constitutes merely a tenth of expected agency
submissions. The analysis of the submitted reports throws more questions on the
quality aspect of compliance to the GAD Budget Policy.
GAD BUDGET EXECUTION

The GAD Accomplishment Reports reflect how GAD is being mainstreamed into
agency operations and programs. Over the years, the gender plans and accomplishment
reports included the same PAPs with very minimal variations. What changed was the
way they were grouped. For 1999 and 2000, the PAPs were classified into gender
mainstreaming, technical support services, extension services, credit and rural
financing, regulatory services, and private sector participation and empowerment
of farmers and fishers. On instructions from the NCRFW, from 2001 onwards, the
THE DA CASE 159

agriculture department grouped its GAD projects and activities according to the
priority GAD objectives of the Framework Plan for Women, which are promotion of
human rights of women and girls, women’s economic empowerment, and gender-
responsive governance.
Reported expenditures for GAD averaged P627 million a year, or almost P13.9
million a year per office, bureau, agency, or corporation (see Table 7.2). Partly because
of the large number of reports from attached agencies and corporations, their combined
expenses accounted for 98.5 percent of the departmental total GAD expenditures.
The distribution of GAD expenses, however, differed significantly from that of the
gender budget. On the one hand, the Office of the Secretary seemed to have utilized
0.3 percent of its GAD budget. On the other, attached agencies and corporations spent
over 26 times their average budgeted amount. They reportedly spent an average of
P28 million a year per agency on what they considered as GAD-related activities,
regardless of whether or not these activities were stated in their GAD plans.
Not all accomplishment reports reflected costs or budget utilization rates.

However, in 2001, the GAD Focal Point System attempted to assess the GAD budget
execution of the different operating units based on their strengths and the problems
encountered during the early years of GAD budget implementation.106 In general, the
various units shared two sources of strength. One is support of the management to the
GAD focal system. The support came from the bureau directors and regional directors.
At the Office of the Secretary, the Head Executive Assistant, who was concurrently
chair of the focal system, had been able to get the DA Secretary on board, but not
all the unit or service heads. The other source of strength was the competent and/or
influential GAD focal system.
Other operating units had more things going for them. The bureaus had technical
staff that recognized the importance of addressing gender issues in their programs
and projects. Among the attached agencies and corporations are offices, such as
Quedancor, that claimed to have “GAD mainstreamed” projects, and had national
networks (advocates, GAD focal persons from other agencies, NGOs, and ODA-
funded projects) that are working to institutionalize gender concerns in the subsector
or region.
Despite this advantage, a number of factors prevented the units from executing
the gender budget. The attitude that GAD responsibilities are additional workload
rather than part of the regular activities was one common weakness among the units.
Not having a permanent GAD focal person, constant changes in the membership of
the focal system, and/or non-functional focal system was another set of problems.
106
Highlights of the GAD Seminar-Workshop held on 13-16 November 2001.

These often meant having newly designated GAD coordinators who were not fully
aware of gender mainstreaming or gender and development; and, in the absence
of proper turnover of materials, losing key GAD documents. The fact that some of
the enabling activities (meetings, capacity development and consultations) were not
implemented compounded the problem. So did the lack of monitoring and feedback.
Many of the bureaus had no gender budgets, while GAD coordinators in a number of
attached agencies had no control over the gender budget. In several instances, too, PAPs
were not treated separately in the GAD Plan, and offices were “mistaking attribution
with mainstreaming.” Despite Quedancor’s claim, inadequate loan assistance for
production facilities was still identified as a problem, along with the general concern of
fund constraints.
At least in 2001, the problems seemed not to be related to accessing the GAD funds,
but, instead, to using them appropriately, or as planned. The latter could be traced to
challenges faced by the GAD focal systems in pursuing gender mainstreaming in the
various operating units and their constituent offices, bureaus or agencies. It could
also be due to the problems related to attribution of programs, activities and projects.
The accomplishment reports generally indicate how GAD projects and activities
address the gender issues, and offer sex-disaggregated data and amounts of the GAD
budget spent as evidence. What do the reported results actually mean, however? For
instance, the accomplishments for 2006 included the election of a woman fisher to
the leadership of the Taal Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council, but
it was not clear what gender budget-supported intervention led to this result. Another
accomplishment cited was the inclusion of 24 women among those deputized and
trained to be fish wardens. But how was such accomplishment assessed against the
fact that the same training also covered 325 men? Did the training include a possible
GAD-related PAP, which is the provision of GAD orientation as part of the training?
Did the training include discussions on gender biases surrounding deputation of
fishers? Was the ratio of 24 women to 325 men fair in the first place? Could more
women have been involved, or were the women just so happened to be present, rather
than among the intended participants?
The same line of questioning could be applied to the other services. One example
is the Fiber Industry Development Authority. In 2004, it reported its farmer field
schools or training as part of its GAD program, although their women participants
were greatly outnumbered by the men. In contrast, separate training for livelihood
associations had more women than men participants. Another example is the National
Tobacco Administration, which cited in its 2002 report the formation of farmers’
multi-purpose cooperatives as its gender budget-supported activity. However, women
comprised only 9.5 percent of the members of the cooperatives, and 21 percent of their
beneficiaries. What all these imply is that as long as there are sex-disaggregated data,
THE DA CASE 161

regular activities are attributed as GAD activities. Thus, in spite of what appeared to
be fair compliance of the Department of Agriculture to the gender budget policy, the
evidence say differently.
Auditing of the budget
In 2008, the Commission on Audit termed the practice of budget attribution as

“grabbing and lifting” of programs. In an audit of the agriculture department’s GAD
programs, the COA representative, DA Supervising Auditor Elnora B. Sta. Maria, noted
deficiencies in the implementation of these programs. The deficiencies manifested in
the non-prioritization of the GAD Plan proved inconsistent with Section 31 of the
2008 GAA, which called for the formulation of a GAD Plan and the allocation of at
least 5 percent of the agency’s budget to gender and development.
The audit observations and the response of the department’s GAD Focal Person to
each of them are as follows107. First, COA noted the lack of a specific GAD Plan especially
for the department’s Central Office. She also pointed out that the accomplishment
reports and plans do not to match. This makes it difficult to ascertain whether or
not GAD objectives have been realized. To these, the department responded that
its proposed preliminary GAD Plan and Budget amounting to P28 million108 was a
consolidation of all the plans and budget proposals submitted to the Planning Service
by the various operating units. However, each unit also separately submits their gender
plans to the NCRFW. The department further explained that the central office has no
detailed gender plan owing to its role of steering the GAD mainstreaming campaign.
Its past GAD activities included GSTs, training on gender-responsive planning,
annual gender assessment and planning workshops, review of personnel policies to
remove gender biases, and implementation of flexible-time policy to allow employees
to attend to both their productive (office) and reproductive roles.
Third, COA observed that most of the GAD activities were “ascribed and lifted”
from various programs, as opposed to have been “established or planned” at the
beginning. The department explained that attribution of regular activities to GAD is
“the only practical way of integrating gender concerns,” given the limited resources
that are made available to the operating units.
Fourth, there has been overall non-compliance to the minimum 5-percent GAD
budget and underutilization of the appropriated amount. The department claimed
that gender mainstreaming may be found in its Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA)
Program for the various sectors or crops. This was reiterated in the 2007 instruction
from then Secretary Yap that stresses the priority of ensuring economic empowerment
of rural women through credit, entrepreneurial training, and livelihood projects.
107
Letter memorandum of the Office of the Undersecretary for Special Concerns, 25 of August 2009.
108
This data was not included in the tables since there was no actual copy of the 2008 Gender Plan and Budget.

Lastly, COA noted the incomplete submissions of GAD accomplishment reports
by RFUs and the bureaus. Specifically, these operating units got 1.2 percent (P28.4
million) of the department’s GAD budget (P2.3 billion), but the accomplishment
report accounted for only P 4.5 million, or 15.8 percent of the units’ gender budgets. In
response, the department explained that its operating units and agencies also submit a
copy of their individual GAD Plan and Budget to the DBM, as required in the budget
call. Likewise, some agencies may have directly submitted their accomplishment
reports to the NCRFW, as instructed by Joint Memorandum Circular 2004-1 from
DBM, NEDA and NCRFW. A number of these agencies, however, seemed to have
failed to provide the Planning Service a copy.109 This could partly explain the data gap
in the consolidated reports and the target 5 percent of the departmental budget.
The Planning Service noted that the plans and reports are usually being submitted
for compliance purposes. These are neither substantive nor do they even qualify as
GAD mainstreaming plans. Submitting the reports to the central office would have
allowed the GAD Focal System to assess if the PAPs were gender-responsive, or if they
would involve or benefit women. The Service further further noted that the problem
with “attribution” is that projects “may or may not include women,” and that the
mandated 5-percent gender budget cannot be fully accounted for. Nonetheless, the
GAD projects and activities are already reportedly being mainstreamed and integrated
in the implementation of programs and projects of the Department of Agriculture.110
Institutionalized GAD Structures
The GAD budget-supported annual planning workshops enabled the members of

the GAD Focal System to identify and draft policies that are needed to strengthen the
GAD structure. The issuance of the Special Orders on the GAD Focal System helped
to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the GAD focal persons in the different units
(see Box 7.2, next page), thereby preventing duplication of functions.
Capacity for Self-assessment in Gender Mainstreaming
From 2002 to 2008, the gender budget funded the requisite enabling
mechanisms for gender mainstreaming, namely gender training, GAD orientation,
sex disaggregation of available data, partnership with women’s organizations, and
awarding or recognition of women’s achievements. Meanwhile, the scope of economic
empowerment activities has expanded, especially on various crop-based livelihood
opportunities and even on organic farming technologies.
109
Planning Service Office, personal communication, DA Central Office, n.d.
110
Planning Service Office, personal communication, n.d.
THE DA CASE 163

Box 7.2: Composition and Functions of the Focal Systems of the Department of Agriculture,
by Operating Unit
Office of the Secretary
Composition: Chair, the highest woman official, which in 2009, was Undersecretary for Special
Concerns, Bernadette Romulo-Puyat; Vice Chair, Marites D. Bernardo, Chief of the DA Central Action
Center; TWG members, GAD coordinators from all bureaus, attached agencies, corporations, and
implementing units at the Office of the Secretary. The GAD Secretariat comes from the Special Project
Coordination and Management Assistance Division (SPCMAD).
General functions:
DA GAD Focal System Chair and Vice Chair:
1. Provide directions to the GAD mainstreaming initiatives of the department
2. Conceptualize and implement specific programs and projects pursuant to RA 7192 (Women in
Development and Nation Building Act of 1992)
3. Lead the formulation of the GAD strategic plan of the department
4. Review the department’s annual GAD Plan and Budget to include the RFUs, bureaus, attached
agencies and corporations, and services under the Office of the Secretary
5. Spearhead the conduct of periodic monitoring and assessment of DA GAD activities and
accomplishments, and GAD planning workshops
6. Coordinate with RFUs, bureaus, attached agencies, and corporations on GAD mainstreaming
activities
7. Represent the Secretary of Agriculture in the NCRFW Board and other GAD-related interagency
activities, meetings and forums
DA GAD Focal System TWG Members: provide staff support to the DA GAD Focal System in addition to
inherent functions
DA GAD Secretariat (SPCMAD):
1. Prepare the notices, agenda, and minutes of the DA GAD Focal System meetings
2. Coordinate with all of the department GAD Focal System officers and members
3. Liaise with the NCRFW regarding the conduct of the annual Women’s Month and Rural Women’s
Day and other GAD-related celebrations;
4. Formulate or prepare workshop and training designs as needed
5. Document and submit highlights of workshops and training
6. Perform other functions that may be assigned by the DA GAD Chair and Vice-Chair
Regional Field Units
Composition: In each RFU, the DA GAD Focal System is chaired by the Regional Executive Director or
designated representative; the co-chair is the Regional Director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources, or designated representative; the vice-chairperson is another designated GAD Coordinator;
the members are Division Chiefs or their permanent representatives, including representatives from
regional offices of bureaus and attached agencies and corporations. The RFU GAD Secretariat will be
from designated office or staff by the RFU Focal System chair.
Functions of the RFU GAD Focal System:
1. Prepare or review the Annual GAD Work and Financial Plan at the regional level and recommend courses
of action to the GAD Focal Systems Chair
2. Oversee and monitor the implementation of GAD plan and mainstreaming activities in the DA regular and
special programs and projects at the regional level
3. Monitor and control GAD budget utilization
4. Prepare, consolidate and submit reports to the DA GAD Focal System at the central office through the PMED,
their regional GAD plans and activities including those from bureaus, attached agencies and corporations at
the regional level
5. Coordinate the participation of the DA RFU in GAD-related activities
6. Coordinate with other GAD Focal System from bureaus, attached agencies and corporations of the
Department at the regional level

Bureaus/attached agencies/corporations
Composition: For these offices, the head of the agency is the chairperson and most of the officers and members
are designated.
Functions of the GAD Focal System:
1. Prepare and review the Annual GAD Work and Financial Plan at the bureau, attached agency, or corporation
level
2. Oversee and monitor the implementation of GAD plan and mainstreaming activities in the bureaus, attached
agencies, or corporations
3. Monitor and control GAD budget utilization
4. Prepare and submit reports to the DA GAD Focal System at the central office through the PMED
5. Coordinate the participation of the bureau, attached agency, or corporation in GAD-related activities
It would be difficult, however, to look into the impact of these GAD activities.
There is little information on the women beneficiaries and partners, or on whether
or not their sustainability needs are being met. For instance, were the women who
availed of vegetable seeds able to market their produce, or avail of market services, as
well? In contrast, there were various processes and activities that have provided tools
and venues for self-assessment and self-improvement among the GAD focal systems.
Agency-based self-assessment of the GAD budget
One agency that was known to have evaluated its GAD budget, the National
Nutrition Council (NNC) submitted in 2003 a comprehensive assessment of
its accomplishments that could be attributed to the GAD budget since 1995. Its
review looked into the four areas of the gender mainstreaming evaluation framework
to determine how far their efforts have gone.
The NNC listed the four special orders that institutionalized the GAD Focal System;
analyzed sex-disaggregated data about the agency’s human resources, noting that its
personnel and the barangay nutrition scholars were mostly women; and recognized
its supportive management and strong coordination with the nutrition community
as enabling mechanisms. It stressed that it has regularly prepared and submitted its
GAD work and financial plan to the central office and NCRFW. Its major findings
showed that the NNC allocated to GAD an average of 11 percent of its annual budget,
and used about 79 percent of the GAD budget per year.
The NNC claims that the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition includes strategies
for improving women’s access to nutrition services. The Plan also includes conduct
of situation analysis and capacity building, and the preparation of women-oriented
program designs.
In its gender analysis of the nutrition sector, the NNC emphasized the relevance
of nutrition to women, who are considered the managers of nutrition, from decision
making down to service delivery and project implementation and to being beneficiaries.
THE DA CASE 165

It noted the inadequacy of existing gender mainstreaming guidelines and tools for
analyzing gender differences in nutritional status and for generating sex-disaggregated
nutrition data.
On the administrative side of the gender budget, the NNC document noted how
the practice of budget attribution has made it difficult to have a separate budget line
item for GAD. It claims that there were instances when sports and cultural expenses
were charged as GAD expenses. Other issues included the lack of GAD coordinators
and activities at the regional level, and DBM’s disapproval of GAD projects that were
aimed to establish mother- and father-baby friendly workplace.
Wider application of GMEF
During the 2005 National GAD Assessment and Planning Workshop, the members
of the department’s GAD Focal System assessed their progress in mainstreaming
GAD in their respective agencies. The assessment generated the scores for each
operating unit, which indicates the stage in gender mainstreaming the unit is in, and
its preparedness to go to the next stage (see Table 7.3). The average GMEF scores
of the units totaled to 12.16, or the equivalent score of 2.43 per operating unit. This
score indicates that each unit is Table
Table 7.3:
7.3: Assessment of gender
Assessment of gendermainstreaming
mainstreamingatintheDA,
DA,
moving into the third stage of using using thetheGMEF,
GMEF,2005
2005
gender mainstreaming. Overall,
GMEF entry point Bureaus Attached Attached RFUs BFAR
the Department of Agriculture Agencies Corporations ROs
may soon be ready to move into Average Scores 2.39 2.66 2.65 2.12 2.34
the GAD application stage, as Policy 1.98 2.63 2.68 1.86 2.54
People 2.62 3.09 3.02 2.51 2.62
the foundation and installation
Enabling Mechanism 2.41 2.52 2.46 2.51 2.36
of strategic mechanisms are Programs, projects,
2.55 2.41 2.44 1.60 1.84
already in place. activities
The third stage is considered as “the period where GAD-related activities are
consolidated for more impact. It usually happens after the GAD plan is mapped
out and the institutional mechanisms are installed. Interventions to achieve gender
mainstreaming cease to be sporadic and un-coordinated, but become more strategic
in terms of number and quality.”111 At this juncture, it is expected that GAD has been
integrated in the KRAs and performance contracts of its officials; gender equality or
equity and women’s empowerment targets are being incorporated in the agency’s
flagship programs; GAD training programs are responding to the needs of advocates
and targets of change; GAD interventions are done not only by the central offices but
also by regional offices and attached agencies; and the gender lens is being used by
field workers to develop, analyze, and evaluate programs and projects.
111
NCRFW, “Applying the Tool to Assess Gender Mainstreaming, Book 2,” A Guidebook on Gender Mainstreaming: How
Far Have We Gone?, Manila, 2001.

Post COA Audit
It was not just the GAD budget of the central office that was audited by the
Commission on Audit. In 2007, or a year before, the Regional Field Office of Region XI
also got audited (see Box 7.3 for the story). The audit forced the management to sit down
with the GAD coordinators. The latter agreed that while their GAD Plans may “not
necessarily be submitting the performance indicators of the banner program … [it
was, however,] answering the gender issues in the mainstreaming [of GAD] in the
banner program activities.” As a result, the region was able to ‘enroll’ P12.5 million for
gender programs that were identified alongside the gender issues.112
Box 7.3: “Oh my GAD!”
The GAD Focal Person of RFU Region XI, Melanie Brieta, claimed that for an agency to be GAD compliant,
it has to have: awareness of and commitment to the GAD program, especially at the management level; and
enabling policies that will facilitate the GAD program and focal points, and that will make the various GAD
focal systems work.
Attaining these has not been easy. Among the earlier difficulties they met were the management’s lack
of awareness and commitment to the GAD program. It was common for the GAD Secretariat to hear the
management say, “Oh my GAD!”, signifying that that they were unconvinced of the program, despite several
GSTs, GAD meetings and conferences since 2002.
It was not until the Commission on Audit called their attention in 2007, along with “bombardment” from
the national office to answer the observations, that the management sat down with the GAD Focal Person. The
discussions revealed differences in their interpretations of the gender mainstreaming guidelines. Nonetheless,
there was consensus that the GAD activities should address concrete gender issues. Hence, only the cost of
mainstreaming GAD in banner programs should be reported as GAD expense. Following this, the region
‘enrolled’ P12.5 million (5% of the P250-million program cost) under the GAD program.
At present, the region has gender plans that are client-focused and organization-oriented. The client-
focused GAD programs aim to implement banner programs that would equally benefit men and women. To
address the issue of women’s lack of access to basic facilities, such as water, the region recently conducted
consultations regarding the possibility of a water project that would benefit women and their community.
Various institutions supplied the required technical expertise and resources. Ms. Capirig, the region’s
alternate GAD Focal Person, noted that NEDA, DBM, and COA have recognized their GAD accomplishment,
but also emphasized that NCRFW needs to improve its documentation of good practices.
Sources: Interviews with Ms. Melanie Brieta, GAD Focal Person of Region XI, and her alternate, Ms. Teofila S. Capirig, on 16
December 2009, during the National Gender and Development Focal System Conference. Also in attendance was the region’s
Technical Director for Administration, Research and Regulatory Services, Romulo S. Palcon.
Possible Improvements in Access to Economic Opportunities

The GAD Focal System considers four programs to be client-focused interventions
that are compliant not only to the Philippine GAD policy but also to CEDAW.113
112
Ms. Melanie Brieta, GAD Focal Person of Region XI, personal interview, 16 December 2009.
113
Presented by the Department of Agriculture GAD Focal Person during the Inception Workshop for the UNIFEM South East
Asian Programme, PKKK and Nisa Ul Haqa Fi Bangsamoro CEDAW project, “Promoting Gender-Responsive Governance for Rural,
Indigenous and Muslim Women in the Philippines,” Quezon City, 19 January 2009.
THE DA CASE 167

However, it is not yet clear whether these have actually improved women’s situation
or equalized access of women and men to economic opportunities. One program cited
was the GMA Countrywide Assistance for Rural Employment and Services for Women
Entrepreneurs, which intends to create more employment opportunities for Filipino
women, enhance their entrepreneurial skills, and provide financing for start-up and
expansion of their agri-fishery-related projects. Implemented by Quedancor, the
program can benefit women who are engaged in retail, wholesale and distribution of
raw and processed agri-fishery products and other agricultural goods. They can access
loan package of up to P500,000, depending on project type. The financing package
is also available to small-scale enterprises in agribusiness, like food processing and
manufacturing.
The Entrepreneurial Project of the Rural Improvement Clubs–Home Economics

Extension Association of the Philippines was also mentioned. This initiative aims
at improving the standard of living of beneficiaries through food production, food
processing and marketing, catering, food trade, cut-flower production and other
agriculture-related, income-generating projects. Implemented by the Agriculture
Training Institute, with a grant from the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council
and in collaboration with RFUs and local governments, the project adopts a roll-over
scheme and training of trainers and beneficiaries.
A third program is the “Strengthening and Monitoring of Technology

Demonstration Centers (TDCs).” This program aims to promote the commercial use
of improved postharvest processing facilities and equipment for selected commercial
crops among women and men, farmers’ groups, processors and smallholder farmer-
entrepreneurs in the TDC sites. The facilities are expected to lessen postharvest losses
and increase income derived from value-added processing operations. Facilitated by
the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension, the TDCs will serve as effective
venue for transfer of technologies through actual hands-on training using micro,
small-scale and village-level postharvest and processing equipment; and assisting
new smallholder-entrepreneurs and providing technical support to existing ones
through training, technology demonstration, and information campaign. The types of
equipment developed—multi-crop dryer, pili de-pulping machine, hot water tank for
mango, and others—target rural women who are engaged in high-value crops.
The fourth program is the all-women dairy cooperatives. The beneficiaries of

this program are the women dairy farmers of San Juan, Siquijor. The National Dairy
Authority identifies the following areas for collaboration with rural women’s groups:
training sponsorship on improved milk collection and processing, milk quality testing
facilities, basic dairy processing equipment for home-based processing, and assistance
in dairy product marketing (equipment and display centers).

All four programs are oriented to benefit rural women. Because of this, the
Department of Agriculture often cites them and similar programs when reporting
compliance to international agreements, such as CEDAW and the Beijing Platform
for Action. What appears to be lacking is the analysis of how these programs have
changed the lives of the rural women and how these have addressed issues related to
multiple burden, unpaid labor, and migration. Without these, the promised benefits
of the programs cannot be ascertained, or be reported as results.
Greater Involvement of Rural Women and other Policy Stakeholders
In recent years, the department has involved new rural women’s groups in
assessment and planning exercises that pertain to GAD programming and budgeting.
One such group is the national rural women’s coalition, the PKKK.
Willingness to address the Rural Women Agenda
There were two GAD Focal System consultations (2005 and 2009) that tackled
the Rural Women Agenda being lobbied by the PKKK. This indicates willingness of
the Department of Agriculture to explore areas of cooperation with the rural women’s
coalition, including the possible inclusion of women-oriented sustainable agriculture
and fisheries programs in the agency’s priority GAD programs. In this connection, the
PKKK’s Fisheries Cluster has been meeting with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources on matters related to women’s equal participation in the fishers’ registration
program. Meanwhile, members of the GAD Focal System of the department have
participated in the coalition’s biennial Rural Women Congress since 2003.
Promoting rural women advocacy in the Interagency Committee on Rural

Women’s Day
The interagency committee is supposed to be convened every 15th of October, in

observation of the International Rural Women’s Day and as promulgated during the
term of President Fidel V. Ramos. The Department of Agriculture is expected to serve as
the main convener of this committee, but most of the time the committee would not meet
unless called by the NCRFW. Moreover, being event-based, the committee has failed to
raise recognition for the rural women’s concerns beyond that one day of the year.
The NGO members of the interagency committee (PKKK and PATAMABA) have
urged the committee time and again to make strategic commitments. In the case
of the Philippine commitments to CEDAW, particularly Article 14 (Rural Women),
the committee could discuss and plan its response to the 2006 CEDAW Concluding
Comments on its recommendations to improve the situation of rural women. In 2009,
the committee members, including the agriculture department, signed a Memorandum
of Understanding to forge better cooperation on rural women’s concerns the following
THE DA CASE 169

year. They also helped draft the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Magna
Carta of Women.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
Successes and Challenges
There have been mixed signals from the Department of Agriculture concerning its
GAD budget implementation. In 2005, the department has already considered itself
in the third stage of gender mainstreaming. Indeed, at that time the institutional
mechanisms such as the GAD Focal Systems have been established. Yet, in the
succeeding years, there was the recurring need to clarify the roles and responsibilities
of these focal systems.
Another area is GAD budgeting. There were years when the gender budget
equaled and even exceeded 5 percent of the agency annual budget. Yet, this does
not necessarily mean total compliance among the agencies; in fact, most of the time,
less than half of the agencies makes their submissions. Moreover, distinguishing
accomplishments that were clearly intended to respond to gender issues, from those
accomplishments that were merely attributed as GAD is a continuing concern when
preparing the GAD accomplishment report.
Access to the gender budget appeared to be affected by the varied interpretation

and application of the GAD guidelines, not to mention the lackluster commitment
from the agency heads. These have been noted by the Commission on Audit. Its
observations proved to be positive for some units, such as the RFU in Region XI.
However, the response of the central office that budget attribution remains to be “the
only practical way of integrating gender concerns,” indicates that the department
fails to recognize the need for specific GAD interventions to purposively respond
to gender issues. The attribution approach reduces the GAD Program from being a
developmental measure to mere bureaucratic compliance.
At the same time, some of the GAD plans and activities have sought to reduce the
gender blindness in the agricultural sector. The rural women-oriented programs, no
matter how limited in scope or nature, have at least conveyed the message that women
can also fit the image of a farmer or a fisher. Nonetheless, much can be said about the
content of these programs. Livelihood programs may not exactly match the capacities,
needs and roles of the women in agriculture and fisheries, especially those who belong
to the more marginalized groups. Loan packages may not actually be accessible to those
who belong to asset-less or landless households. Moreover, it is important to examine
whether these economic programs would reduce women’s impoverishment, or would
only add to their burdens. Finally, GAD programs that seek to ensure equitable access
by women and men to regular market-based programs (such as those related to high

value crops) should be examined in the light of women’s existing roles in traditional
food crop production and in ensuring good nutrition for their family.
With the questions that need to be answered and inconsistencies that need to be
resolved, the actual impact of the gender budget on gender relations and women’s
situation in rural areas remains to be seen. Despite these challenges, the agency can
draw on the strategies that have facilitated GAD budget implementation, but this
time it should ensure that gaps are addressed and efforts are sustained. The strategies
include the lobbying of support from all GAD champions: within the agency, top
management, budget officers, and GAD focal system; and outside, partners, clients,
and women’s groups. There is a need to translate the support of these people into
sound policymaking when it comes to interpreting the GAD Budget Policy and its
execution. In case of changes in the focal systems, administrative concerns, such as
turning over of documents, should not mean handing over the commitment to GAD,
too. Rather, this should be viewed as multiplying the number of gender advocates. In
so doing, the new gender advocates are assured of critical support as they embark on
their new task.
The audit of the GAD budget has proven to be an effective strategy in objectively
assessing the policy and practice of gender budgeting by the department. The COA
audit also presented an opportunity for the GAD focal systems to review their practice,
as Region XI has done, and to be able to agree how the gender budget should be
treated—equivalent to a budget line or item—such that it can lead to desired gender
equality or equity outcomes.
Equally important are the activities that will facilitate the results, because merely
citing the number of men and women who benefited from loan packages and other
GAD activities in the accomplishment report is not sufficient. Instead, there should be
activities that would build women’s capacity to avail of the service.
An added challenge to GAD budgeting and gender mainstreaming in general is

the dearth of gender analysis to inform gender planning and reporting. There may
be data, but there has been little analysis when selecting interventions to be covered
by the gender budget. As articulated by the National Nutrition Council, there is a
need for a guide on how to analyze sex-disaggregated and gender-related information.
The establishment of a GAD database as a strategy should be understood beyond
sex-disaggregation of data; rather, the database should be a tool to advance gender
equality and women’s rights, and food security and rural development.
A Final Note
How well has the department addressed the gender concerns raised in the PPGD?
Its GAD reports suggest that it has responded to some of these concerns. Gender
THE DA CASE 171

mainstreaming structures have been established, and some decision-makers have
been involved in the gender focal system and their awareness of gender concerns in
agriculture has been raised. However, these seem to have had very limited impact on
women clients. One could only wonder: if indeed the agency has been able to make
policy makers aware of women’s roles in agriculture and fisheries, why do women fishers
and farmers continue to have limited access to services and programs? Agricultural
agencies have indeed extended training and entrepreneurial opportunities to rural
women, but they have done so primarily to members of RICs. All told, less than 30
percent of rural women have availed of agricultural programs and services, but there
has yet to be a comprehensive assessment on the actual impact of the programs on
them.
In recent years, the Department of Agriculture has begun to reach out to

autonomous rural women’s groups. In so doing, it is promoting the PPGD objective
of linking government with women’s groups, and challenging the department to look
into the agenda of food security and sustainable agriculture and fishery. The issues,
however, have yet to be reflected in the department’s mainstream programs.

CHAPTER 8
THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
The education sector consists of three major subsectors: basic education, technical-
vocational, and higher education. The Department of Education is charged with basic
education. At least in the past three decades, basic and higher education subsectors
are populated by females as girls and young women outnumber boys and young men
among the student population,114 and female teachers outnumber male teachers.
MANDATE, STRUCTURE AND MAJOR PROGRAMS

The Department of Education is a product of the country’s’ historical and colonial
experience. It was the Americans who established the beginnings of what was to
become the Philippines’ public school system. With the aim to instill and prepare
Filipinos for “the duties of citizenship and avocation,” free primary education was
installed by the Taft Commission. Eventually, the Philippine Commission put up a
“highly centralized public schools system” under Act No. 74.115
It was partly this centralized system that structural reforms of DepEd had sought
to resolve. A series of reform initiatives, of which the Basic Education Sector Reform
Agenda (BESRA) is the latest, aims to make it more decentralized and better able to
resolve the perennial problems of “high dropout rates, low pupil performance, poor
teacher quality (in a system where teachers were—and are still—central to the education
process), a language of learning that was not attuned to scientific findings on cognition,
irrelevant learning materials, excessive centralization, and inadequate financial
resources.”116 Because of these persistent problems, the education sector is probably
one of the most studied in the country since the 1925 Monroe Survey. The 2008-2009
Philippine Human Development Report noted, however, that the state of the country’s
education today remains as it was during the colonial era. The high annual population
growth rate of 2.3 percent continues to stump reform efforts. State resources are spread
thinly in the face of a burgeoning number of students at each enrolment period.
114
Based on the 2003 FLEMMS data, basic and functional literacy rates by age group show that the figures for females were
consistently higher than those for males, except for those 60 years old or older. This suggests that the present pattern was achieved
in a span of two generations, before which men were relatively more literate than women.
115
Part of the discussions in this overview is culled from the website of the Department of Education in which the historical
overview, structure and major programs of the department are outlined.
116
Human Development Network (HDN) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2008-2009 Philippine
Human Development Report, 2009, pp.65, 68.
173
The continual organizational audit of the sector has produced a series of statutes
in recent years that transformed the educational bureaucracy into what it is today. The
recommendations of the Congressional Commission on Education paved the way for
the tri-focalization of education, with the passage of laws that created the Commission
on Higher Education (RA 7722) and the Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (RA 7796). These effectively left the provision of basic education covering
elementary, secondary and non-formal education to the then Department of Education,
Culture and Sports (DECS). (The Bureau of Physical Education and School Sports had
since been moved to the Philippine Sports Commission.) In 2001, the Governance
of Basic Education Act (RA 9155) further transformed the department by conferring
more autonomy to school heads, and strengthening their leadership roles. It also
heralded school-based management (SBM) as the primary strategy of basic education
governance.
The education department remains to be the biggest bureaucracy in the

country, employing the largest number of public-sector workers. Today, it has four
Undersecretaries heading the following key concerns: Programs and Projects, Regional
Operations, Finance and Administration, and Legal Affairs. It also has four Assistant
Secretaries in the areas of Programs and Projects, Planning and Development, Budget
and Financial Affairs, and Legal Affairs.
Supporting the Office of the Secretary at the Central Office are the different services,
bureaus and centers. The five services are the Administrative Service, Financial and
Management Service, Human Resource Development Service, Planning Service, and
Technical Service. The Bureau of Elementary Education (BEE), Bureau of Secondary
Education (BSE), Bureau of Non-formal Education (BNFE) and Bureau of Alternative
Learning Systems (BALS) provide curriculum development and staff support.
The department has a total of ten (10) attached and support agencies. These include
the National Education Testing and Research Center (NETRC), National Educators
Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), Educational Development Projects Implementing
Task Force (EDPITAF), National Science Teaching Instrumentation Center (NSTIC),
Instructional Materials Council Secretariat (IMCS), Instructional Materials Council
(IMC), and the Teacher Education Council (TEC). It is also supported by 16 regional
offices, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and 157
Provincial and City Schools Divisions. The Schools Division Offices are assisted by
2,227 School Districts. The Schools Division Offices supervise 48,446 public and
private schools, in the elementary and secondary levels.
The education department is currently implementing the Schools First Initiative

as a means to achieve its commitment to the Philippine “Education for All 2015.” The
initiative is a broad-based and multi-sector approach to improving learning outcomes
in basic education through programs initiated by communities and schools. To sustain

this program and address other DepEd policy commitments, such as the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), the department embarked on a set of policy reforms
that seeks “to systematically improve critical regulatory, institutional, structural,
financial, cultural, physical and informational conditions affecting basic education
provision, access and delivery on the ground.”117 Known as the BESRA, it targets
(1) universal coverage of out-of-school youths and adults in the provision of basic
learning needs, (2) universal school participation and elimination of drop-outs and
repetition in the first three grades, (3) universal completion of the full cycle of basic
education schooling with satisfactory achievement levels by all at every grade or year,
and (4) total community commitment to attainment of basic-education competencies
for all. To achieve these, the key reform thrusts are centered on schools, teachers,
social support to learning, complementary interventions, and DepED’s institutional
culture.118
At present, the department formulates, implements, and coordinates policies,

plans, programs and projects in the areas of formal and non-formal basic education. It
supervises all elementary and secondary education institutions, including alternative
learning systems, both public and private; and provides for the establishment and
maintenance of a complete, adequate, and integrated system of basic education
relevant to the goals of national development.119 It is against this overview and current
policy thrusts that its gender budgeting and mainstreaming efforts will be analyzed.
KEY GENDER ISSUES IN EDUCATION

Educating boys and girls are central to human capital development and a vital
preparation for civic duties and good citizenship. Investing in women’s education is
generally linked to improved economic opportunities of women and their increased
decision-making roles in their households and communities. It also increases the
likelihood of their having healthier and better educated children.
To fulfill these expectations, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms

of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Platform for Action contain key
provisions for providing women with equal access to education. In addition, Goal
No. 2 of the Millennium Development Goals seeks to achieve universal primary
education by 2015, the attainment of which will largely contribute to Goal No. 3, which
aims to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. Commitments to
these international agreements involve pursuing policy thrusts that DepEd can help
implement.
117
National Education for All Committee, “Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (2005-2010),” 2006, p.1.
118
National Education for All Committee, 2006, pp.2-3.
119
Department of Budget and Management, 2009 http://www.dbm.gov.ph/ opif2009/deped.pdf.
THE D ep ED CASE 175

Meanwhile, the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development noted
that despite educational outcomes favoring women, there are still issues that need
to be resolved. Lack of gender perspective in teacher training, sexual harassment
experienced by teachers and students, lack of funds for gender-related programs,
weak GAD focal point system, prevalence of societal stereotypes and gender bias in
learning concepts are just some of the issues. To address these and other concerns,
the PPGD identified key objectives for the education sector (see Box 8.1),120 and
suggested reforms in the areas of teacher training, education and literacy, networking
and advocacy, national network of focal points in the education department, research
and standards and legislation.
Box 8.1: PPGD Key Objectives for the Education Sector
1. Elimination of all forms of gender bias and acceleration of the responsiveness of education and training
in developing and harnessing women’s potentials and in promoting their more meaningful participation
in the various areas of development
2. Upgrading of the internal efficiency and enhancement of the capacity of the educational system to
sustain consciousness on GAD and facilitate women’s integration into the mainstream of national
development
3. Provision for equitable access of women to services and opportunities in all areas of education and
human resources development both at the basic and higher education levels
4. Raising of the general consciousness regarding women’s gender concerns and provision of appropriate
opportunities and channels for women to contribute to total human and national development
In 2006, the CEDAW Committee in its concluding comments to the Philippine

report noted geographic and ethnicity-based disparities in education outcomes. It
urged the Philippine government to focus on the needs of rural women, indigenous
women and Muslim women in terms of education, and other social services.121
Latest basic education indicators generally favor girls than boys. While gross
enrolment ratio for boys is slightly higher than girls at the elementary level in School
Year (SY) 2007-2008, this figure is reversed in the secondary level with enrolment ratio
of girls at least 6.0 percentage points higher than boys (see Table 8.1). Participation
rates of girls in both elementary and secondary levels are also better than boys. Girls
are likewise more likely to stay in school, and they have higher completion and cohort
survival rates than males. These figures reflect the tendency of poor families, especially
in rural areas, to withdraw boys from school, because they probably assume that boys
tend to be indifferent to learning anyway and have more varied earning opportunities
compared to girls. In contrast, girls are generally more conscientious and are perceived
to be less useful in the farm. Girls who skip school are either those who got pregnant or
those who are left at home to care for their younger siblings.
120
NCRFW, The Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025, Manila, 1995, p.53.
121
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, “Concluding Comments of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Philippines,” Thirty-sixth session, 25 August 2006,” p.6.

Table 8.1: Basic education indicators (in percent), School Year 2007-2008
Elementary Secondary
Indicators*
Total Male Female Total Male Female
Gross Enrolment Ratio 102.0 102.9 101.1 81.4 78.7 84.2
Participation Rate 84.8 84.0 85.7 61.9 57.4 66.6
Cohort Survival Rate (Gr. VI/Yr. IV) 75.4 70.9 80.1 79.9 75.2 84.5
Completion Rate 73.1 68.4 78.3 75.4 70.2 80.5
Average Drop-out rate 6.0 7.2 4.7 7.5 9.3 5.6
Achievement Rates (Gr. VI/Yr. II) 64.5 64.0 66.1 49.3 47.9 50.5
Share/Ratio of Male to Female 100.0 52.0 48.0 100.0 49.0 51.0
* The indicators are described by the Department of Education as follows. Gross Enrolment Ratio refers to the total enrolment in a
given level of education as a percentage of the population which according to national regulations should be enrolled at this level. It
is a measure of the “capacity” of a region’s elementary and secondary schools. Participation Rate is the ratio between the enrolment
in the school-age range to the total population of that age range. Cohort Survival Rate is the proportion of enrollees at the beginning
grade or year who reach the final grade or year at the end of the required number of years of study. Dropout Rate is the proportion
of pupils/students who leave school during the year, as well as, those who complete the grade/year level but fail to enrol in the next
grade/year level the following school year to the total number of pupils/students enrolled during the previous school year.
Girls tend to have higher achievement rates Table 8.2: Mean percentage score of
grade six students in the National
than boys for both elementary and high school
Achievement Test, by sex and by subject
levels. It is alarming though that in recent years,
SY2006-2007 SY 2007-2008
achievement rates for both sexes have been Subject
Male Female Male Female
falling, an indictment of the declining quality of
English 58.69 63.10 60.64 63.08
education in the country. It must be noted though
Math 58.41 61.47 63.11 65.14
that achievement scores among Grade Six were Science 51.47 52.99 57.56 58.75
higher in School Year 2007-2008 compared to the Filipino 65.04 68.98 72.05 74.77
previous year, except in English in which girls had Hekasi 59.33 62.53 66.53 68.84
Overall 58.59 61.81 63.98 66.12
slightly lower scores (see Table 8.2).
The education indicators, including the achievement rates, suggest that boys’
educational situation is an urgent gender issue. Less educated boys tend to have
problems as juvenile delinquents and are potential candidates for violent behavior both
in the home and in society. With less economic opportunities in their adulthood, their
wives or partners will ultimately bear the burden of working for the family’s upkeep.
Another important gender issue that remains unresolved is the pressure that is
being exerted on DepEd in the matter of school-based sexuality and reproductive
health education. Despite this, some DepEd regions and districts are piloting a module
on sexuality and adolescent reproductive health. This has positive consequences in
terms of decreasing Filipino women’s fertility rates, which remains high compared to
other Asian countries; women’s vulnerability to sexually-transmitted diseases such as
HIV/AIDS; overall maternal health; and bargaining position in sexual relationships.
All these organization and client-focused gender issues need a purposive response
from the department. At least until 2006, DepEd has addressed some of the issues,
such as those related to the GAD mechanisms, teachers’ training, and instructional
materials. How these were accomplished and the problems that have dogged GAD
advocates in the DepEd are discussed, below.

GAD MAINSTREAMING CONTEXT
In 1990, then Department of Education, Culture and Sports issued Order No. 19,
mandating the creation of the DECS Focal Point at the national and regional levels
to assist the department to implement the Philippine Development Plan for Women.
Like other departments, its involvement in the formulation of the PDPW paved the
way for its early foray into gender mainstreaming.
The department’s gender mainstreaming efforts profited from several government

policies that promote the improvement of women’s educational status and/or equality
or equity in access to education.122 It also had a GAD champion, Dr. Fe Hidalgo, who
served as the GAD Focal Person until her retirement a few years ago. She was credited
for initiating many GAD programs and gender-aware policies in the 1990s, and
creating awareness among division heads and employees during her time.123
Unfortunately, very few of the efforts were institutionalized, and many have in fact
been de-prioritized after Dr. Hidalgo left. Mid-level career division heads who were
trained in GAD have already retired, too. Only a few of the original GAD advocates are
left to pursue gender mainstreaming in a department that thinks “it has already done
it.” Thus, although the department has named an Undersecretary as the new GAD
Focal Point, very few staff and officials seem to know about this designation. Without
an acknowledged GAD champion, the gender mainstreaming efforts have languished
since 2007. The GAD focal point system has been inactive. Its members have probably
become more reluctant to add GAD on to their existing tasks. Meanwhile, some
DepEd officials and staff have the mistaken notion that GAD concerns are primarily
GSTs, and these, to their view, do not in any way apply to the main functions of the
department.124

The Department of Education gets the highest budgetary allocation in the entire
Philippine government bureaucracy. With creative planning, using at least 5 percent
for GAD could catalyze gender-responsive budget utilization for DepEd and its
clients. However, the lack of an institutionalized GAD policy is seen as impeding the
department from maximizing this opportunity.
Access to the departmental budget for GAD is constrained by three factors. One
key consideration is DepEd’s huge personal services expenditure. The department is
122
These include Executive Order 117 that provided, among others, for equality of access to education and its benefits;
Philippine Plan of Action for Education for All (1991-2000), which provided equal access to education through its regional projects,
and the 1993-1998 Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan, which sought to address inequality by giving priority to basic social
services (Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025, pp.45-46).
123
Based on separate interviews with Director Zaida Azcueta (National Educators Academy of the Philippines) and Ms.
Cleofe Velasquez-Ocampo (Human Resources Officer, Staff Development Division, Human Resources Development Service), 27
November 2009.
124
Zaida Azcueta, personal interview, 27 November 2009.

perennially faced with a tight budget to work with owing to several interrelated factors.
It is mandated to provide free education to school-age population rising at 2.3 percent
annually. It is also the bureaucracy with the highest number of state employees, and
the dramatic rise in teacher salary crowds out the MOOE125 from which the gender
budget is usually culled.
Another consideration is the presence of unfunded laws. A report by the

Congressional Planning and Budget Department indicated that as of 2007, the DepEd
has a funding deficiency of P714 million due in part to unfunded laws that require the
establishment of national high schools.126
A third factor concerns allegations of corruption. ‘Ghost deliveries’127 and textbook

scams128 have plagued the department in the late 1990s. If indeed true, corruption
siphons off resources that could have otherwise been used for education and GAD
programs.
Process
During the years when the education department was preparing its gender plans and
budgets, the Staff Development Division of the Human Resource Development Service
acted as the Secretariat of the GAD Focal Point System. One of its functions involved
preparing the gender budget. More recently, the Office of Planning Service reportedly
drafts the GAD budget for the department, and submits it to NCRFW, along with an
endorsement of the Secretary. The NCRFW interprets it as a DepEd GAD budget and
records it as coming from the Office of the Secretary.
In recent years, DepEd has rarely, if ever, submitted a complete GAD Plan and
Budget. The reason why it has no recorded gender budgets is that most of the time,
it did not have approved GAD plans that cover the entire department. Moreover, the
department claims that it has integrated GAD in its budget. This notion persists because,
except for the remaining GAD advocates, there is a general lack of appreciation within
the department for the opportunities to make a difference in creatively implementing
the Philippine government’s GAD Budget Policy.
In the rare time that the department did turn in a gender budget, NCRFW had
reportedly disapproved the proposed budget because DepEd has no definitive GAD
policy, or because it does not reflect a department-wide plan and budget.129 A GAD policy
is expected to lay the foundation for accountability, and the lack of it in the department
does not create incentives to tap the gender budget.
125
HDN and UNDP, “Education Costs and Finance” in Philippine Human Development Report 2000, p.55.
126
Congressional Planning and Budget Department, “Unfunded Laws,” Facts and Figures, January 2008. No.3.
127
Yvonne Chua, “A Pattern of ‘Ghost Deliveries’ Plagues DECS.” Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, 1998 http://
www.pcij.org/stories/1998/decs.html.
128
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, “Can DECS Stop Textbook Scams”, 1999 http://www.pcij.org/stories/1999/
textbook3.html.
129
Evelyn Gorospe, NCRFW, personal communication, 27 November 2009.

Identification of Gender Issues and Actions
As in the case of other departments, the participation of the education department

in the formulation of the PDPW enabled the agency to do a gender analysis of the
organization in particular and the education sector in general. It also afforded the
department the chance to initiate programs and activities that address gender-related
concerns of the agency and its clientele, particularly the learners or students.
Organization-related issues and actions
In the early 1990s, the education department has identified key gender issues,
such as sexual harassment, violence against women and children, and HIV/AIDS;
and organization-oriented issues of lack of awareness and appreciation of gender and
development, GAD champions, sex-disaggregated database, and gender-sensitive
materials and teachers. There is evidence that DepEd has responded to these issues
as part of its gender mainstreaming efforts in the 1990s through the early years of the
next decade. The efforts to address the issues included the following:
• Sexual harassment units. In 1994, the department adopted a policy (DECS

Memo No. 313) against sexual harassment and set up anti-sexual harassment
units in different school divisions across the country. These units were expected
to attend to sexual harassment complaints, and publish information and hold
activities to create awareness of sexual harassment and the department’s
policy.130
• Participation in interagency committees. In connection with VAWC and

HIV/AIDS, DepEd has participated in various interagency committees that
have been mandated to them by law. Under RA 9262, the department is a
member of the Inter-Agency Committee on Violence against Women and
Children, which is tasked to monitor and assist in its implementation.131
Under RA 8504, it sits in the Philippine National AIDS Council, and is tasked
to integrate HIV and STD awareness and prevention in the curricula.
• Gender sensitivity training and seminars. To raise gender awareness, the

department conducted in the 1990s several gender sensitivity training,
including special modules for male regional and bureau directors and
assistant directors, and chiefs of central office divisions; a zonal GAD training
program on RA 7192 for educators to disseminate to field personnel and
to organize GAD Focal Points; and a trainers’ training on GST among the
regional trainers across the country.132
130
Zaida Azcueta, personal interview, 27 November 2009; comments on draft chapter from PCW, 2 September 2010.
131
The PCW noted, however, that DepEd’s attendance to and participation in the meetings of the interagency committee on
VAWC during the past few years had been minimal. The department had either sent no representative to meetings, or, if it had,
the person sent had little knowledge on the efforts of the department on VAWC. PCW comments on a draft version of this chapter;
received 2 September 2010.
132
NCRFW, Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025, p.47.

• Capacity development of GAD champions. Until 2007, DepEd organized a
series of gender training activities (GST, gender mainstreaming, and sessions
on specific gender issues) for selected officials and staff of the central and
regional offices. There were also efforts to build capacity of specialists to
prepare GAD lesson exemplars, and the like.
• Sex-disaggregated database. The department has been collecting and

reporting sex-disaggregated data on key indicators (participation, cohort
survival, dropout, performance and achievement) even before gender
mainstreaming began. The GAD advocates claimed that the availability of
these Basic Education Indicators System (BEIS) data has enabled DepEd to
respond to, say, the less favorable situation of boys than girls. For this reason,
it is taking active measures to resolve this disparity.
Client-focused
Another set of gender issues and PAPs cater to the department’s key beneficiaries,
the students. Among the issues identified were: gender discrimination in student
admission, recruitment and selection; and access to training and scholarships. Many
of the issues pertained to higher education, and the response has been policy review.
In connection with the dismal basic education figures for boys, DepEd has embarked
on a Drop-Out Reduction Program (DORP) that aimed at retaining students at risk of
dropping out, as well as, retrieving drop-outs.
Compliance
The education department has been inconsistent in its gender budget submissions.
From 1995 to 2004, the department submitted a total of only 10 complete GAD budget
reports and three GAD plans without budgets (see Table 8.3, next page).133
Most of the NCRFW records show that the Office of the Secretary (OSEC) has
submitted gender budgets in the 1990s, but not once after 1998 (see Table 8.3, next
page). The last recorded DepEd submission was for 2003, which was accompanied
by an Accomplishment Report for 2002. This came from the National Library which,
by then, has not been part of the department by virtue of the Governance of Basic
Education Act of 2001.
During the years when the department had a gender budget, this constituted
no more than 0.01 percent of its total approved budget appropriations per General
Appropriations Act, and no more than 0.08 percent of its Maintenance and Other
133
A significant portion of the entries in the education sector in the GAD budget records of the NCRFW are from State
Universities and Colleges (SUCs). While there are several records from 2002 onwards from the National Library and its mother
office, the National Commission on Culture and Arts, these agencies have been detached from the Department of Education under
RA 9155, or the Governance of Basic Education Act, and as such no longer part of the DepEd.

Table 8.3: DepEd
Table 8.3: submissions
Submission of GAD
of GAD Plans andPlans and(GPBs)
Budgets Budgets
andand Accomplishment
Accomplishment Reports,
Reports (ARs), 1995-2004
1995-2004
Item 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Total
Submissions
GAD plans only - - 0 - - - 1 1 1 - 3
GAD plans w/ budgets 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 3 0 0 10
AR (w/o budget) - - - - - - - - 1 1 2
GPB ( P million)
OSEC 1.648 4.825 5.825 12.298
PHSA 0.045 0.050 0.095
Nat’l Historical Institute 4.570 4.570
NCCA Records Mgt.
0.768 1.050 1.950 3.768
and Archives
Region XI 0.575 0.575
Total 1.64 8 4.825 0 5.825 0.768 5.620 0.045 2.575 0 0 21.306
Educ. Dep’t Total Budget 47,894.0 55,688.7 77,853.0 81,203.8 82,692.5 82,692.5 95,259.4 95,419.3 95,419.3
Educ. Dep’t MOOE 5,737.3 5,700.7 8,106.7 8,081.6 8,406.8 8,406.8 7,833.7 6,623.0 6,623.0
% of GPB to Total Budget 0.010 0 0.007 0.001 0.007 - 0.003 0 0
% of GPB to MOOE 0.084 0 0.072 0.010 0.067 - 0.033 0 0
*In 2001, the National Library was taken out of DepEd under RA 9155, thus, the GAD Plans and Budgets for 2003 (0.37 million) and
2004 (0.41 million) were excluded from the table.
Source: NCRFW
Operating Expenses. Thus, even in those years, the DepEd cannot be said to be
compliant of the GAD Budget Policy.
Its performance with respect to the annual accomplishment reports is as poor

as its compliance with the gender budget submission. Since 2001, when the DBM
required these, NCRFW records showed that it has turned in only two Accomplishment
Reports, one in 2003 and another in 2004. These, however, were narrations of GAD
activities, without an indication of budgeted amounts spent. Advocates claim that
recent GAD budgets were not according to the mandated 5-percent allocation.
Utilization
Based on the Accomplishment Reports submitted to NCRFW, much of the DepEd

gender budget had been earmarked for GST of staff and officials.134 In addition, the
2003 Accomplishment Report of DepEd Region XI included the creation of anti-sexual
harassment units or women’s desks, and the establishment or maintenance of day care
centers. Prior to its transfer from DepEd, the Records Management Service of the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts submitted an Accomplishment Report
that indicated that it has also used its gender budget for an onsite day care center.
While the Office of the Secretary might not have submitted a gender budget after
1998, it has tapped its regular human resources development and training budgets for
134
The National Library has reportedly tapped its gender budget to acquire Filipiniana books and library materials that relate
to women’s empowerment; and to build a library collection on gender issues and concerns at the women or gender section in
public libraries. The National Historical Institute has, for its part, supported research on women participants of the Philippine
Revolution; studies on unsung Filipino women, the Philippine First Ladies and their contributions to the country’s development;
Filipino guerilla women and comfort women as heroines of the Second World War; and comparative studies on the rights of Filipino
and Southeast Asian women.

GAD-related programs or activities. The list of departmental memoranda (see Table
8.4) supporting the conduct of training and holding of events lend some credence to
claims of several DepEd officials and managers that they have “already mainstreamed
gender” in the department.
Table 8.4: List of DepEd memoranda on GAD activities, 1999-2007
Memo No. Date Training and Other Activities
349 26 Aug. 1999 GAD Program Enhancement for Population Education in the Secondary Schools
254 6 June 2000 Consultative Conference and Strategic GAD Planning
Four-phased GAD Integration in the Curriculum (development of lesson exemplars;
423 15 Sept. 2000
series of activities spread from October 2000 to April-May 2002)
27 19 Jan. 2001 Validation, testing and finalization of the GAD lesson exemplars (see Memo No. 423)
37 12 Feb. 2003 Workshop on Matching the Entry Points of the GAD Teaching Exemplars and the
Peace Education Modules with the Revised Basic Education Curriculum
98 19 Mar. 2003 Critiquing and Revision of the Teaching Exemplars on Peace, Education, and GAD
147 5 May 2003 Enrichment Workshop for the GAD and Peace Education Teaching Exemplars
GAD Programs consisting of
• Eliminating gender stereotyping in textbooks and instructional materials
• Raising gender awareness among the participants, enabling them to be more
19 15 Jan. 2004 committed and responsive to gender equality
• Facilitating the concept of mainstreaming gender concerns re. RA7192
• Identification of different forms of violence against women (VAW) and how to
prevent them
• Developing a monitoring scheme in the different levels to sustain GAD
advocacy efforts
GAD Programs for CY 2006
• Raising gender awareness among the participants, enabling them to be more
committed and responsive to gender equality (including All Males GST)
49 7 Feb. 2006 • Facilitating the concept of mainstreaming gender concerns re. RA7192
• Addressing different VAW and Sexual Harassment concepts and issues
• Assessing the status of the GAD programs in the regions and sustaining GAD
advocacy efforts
15 10 Jan. 2007 Training of Trainers on GAD
Source: DepEd website
Of immediate use were consultative and strategic planning workshops (2000),

gender awareness-raising sessions (2004), re-orientation on the concepts of GAD
mainstreaming (2006), and development of a monitoring scheme to sustain GAD
advocacy efforts at different levels (2006). There were likewise workshops focusing
on violence against women (2004 and 2006). In 2007, funds were made available for
a training of trainers in gender and development.
There were, however, GAD programs that concerned two mainline functions of
DepEd. One area pertains to textbooks and other learning or instructional materials.
The GAD activities consisted of reviewing and eliminating gender stereotyping in these
materials. The other is curricular development. From 2000 to 2003, DepEd embarked
on a four-phased campaign to integrate GAD in the curriculum. This involved a
series of activities to develop, validate, test, and finalize GAD lesson exemplars (one
exclusively on GAD, and another on peace, education and GAD). In 2003, a workshop
was conducted to match the entry points of the GAD teaching exemplars and the
peace education modules with the revised basic education curriculum.

GAD RESULTS
The story of gender mainstreaming in the DepEd is one of initial gains owing
to the commiment of a group of people. However, these early gains were difficult to
sustain throughout the years because it was anchored only on the efforts of one person
and equally committed followers.
Examples of the early gains come from an initiative related to higher education,
the responsibility over which has since been transferred to the Commission on
Higher Education (CHED). The initiative involved a gender analysis of policies on
student admission, recruitment and selection. At about the same time, improved
access of young women to training and scholarships in the early 1990s has been
noted. The improved access has been credited to the acceptance by the Philippine
Military Academy of female cadets in 1992, and to some sectarian schools going co-
educational.”135 These results, however, have little to do with the gender budget, but
have much to do with initial gender mainstreaming and gender advocacy within the
education sector. 136
As Table 8.3 shows, the Office of the Secretary has not been submitting gender
plans and budgets since 1998. When asked during Congressional hearings about GAD
mainstreaming and the GAD budget, DepEd officials would usually answer that they
have already successfully mainstreamed gender in the agency since it serves both boys
and girls, and 85 percent of employees are women anyway.137 On other occasions, they
often cite as examples the inclusion of GAD criteria in the evaluation of textbooks
and instructional materials, and the availability of sex-disaggregated data for basic
education indicators.
The availability of textbook evaluation criteria that include GAD concerns is an

important step. However, the criteria are used only for evaluating education materials
that DepEd prescribes for public schools, but not for those to be used in private schools.
Moreover, the effectiveness of the gender-sensitive evaluation criteria is dependent
on the capacity of the evaluators and on how relevant the criteria are given current
developments, particularly in the curriculum. These gaps have to be addressed by the
education sector, if not by DepEd itself.
If indeed the education department has incorporated GAD in its mainstream

operations and programs, what results does it have to show for this? Available
information suggests probably not much.
135
NCRFW, Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025, p. 47.
136
A key GAD-related achievement of the education sector—not necessarily of the education department—was the creation
by a group of feminists of a Women’s Studies Consortium in major schools in the country. Among the original members are St.
Scholastica’s College, Philippine Women’s University, Philippine Normal University, Miriam College Foundation, University of
the Philippines, De La Salle University, and Ateneo de Manila University. This consortium promoted gender studies and gender-
aware curriculum. It has also been instrumental in the organization of the Women’s Studies Association of the Philippines in the
mid-1990s.
137
Cleofe Velasquez-Ocampo, personal interview, 27 November 2009.

Low Interest in GAD Policies
The presence of several memoranda that support GAD training and activities
(Table 8.4) cannot detract from the fact that the department has not articulated a
GAD policy that could frame the various memoranda. Like the gender budget, DepEd
officials might have thought that an overarching GAD policy was not necessary. The
NCRFW and GAD advocates in the department cite this as the cause for inconsistent
implementation of gender mainstreaming and a lack of direction in gender budget
initiatives for the department.
The department has a slightly better record in another gender policy area, sexual
harassment. As noted earlier, DECS Memo No. 313, series of 1994, articulated its
commitment to preventing and addressing sexual harassment in schools and offices.
Sexual harassment units were reportedly set up in the central office and school
divisions. As late as 2002, Region XI spent part of its GAD budget to the setting
up of a women’s desk, which would also handle sexual harassment complaints. At
the central office, however, the anti-sexual harassment unit was reportedly lumped
with another unit that was responsible for other concerns. The Women’s Desk met a
similar fate. It was shut down and its office space was given to an Assistant Secretary.
There is little available information as to how many of the sexual harassment units
continue to function.
Lack of Sustainability of Gender-Awareness Efforts and Effects
The GAD Focal Point members claim that the GSTs and specialized gender training
of the 1990s have not been sustained. Although there were GAD training activities in
2004-2006, the gender awareness sessions have been sporadic and not as systematic
as before. With the retirement of some who have undergone the series of training in
the 1990s, there are fewer and fewer officials and staff who understand and could
appreciate gender mainstreaming. As a result, what is left is “a DepEd bureaucracy
that lacks gender consciousness.”138 Some officials even scoff at GAD projects that are
proposed.
The understanding by DepEd officials of gender mainstreaming and of a gender-

aware organization—having girls and boys as students, and women constituting
85 percent of the staff—leave much to be desired. To GAD advocates, this mindset
and the lack of a definitive and well-institutionalized GAD policy are resulting in
inconsistent GAD mainstreaming and a lack of direction in gender budget initiatives
for the department.
While gender mainstreaming might have waned at the central office, some
regions, with support from foreign-assisted projects, have continued to incorporate
gender equality or equity in teachers’ training activities and in the development of
138
Zaida Azcueta and Cleofe Velasquez-Ocampo, personal interview, 27 November 2009.

instructional and learning materials, and to respond to gender needs of trainees and
learners. These have been most evident in Mindanao, where the AusAID-funded
Basic Education Assistance in Mindanao (BEAM) had engaged DepEd officials,
school principals, and teachers in Mindanao in GAD training programs (gender
mainstreaming, gender and peace, gender action planning)139 and in training activities
that have integrated relevant GAD concerns.
Efforts have also been reported in connection with teachers’ training. Members of
the Teachers’ Education Council claimed that ‘gender’ is part of the induction training
of new teachers at division and district levels. Teacher education institutions also
cover ‘gender’ in the discussion of social dimensions. These various teachers’ training
programs are aimed at helping teachers develop differentiated styles of instruction
that are age-appropriate and gender-sensitive. Whether in fact these programs have
resulted in gender-sensitive teachers remain to be seen or verified.
Mixed Results from Membership in Interagency Committees
Participation in interagency committees has had mixed results.140 On the one

hand, as Director Azcueta claims, interagency meetings and committees allow the
members to learn from each other on gender issues. These also made it easier for
them to network, and tap a wider pool of resource persons that they could invite to
speak on specific topics. On the other, it is not clear how far the policies and programs
pursued by the department relative to the VAWC and HIV/AIDS are responsive to the
gender dimension of these issues.
Fragile Enabling Mechanisms
The gender mainstreaming campaign at the education department has had

conflicting results. There are policies that support particular GAD initiatives, but not
an overarching GAD policy. GAD Plans and Budgets have not been prepared for years,
and when they were, these do not reflect department-wide concerns and activities.
The DepEd has invested its resources in raising gender awareness among its
officials, but few remains to appreciate various GAD efforts. Without a visible GAD
champion, a number of the Focal Point members seemed to have lost interest
in the gender mainstreaming campaign. The department has also supported the
development and testing of GAD learning exemplars. This was started in 2000, but
by early 2010, these have yet to be printed and distributed among the school districts.
What is currently being used is the GAD criteria in reviewing commercially produced
textbooks. The tool, which assesses sexism and gender biases, can also be used on
internally generated learning materials. The presence of the GAD criteria, however, is
139
BEAM Newsletter, n.d. http://newsletter.beam.org.ph/management/beam-project-conducts-gender-action-planning-workshop
140
PCW comments on a draft version of the chapter, 2 September 2010.

not sufficient, as developers of instructional and learning materials may skim through
them, without appreciating what the criteria mean and what they aim to achieve.
Finally, the department’s sex-disaggregated BEIS has helped shape its national
program for dropouts. What seems to have been neglected is an analysis of site-
specific data by school boards in connection with SBM planning. This analysis would
have looked into the circumstances of girls and boys who are at risk of dropping out
and of the girls and boys who have dropped out.
Quaky Gender Mainstreaming in BESRA
As the department’s current framework in implementing its goals and visions for
basic education in the country, BESRA is implemented through the regular DepEd
organizational setup and functions. As such, the GAD initiatives should be carried
through the various reform thrusts, as bureaus and other DepEd offices implement
the reform agenda. Moreover, BESRA is incorporating as part of its process, equalizing
opportunities among girls and boys, and women and men; and including improved school
participation of boys, in view of higher dropout rates among them, as a development
objective.
As part of its regular function, DepEd continues to: (1) keep track of gender equity
in school performance through the BEIS; (2) use the IMCS gender criteria for the
evaluation of textbooks and other materials; and (3) adopt the National Competency-
Based Teachers Standards and its Teachers’ Strengths and Needs Assessment, which
have integrated gender fairness among its indicators. It also claims to be incorporating
gender equity-related criteria in guidelines that are being prepared for SBM school
grants.
All these seem to be happening, but it is not clear how much of these are being
consciously incorporated in BESRA. Moreover, while all these seem to augur well for
mainstreaming GAD in the department’s reform agenda, the implementation appears
to be falling short. Indeed, there are tools, guidelines, and processes, but the people
who are using these often do not understand what these are for. Without periodic
GAD orientation and tool-specific briefing or training, their application would be at
best mechanical, at worst, subversive of their real goal.
Effects of Programs and Projects
In addition to the organization-focused gender mainstreaming efforts, the

Department of Education has embarked on mainstreaming GAD in its programs and
projects. How this was accomplished varied among the projects. Because of this, the
projects also differed in their results.

More gender-sensitive educational materials and local educators
The BEAM Project integrated gender equality or equity messages and concerns
in its various components, as well as, designed training sessions to accommodate
women’s concerns. At the end of the project, BEAM has left behind locally developed
learning materials that incorporate gender equality or equity messages; a number of
public school principals and teachers who have the capacity to develop and use the
materials; and regional, division and district managers with refreshed appreciation of
gender considerations in basic education.
Lower dropout rate and gender disparity
One gender issue that the DepEd is seeking to address is the higher dropout rate
among boys than among girls. To reduce dropout rate and gender disparities among
school leavers, the department has piloted and later launched a nationwide program.
After years of implementation, the program, known as DORP, seems to have contributed
to some improvements in the basic education indicators (see Table 8.5). At the
elementary level, cohort survival, net enrolment, and completion rates rose by at least
2.2 percent, and dropout (school leaver) rate fell by 5.5 percent between School Year
2006-2007 and 2008-2009. Table 8.5: Selected gender indicators for the Philippine basic
The improvements were education sector: elementary
most evident among the % change Gender disparity, in %
boys. Among the girls, not (2008-09 ÷ 2006-07) points*
Outcome indicator
Female Male All 2006- 2007- 2008-
only were the figures lower, 2007 2008 2009
there was also a slight drop Net enrolment rate 1.9 2.7 2.3 1.7 1.7 1.1
Cohort survival rate 1.4 3.9 2.7 9.8 9.2 8.2
in completion rate. All these Completion rate -0.1 2.7 2.2 11.4 9.9 8.8
resulted in the narrowing School leaver rate -2.6 -9.8 -5.5 (2.8) (2.4) (2.2)
gender gap between male *Gender disparity is measured by deducting the figure (in percent) for the males
from the corresponding figure for the females.
and female learners. Source of data: Office of Planning Service, Department of Education
Other initiatives, but without reported results
Earlier projects under the Philippine Plan of Action for Education for All (1991-
2000) included regional projects for adult women, such as: alternative approaches
to literacy improvement for women in the coastal areas and cultural communities of
Region 1; social communication skills for socially-disadvantaged women; reaching out
to the out-of-school youth, unemployed adults, women and disabled persons through
continuing education; and development of a learning system for the improvement of
life for women in rural communities. It is not clear, however, what immediate and
lasting effects these projects had on the women they sought to assist.
For various groups of children who could not stay in school, DepEd has launched
alternative modes of delivery of its services and programs, based on risk factors

and reasons why children leave school prematurely. In the case of girls becoming
pregnant, it provides them with alternative, non-school-based education instead of
losing them. For boys and girls who need to work, they can be provided work in the
school canteens and gardens. In the case of the Bureau of Secondary Education, its
social entrepreneurship curriculum prepares girls and boys for gainful employment
after leaving school, and thus would not be considered a dropout. In view of the
fact that many students do not even finish the first year of secondary education, the
bureau’s livelihood training program offer quarterly modules.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
Among all the agencies in the government bureaucracy, the Department of
Education has the biggest potential to achieve GAD goals among the greatest number
of people. It is within this great expectation that the performance of the DepEd
relative to its efforts of gender mainstreaming and gender budget initiatives should
be considered. It is unfortunate that structural and internal issues affect its effective
and successful GAD mainstreaming. The department made considerable progress in
the 1990s and the first half of the next decade, but very little happened in recent years.
This was observed, as well, in the area of gender planning and budgeting. The following
are key observations on the factors that facilitated and and those that hampered GAD
mainstreaming at the department.
Facilitating Factors
The availability of sex-disaggregated data in the BEIS has long been a key
accomplishment of the department. It is a factor that has certainly enabled the agency
and other end users to integrate gender and development concerns in program and
project planning. Current efforts of the agency to address high drop-out rates among
boys are definitely a result of the tracking of basic education indicators in a sex-
disaggregated way throughout the years. However, DepEd needs to undertake more
systematic analysis of the database and an exploration of the factors that create the
gender differences. This has to be done at various levels, including school governing
boards.
Instructional and learning materials that are non-sexist and gender fair
constitute another factor that has allowed the department to carry out its GAD advocacy
within the organization and among teachers and learners. More enabling, too, has
been the training of teachers in some areas on preparing gender-aware textbooks
and curricula. These materials can have far-reaching effect, as they offer excellent
opportunities for children, girls and boys, to learn in non-sexist, and gender-equitable
way, including being socialized into gender equality and equity. To realize this potential,
however, would require that teachers can use these materials and use them well.

Constraining Factors
The disappearance of the factors that produced the early gains from gender
mainstreaming has been hampering the GAD campaign at DepEd. The lack of a
committed GAD champion from among the high-level officials, the absence of a GAD
policy, low gender awareness among officials and staff, lack of participation of strategic
bureaus and units, and the limited support to the GAD program are key issues that need
to be addressed by the department. The absence of a GAD policy and a GAD champion
have dealt the gender mainstreaming campaign a double blow, as they compromised
the sustainability of GAD efforts and results, and prevented DepEd from implementing
a more gender-responsive reform program.
In addition, its implementation of certain GAD-related mandates, such as the

use of modules on sexuality and reproductive health throughout the basic education
sector, has been held back by the failure of the last Congress to pass the Reproductive
Health Bill. This is one program that could have had a lasting impact among Filipinos,
as it could have contributed to arresting the country’s high population growth rate.
A more sustained and relentless civil society activism is needed to follow up on GAD
activities and mainstreaming in the education department. Making DepEd accountable
for the delivery of gender-fair, non-sexist education would require pressure from
within and outside the department. Such an education would also mean more than
just materials and data. This would require a revival of systematic support for gender
mainstreaming, including the re-institution of the gender budget (for targeted GAD
interventions) and the pursuit of a truly gender-responsive education budget.
Final Comments on the PPGD
To a certain extent, the DepEd, through its GAD projects and activities, has
responded to the key gender issues identified in the Philippine Plan for Gender-
Responsive Development. Donor support and the commitment of officials have aided
the department in addressing these gaps. The formulation of a sexual harassment
policy, production of gender-fair textbooks and training of teachers on gender issues
are but a few examples of successful outputs in responding to the PPGD. However,
perennial budgetary constraints and a weak GAD Focal Point System hamper the
sustained response to the PPGD. Key objectives identified in the plan document for
the education sector could also be argued to be ‘women-focused’ rather than ‘gender-
oriented’. A revised focus on ‘gender equity’ or ‘gender equality’ rather than ‘women’
will help DepEd in addressing and understanding gender issues, including increased
drop-out rates and decreasing learning outcomes for boys.

PART THREE LEARNING
FROM THE
CASES
CHAPTER 9
BUDGETING AND SPENDING FOR RESULTS
Gender budgeting has different dimensions. It is a political process, which involves

advocacy, lobbying and negotiations. The product of such a process reflects a
recognition, or lack of it, of the importance of public resource allocations for gender
equality. Gender budgeting is also an intrinsic part of a process of change towards good
and gender-responsive governance. This means that accountability, transparency, and
participation are crucial parts of the budgeting and budget execution process. It also
means that gender budgeting occurs as a key ingredient of gender mainstreaming, as
the gender budget leverages it and the campaign to make the entire budget gender-
responsive. As important as the first two is the fact that gender budgeting is a technical
process, which requires policies, instructions, and competencies to ensure that it is
done, and done well.
These aspects of the gender budget were explored while at the same time
establishing compliance of national government agencies with the GAD Budget Policy
as stated in the various General Appropriations Acts, and ascertaining whether the
objectives of the law (RA 7192), which are to support gender mainstreaming and ensure
that women benefit equally and participate directly in the development process, have
been achieved. To do all these meant studying whether the oversight agencies (the
National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, now the Philippine Commission
on Women; the National Economic and Development Authority; and the Department
of Budget and Management) have done their tasks, and national government agencies
have adhered to both the wording and the spirit of the law.
COMPLIANCE AND PERFORMANCE
Patterns of Compliance
The various agencies mandated to oversee the implementation of the GAD Budget
Policy have set the ground, as expected. The DBM, NCRFW and NEDA have provided
joint GAD planning and budgeting guidelines in 1994, 2001 and again in 2004.
Meanwhile, NEDA, in conjunction with the NCRFW and the ODA GAD Network, has
193
developed and applied the Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines for ODA-
funded projects. In recent years, the Commission on Audit has undertaken an audit
of the gender budget in selected agencies and, on the basis of its observations, issued
a circular on how to conduct this audit. The DBM and NCRFW also have monitored
the gender budgets through the annual accomplishment reports. Finally, NCRFW
has, from time to time, provided technical assistance to agencies or referred them
to GAD consultants, who facilitated gender planning workshops. The various inputs,
however, were found to be inadequate by the implementing agencies. The planning
and budgeting guidelines were not easy to follow; consultants were not effective,
and technical assistance in gender analysis lacking. For their part, the agencies have
also been remiss in the submission of GAD plans, budgets and reports; those that
do often turn them in late. As a matter of policy, the NCRFW claims to include late
submissions in their report but does not review them. This stresses the message that
the GAD budget is an integral part of the agency proposed budget and, thus, should
be submitted on time following the DBM timeline.
Some agencies have undertaken regular planning and assessment workshops,

at times facilitated or led by external consultants, at other times, by members of the
agency GAD focal point system (DENR, DA, PPA/DOTC). Taking all agencies together,
a number has observed the prescribed process wherein government agencies should
submit their GAD Plans and Budgets to the NCRFW for review and endorsement to the
DBM. In recent years, the proportion of agencies that have done so has at least been
65 percent (in 2008).
Fewer than half of the 300 plus agencies submitted their GAD Plans and Budgets,
and fewer more has turned in their Accomplishment Reports. Since 2002, compliance
rates averaged at 36.1 percent of total for the gender plans and budgets, and 29.7
percent for the reports. Only 16.3 percent of all agencies have submitted their plans and
budgets and their accomplishment reports. Based on the case studies, the differences
can be due to separate submissions made by regions or offices, which in previous years
have been consolidated submissions. More aggressive advocacy by NCRFW improved
compliance rates; so did the questions on the gender budget that Congress raised
during agency budget hearings.
In 2001, NCRFW began to classify government agencies into key implementing

agencies, or those that could contribute directly to the achievement of the three priority
areas of the Framework Plan for Women, a time slice of the Philippine Plan of Gender-
Responsive Development; and non-key implementing agencies, or those that were
not seen as crucial to the priority areas. According to NCRFW, the compliance record
of key implementing agencies was more encouraging. In 2004, 61 percent of the key
implementing agencies under human rights submitted a GAD plan and reported back,
to be compared with 37 percent for non-key implementing agencies.

From 2004 to 2007, total GAD budgets of agencies fell by over 75 percent, from
P3.90 billion to P0.95 billion. The case studies suggest that the abrupt peaking in
some years had been due, to a large extent, to practices of attributing or including
the budgets of whole programs in their gender budget. Any adjustments suggested by
NCRFW seemed to have been introduced only in the next year, which could explain
the drop in these years. Because revised gender budgets are never resubmitted to
NCRFW, it could not make the necessary adjustments to their files, which could have
flattened the peaks in these years.
A number of attached agencies or offices have reportedly reached the

required 5 percent, but the total gender budget makes up less than 1 percent of
the total appropriations for each year. The low budget share of GAD projects and
gender mainstreaming activities indicates a low degree of commitment to gender
mainstreaming and how women, along with other vulnerable and less influential
groups, tend to lose in the competition for resources. Matters are made worse by the
absence of penalty for non-compliance and the persistent notion that gender issues
are extraneous to the issues of the rest of the population.
Gender budgeting, however, is just one part of the equation. The other pertains to
the execution or utilization of the budget. The NCRFW has tracked this through the
annual GAD accomplishment reports. However, this attempt has proven to be feeble,
as only about 36 percent of agencies have submitted their accomplishment report, and
these reports indicate that only 55 percent of the gender budgets, on the average, have
actually been used. A more realistic GAD budget utilization rate is probably much
lower than 55 percent, as there appears to have been ‘over-attributions’ of program
expenses to GAD, particularly in 2007 and 2008.
The low submission of the gender plans and budgets and of accomplishment
reports can be attributed to a number of factors. One factor is the low level of
understanding and appreciation of the value of gender mainstreaming among agency
officials and staff. This has led to a questioning of the wisdom of undertaking gender
budgeting and, more generally, gender mainstreaming. In a number of agencies,
there are no effective GAD mechanisms that would ensure that gender budgeting
takes place. Neither are there incentives or sanctions for preparing, submitting, and
properly utilizing gender budgets. Moreover, limited technical skill on gender analysis
has constrained gender planning, programming and budgeting. This is apparent in
the quality of GAD plans and budgets that were submitted. Finally, there is lack of
commitment to produce gender equality or women’s empowerment results among
agency heads, because key result areas of head of agencies rarely include GAD-related
deliverables.
Agency programs, activities and projects can be grouped into organization-focused

and client-focused PAPs that agencies referred to interchangeably as “GAD PAPs” or
BUDGETING AND SPENDING FOR RESULTS 195

“gender mainstreaming PAPs.” The first group focuses on preparing the organization
to become gender-aware through GAD training programs (often gender sensitivity
training), advocacy, and information campaigns on specific gender issues; setting up or
improving facilities for women employees; establishing and maintaining a database that
is sex disaggregated; promotion of the use of non-sexist language; and agency-specific
gender mainstreaming activities. At the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources, staff members and programs are also awarded for their performance in
promoting gender mainstreaming or gender-responsive activities.
The other group consists of client-focused programs, projects and activities that
aim at improving agency outputs. In some agencies, these involve the integration of
GAD in national, sector, or local development planning. At the education department
and in connection with training programs in other agencies, the PAPs include revision
of instructional or training modules to erase or counter social and gender stereotypes.
In most agencies, their client-focused projects and activities consist of integrating
gender equality or equity considerations in facilities and in project design and
implementation. In many cases, however, GAD Plans and Budgets have been limited
to PAPs that pertain to conduct of training, including GSTs; celebration of Women’s
Day/Month, which at the Department of Agriculture, is accompanied by giving out
of awards that recognize the roles and contributions of women in agriculture; or
the integration of a GAD module in in-house training, and rarely on how to make
particular operations and functions of the agency more aware and responsive to GAD
concerns.
Some Gender Results
Since 2001, the NCRFW uses the gender mainstreaming evaluation framework (or
GMEF, as it is popularly known) for monitoring organization-focused PAPs; and the
Framework Plan for Women for the client-focused PAPs. However, results would not
be achieved until after the gender budget has been spent, and the PAPs implemented.
Tracking all the results of the GAD Budget Policy has not been easy. In many cases,
attribution could not be made; at best, the gender PAPs have simply contributed to the
results. Moreover, while some results were immediate, others have been evident only
years after the GAD activity or intervention. There were indications of results in a few
agencies, but not in most; and of non-sustainability of initial gains.
At the organizational level, the immediate results included the creation or expansion
of an internal GAD network, and the development of in-house gender trainers, speakers
or resource persons. These results have been reported and noted at the Department of
Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Philippine
Ports Authority of DOTC, and, to a limited extent, the Department of Education. In
these agencies, members of the GAD Focal Point System conducted GSTs, served as

resource persons in gender training, and facilitated planning workshops and other
activities. The impact of investments in building gender capacities and competencies,
however, is linked with the agency’s continuing gender mainstreaming campaign.
Without this, skills would have been lost, and a second tier of gender advocates not
developed. The education department is a case in point, as more and more of those
trained in the 1990s and early 2000s have left or retired from service.
Another result has become evident over the years. At DENR and the Philippine
Ports Authority, GAD focal points and technical working groups have become adept at
mobilizing their gender budgets to continuously upgrade capacities within the agency
to do research, design and monitor projects, and improve services, as well as, reward
exemplary performance in promoting GAD. Support for the establishment and
maintenance of gender database and for the conduct of gender studies also connote
some degree of success of GAD focal points in making their respective organizations
appreciate the utility of these initiatives not just for gender programming, but, more
importantly, for general programming; and, in the case of the Department of Labor
and Employment, for its policy campaigns. Despite these examples, the application of
the studies or the use of the sex-disaggregated data to inform policies and programs
have been limited and need to be improved.
Some initial GAD results have disappeared or been dissipated over time. This is
evident in the maintenance of gender-responsive facilities, such as day care centers. In
two departments studied, these facilities have been disapproved, and in one, the head
of the GAD committee has funded its operation for a few years before her retirement.
Client-level results differ among agencies, as these are linked to their mandates.
As in some of the organizational results, the effects of the gender budget are indirect,
working through its impact on the agency’s gender mainstreaming campaign, except
in cases where the costs of organizing beneficiaries or of the credit program are
charged to the gender budget. Direct or indirect, there are indications of improved
participation of women in some projects and programs (DENR and a water supply
project of the Department of Public Works and Highways), and enhanced access
to resources distributed through projects (DENR, DA, DOLE). In a different vein,
gender mainstreaming efforts at DOLE have helped create legal support for balancing
work and family responsibilities, safer workplaces for women, and increasing access
of women to nighttime jobs.
Results that can be directly linked to GAD programs, projects and activities of
early years are reduced sexism and/or improved portrayal of women in commercially
produced basic education textbooks or other learning materials (DepEd). Meanwhile,
the increasing number of rescued trafficked women and children (PPA/DOTC, with
the Visayan Forum), and improved facilities for women, particularly for clients with
young children (DOTC), are more current results.

All these gender results suggest that several agencies have responded to some of
the issues and objectives of the PPGD. The results are also testimonies of benefits of
gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting, of which it is a part. The indirect effects
are also indicative of how gender budgets have leveraged gender mainstreaming
efforts. What is not evident is the impact of the gender budget on making the whole
agency budget more gender-responsive, given the intent of the GAD Budget Policy to
use the 5 percent (GAD budget) to influence the other 95 percent of the total budget.
Overall, the impacts have been limited, other key issues not addressed, and, in some
agencies, positive results of earlier years not sustained.
ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND LESSONS

The Philippine government has a legislative mandate for gender budgeting.
This is a key element, a crucial step. However, experiences with various laws in the
country show that having a law passed is but an important stop in a long journey to
realize the intended change. Such seems to be the story of the GAD Budget Policy, as
well. To reach the objective—more inclusive, participative, accountable, and gender-
responsive governance—the Policy has to be translated into actionable language,
instructions and guidelines, and its implementation has to be monitored. All these
have been in place for the past decade at least. Response from national government
departments and agencies, however, has been lukewarm in most years, particularly
with respect to the accomplishment reports. Documents and interviews suggest
several interrelated issues and lessons related to GAD planning and budgeting and
GAD budget execution.
Planning and Budget Determination
The experiences, thus far, suggest several issues and courses of action. Among
these are those related to identification of organization- and client-focused PAPs and
determination of what gets included in the GAD budget.
Addressing agency-specific conditions and mandates
Agencies have specific conditions and mandates that shape their predisposition
and facility to implement the GAD Budget Policy. The mandates of social sector agencies
lend themselves easily to incorporating gender equality and equity considerations in
their mainline functions, operations and programs. In fact, a large part of their total
budget may be considered as gender budget if only the programs and services that the
budget supports can be deemed to be gender-responsive. In contrast, agencies in the
infrastructure sector may find it difficult to allocate 5 percent of their huge budgets for
GAD, unless specific guidelines are prepared to ensure appropriate programming of
funds to address relevant gender issues, and to work out ways of including in programs

of work facilities that are sensitive to the gender needs of women and men. Mandates
and programs of oversight agencies provide them the same limited opportunities for
gender budgeting. How much of agency budgets should be allocated to GAD may have
to vary among types of agencies.
Costing advocacy and similar activities
Activities, such as attendance in meetings and provision of GAD inputs during

general consultations or workshops, constitute an important part of the GAD work
of focal point members. These are particularly important for those in oversight
departments that, outside a few of their attached agencies, may have no ‘projects’ for
which they can allot and spend the gender budget. Costing personnel time invested in
GAD does not seem to be as straightforward as it may seem. These costs are not easily
captured in both gender budgets and accomplishment reports. Moreover, PCW claims
that if gender is integrated in the performance evaluation of the staff, costing may not
be an issue as GAD duties are no longer ‘added work’ but part of the agency function.
Unlike discrete activities, such as consultations with women’s groups or GAD

advocates and tapping of consultants or capacity development on how to prepare
gender-responsive key planning documents, staff time spent on GAD advocacy has
never been reflected in the gender budget. This is partly because agencies believe that
they cannot tap their budget for personnel services for their GAD Plan and Budget,
except probably in cases where staff is particularly assigned or hired to do fulltime
GAD-related work like running a day care center. (In some instances, however, day care
workers’ salaries are charged against MOOE.) It must be noted that the Implementing
Rules and Regulations of the Magna Carta of Women, particularly Rule VI, Section
37(A.1.e), seems to allow charging against personnel services. If indeed the personnel
services budget can be tapped, the challenge will be to issue guidelines as to how
to accomplish this, and to harmonize these with general guidelines for government
budget preparation. The issuance of guidelines may not be enough, however. It may
have to be supported by technical assistance to ensure proper implementation and to
discourage inappropriate charging of personnel time (such as total salaries of women
workers) to the gender budget.
Issuing clear budgeting instructions
Philippine government budgeting instructions advise agencies that the GAD

budget is an attribute of the agency budget, and can be taken from the budget of their
constituent offices, bureaus, and attached agencies. At the same time, DBM budget
calls include a GAD budgeting annex that instructs agencies to base the budget on a
GAD plan. Such a plan has to take into account key gender issues that they have to
address. These guides have created confusions and divergencies in budgeting practices
and budget contents. Based on the ‘attribution’ principle, a number of departments

or agencies have included any program or project that are either ‘for women’ or that
benefit ‘women and men.’ These have resulted in including total costs of programs in
the GAD budget, oftentimes producing bloated budgets.
A number of agency gender budgets, however, reflect efforts to respond to the

GAD annex to the DBM budget memorandum. They have listed gender issues and
PAPs and their associated expected cost. Some of the agencies studied, however,
had problems following the GAD budgeting guide. Instructions on how to identify
gender issues, for instance, have not enabled agencies to go beyond the generic issues.
With many offices probably concerned simply with compliance, gender planning has
consisted of putting in the same activities every year, with little indication as to how
previous ones have moved the agency towards attaining targets vis-à-vis identified
gender issues. The lack of concern for proper GAD budgeting may be attributed to
the low level of understanding and appreciation of the added value of mainstreaming
GAD in the organization. This is made worse, in some cases, by the absence of effective
mechanisms and technical skill in gender analysis and planning. All these suggest
the need for better articulated guide and, when needed, agency-specific technical
assistance on gender mainstreaming, gender analysis, planning, and budgeting. On
top of these is the lack of ‘political will’ of agency heads or officials to implement the
GAD Budget Policy.
The IRR of the Magna Carta of Women provides more budgeting guidance. In
addition to specifying where the gender budget can come from, its Section 37(A.4)
indicates the GAD activities or results that particular agencies may pursue. All national
government agencies can fund initiatives to make their annual operations plans and
budgets gender-responsive as part of their GAD Plans and Budgets. Meanwhile,
NEDA’s gender budget can fund programs, projects and activities that ensure the
mainstreaming of GAD perspective in national and local plans; and incorporation of
gender equality and women’s empowerment statements, provisions and indicators
in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan and the Medium-Term Public
Investment Program. The DBM gender budget, for its part, can support programs,
activities and projects that would ensure that Major Final Outputs, indicators
and targets of the Organizational Performance Indicator Framework (commonly
referred to as OPIF) of all national government agencies and local government units
capture relevant gender and development goals. All these will have to be translated
into concrete activities and resource requirements, including staff time. Herein lay
another challenge to PCW, NEDA and DBM as they craft a joint memorandum in line
with the Magna Carta of Women. In addition, PCW and DBM will need to consider
the difficulties met by agencies in gender analysis, planning and budgeting when they
review the GAD budgeting annexes to the DBM budget call to align the instructions
with the provisions of the Magna Carta of Women and its IRR.

Harnessing the support of stakeholders
Variations in gender budgeting practices have also been noted in the process that
produced the gender plans and budgets. In many instances, GAD budgeting did not
involve any consultation; in others, the process has been highly consultative, with
a few agencies inviting external stakeholders to participate in the gender planning
exercise. The efforts of women’s groups to influence policymaking, planning and
programming and attempts of agencies to include them in these activities offer an
instructive example of the politics of GAD planning and budgeting. Within agencies,
many GAD focal persons or advocates have to struggle to get the gender plans and
budgets through the system and to access the budgeted amounts. All these suggest
that the implementation issues are not merely technical. They are also political.
In the Philippines, the implementation of the GAD Budget Policy has been
enhanced by the passage of the Magna Carta of Women and the adoption of its IRR. As
discussed in connection with other issues, the IRR responds to some of the questions
that have plagued people tasked with gender planning and budgeting. The politics of
the gender budget, therefore, is also played out in the legislative arena. As exemplified
by the experience with the Magna Carta of Women, lobbyists consisted of women’s
groups, individual women activists and GAD practitioners, and the NCRFW and allies
in other government agencies.
Development of Internal Support for GAD
Most of the reviewed GAD Plans and Budgets identified as key issues the lack
of appreciation and support of agency leadership, management, and staff to efforts
related to gender mainstreaming and to gender and development. Because of these,
plans invariably included gender briefings, orientation sessions, or sensitivity training,
along with information campaigns on gender equality or equity concerns and specific
issues. Changes in top-level officials, staff turnover, and oftentimes the sheer number
of staff in the central office, regions and attached agencies call for frequent conduct of
GAD orientation and sensitivity sessions. As agency GAD advocates can attest to, the
challenges lie in getting officials and technical staff to attend the gender sessions. Of
the agencies covered by the study, only the Philippine Ports Authority and a few others
have been successful in drawing officials to the sessions. Their attendance could have
been due in part to the visible commitment of the General Manager and a deputy, and
in the agency’s high-impact and high-visibility anti-trafficking project.
Gender sessions alone are not sufficient to make ‘GAD’ or ‘gender mainstreaming’
real to many staff and officials in an agency. Campaigns focusing on specific issues,
such as sexual harassment in the late 1990s and early 2000s, have given agency
officials and staff a concrete example of a gender issue that affects themselves and
their organization. The creation and operation of the Committee on Decorum and

Investigation have further demonstrated how a gender issue can be addressed. While
these might have helped hone people’s understanding of GAD and the importance
of confronting issues of gender relations in the workplace, it could also narrow the
interpretation of GAD to a single issue, and neglecting other critical gender concerns
in mainstream programs and services. Similarly, efforts to provide gender-sensitive
facilities in the workplace (such as day care centers) and other PAPs that are related
to ‘human resources’ have made technical staff stay away from planning and
programming exercises that could have enriched the gender plans and budgets.
Some agencies, however, have attained some balance between ‘technical’ (client-
focused) and ‘human resources’ (organization-focused) gender programming. The PPA
is one example, but other agencies and offices of the Department of Transportation and
Communications continue to grapple with the problem of drawing technical staff into
GAD activities. Another example is DENR. To some extent, the agriculture department
is yet another example. At least in the first decade of gender mainstreaming campaign
in the Philippine government bureaucracy, DOLE and the education department also
provide good practices.
In an iterative way, GAD budgets, sessions, and projects help reinforce each other
and make the marketing of gender mainstreaming, including gender planning and
budgeting, much easier. Many of the activities supported by the gender budget are often
associated with capacity development, but they are, in fact, potent tools for building
interest within agencies in talks about and actions for promoting equality in gender
relations, gender equity in distribution of resources, and women’s empowerment.
Budget Execution
The gender budget is an evidence of an agency’s commitment to promote women’s

rights, but it is still a long way from producing gender mainstreaming or gender
equality or equity results. The gender funds have to be made available and released as
planned. Constraints to access of funds come from two fronts. Macro-level governance
issues affect GAD budget execution. Perennial scarcity of resources, budget deficits,
realignment of funds and re-enactment of the budget derail gender planning and
budget policy implementation. Specifically, GAD activities are de-prioritized when
the Philippine government institutes austerity measures or budget cuts. This means
either a reduction in the gender budget or the elimination of the budget altogether,
which has happened several times over the years. These instances demonstrate the
low regard that agencies have for GAD goals.
Other constraints are internal to agencies. Offices that need to show ‘savings’
that could be tapped for bonuses also tend to cut down on ‘non-priority areas’ that
frequently include the gender budget. Even when funds are available, access to the
GAD budget is not guaranteed. The GAD focal points have to constantly lobby and

negotiate with finance and budget offices for its release. The actual fund release,
however, often requires an approved Work and Financial Plan. The PCW claims
that some agencies, which have been late in their GAD Plan submission but have
available funds, would ask for its endorsement of specific projects and activities as a
requirement for the release and utilization of the GAD fund. Whether these ‘late’ PAPs
are reflected in the approved Work and Financial Plan is not clear.
Because the gender budget has been embedded in regular budget items of the
agency, there have been reports of problems untangling the gender budget from the
agency budget. As a result of these issues and those external to the agencies, less than
three fifth of the gender budget, on the average, has actually been utilized.
Accounting for the GAD Budget
The annual GAD Accomplishment Report that agencies are expected to submit to
the DBM and NCRFW (or PCW) is both an accounting and a monitoring mechanism.
By this requirement, agencies are encouraged to keep track of expenses that can be
charged against their gender budget. This involves recording these as GAD costs.
An accounting guide would be the Annual Work and Financial Plan that triggers the
release of the gender budget. This should be pretty straightforward for discrete GAD
activities. Actual practice, however, can vary. There is the recording and reporting of
actual GAD expenses, recording actual costs under generic account name (training,
materials development, research, and the like) and reporting the total gender budget
for an activity as spent once it is completed, regardless of whether or not the budget
was totally spent; and not distinguishing GAD expenses from the regular budget item
into which the GAD item has been embedded. The agencies studied claimed to having
the same problems accounting even for discrete GAD activities in the GAD Plan and
Budget, when allocations for the activities are lumped with the regular budget items.
The gender mainstreaming campaign in agencies often incurs costs that are not
totally GAD items. These include salaries of focal persons and staffs with gender-
mainstreaming responsibilities, and the cost of implementing gender-responsive
programs or services that do not have a separate ‘GAD component’, as in the PPA
anti-trafficking program. The determination of what portion of these items can be
attributed to or reported as GAD expenses is one problematic area. As the case studies
show, wrong attribution of whole budgets of mainstream programs to GAD can unduly
increase the reported GAD budget utilization figure. Because these do not generally
qualify as part of the gender plan, the reported GAD expenses can, therefore, easily
exceed the approved gender budget. In contrast, isolating costs of integrating GAD
concerns in a flagship program has the effect of underestimating the actual cost of
mainstreaming GAD in the agency. Merely separating and estimating the costs of
women-focused projects and gender-related programs can also be underreporting the
rate of utilization of the agency budget for gender and development.

To avoid confusion, the GAD reporting could consist of two parts: one focusing on
the utilization of the gender budget on planned GAD activities, projects or programs;
and the other, on the actual expenditures supported by the agency’s non-GAD budget,
such as training or materials development budget, to promote gender equality or
equity and women’s empowerment. This kind of reporting would capture not only
GAD budget execution, but also, how well the gender budget has created the leverage
for the agency to make its budget gender-responsive. This reporting approach will
involve not simply cost accounting but, as importantly, reporting of gender results
from initiatives that are directly or indirectly supported by the GAD budget. For all
these to happen, however, will require clear guidelines or instructions on how to
record, attribute, and report the accomplishments and their associated GAD-related
costs. Finally, an audit of the gender budget execution and the GAD budget report by
COA should help to ensure proper charging against the gender budget.
On top of the GAD Accomplishment Report, the Department of Budget and

Management requires agencies to submit their Annual Performance Report (APR)
measured against their Organizational Performance Indicator Framework. It can help
mainstream GAD in the total agency budget and performance indicators by instructing
agencies to reflect key points and results from their GAD Accomplishment Report in
their APRs. This can also help implement the spirit, not just the word of the GAD
budget law.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE NEEDED COURSES OF ACTION

The discussion on the various challenges and lessons that could be gleaned from
the national-level experiences of the Philippines with gender planning and budgeting
suggests several actionable points. These speak to the poor compliance record of
agencies with the GAD Budget Policy and the poor quality of gender plans and budgets
and of accomplishment reports.
1. Clear budgeting guidelines, including instructions for gender analysis. The

DBM, NEDA and PCW should issue clearer guidelines, which is possible with
the need to align the gender budgeting guidelines with the provisions of the
Magna Carta of Women. This could involve reissuing a list of acceptable GAD
program areas, although this comes with the danger of agencies choosing
PAPs without consideration of gender issues that are most relevant to them
and their programs. To avoid this, the new Joint Memorandum Circular
should stress that GAD plans and budgets should be accompanied with a
gender analysis to support the identified projects and activities. The Circular
should also provide more specific instructions on how to do gender analysis
and to identify both organization- and client-focused gender issues.

2. Counting in gender mainstreaming costs. The issue of where to get the
gender budget—personal services, maintenance and other operating expenses
(MOOE), or capital outlay—has been covered by the IRR of the Magna Carta
of Women. However, this should be reiterated in a definitive policy guideline,
possibly the new Joint Memorandum Circular that should also provide
tips on how to use the personal services and the MOOE for GAD or gender
mainstreaming. The process of gender budgeting by attribution—captured in
the statement that “5% is not a separate budget”—may not always work, as
there are investments that organizations may need to address gender issues
and produce GAD results in the course of gender mainstreaming.
3. Agreement among oversight agencies on linking the gender budget with both
OPIF and organizational GAD issues. The experiences with the gender budget,
thus far, suggest the need for coherence and alignment in the interpretations
of key oversight agencies as to what that budget can support. While there is
a need to continue enjoining agencies to link their GAD plans with the Major
Final Outputs and indicators of their respective OPIFs, the plans, however,
should also support foundation and sustainability activities for responding
to GAD concerns in ways government agencies operate as organizations. This
means the inclusion of GAD projects to create gender-responsive workplaces,
alongside support for activities to improve the mainstreaming of gender
equality and equity considerations in their mainstream operations.
4. Accountability for the GAD budget and GAD results. The weakest part of
the implementation of the GAD Budget Policy is budget execution, and the
related tasks of accounting for the gender budget and linking of the GAD
investments to GAD results. Four ways of possibly safeguarding GAD results
can be explored. One, heads of offices (including Department Secretaries)
should be encouraged to include key GAD results as part of their key result
areas or deliverables. Two, guidelines should be prepared on how to account
not only for the gender budget, but also for results, particularly of recurring
GAD programs, projects and activities. Three, the role of the Commission on
Audit should be strengthened through its audit of the gender budget. And
lastly, DBM can require agencies to reflect key points and results from their
GAD Accomplishment Report in their APRs. It can also require that the OPIF
includes at least one GAD indicator. These steps are important because DBM is
considered to have greater authority over agencies than the PCW.
5. Analysis of mainstream programs and projects. Attribution of whole

programs as GAD with little or no gender analysis is a major problem. What is
probably needed is to ascertain the gender responsiveness of these programs.
Agencies can be instructed to apply relevant checklists—for design, and
for project or program implementation, management and monitoring and

evaluation (PIMME)—of the Harmonized GAD Guidelines. The combined
GAD scores for the design and PIMME stages can be used as a measure of the
portion of the program budget that can be considered as attributable to GAD.
6. Provision of coherent technical assistance on gender analysis, planning and

budgeting. It has been evident from the planning and budgeting experiences
captured in the case studies that guidelines alone are not sufficient. The GAD
guidelines and tools are inanimate, and they need animators to make the tools
work. Agencies need help in several areas, particularly in gender analysis,
and in applying the results to gender planning and budgeting. The Philippine
Commission on Women can field its own staff or it can refer the agencies to
gender consultants. It is important, however, that the Commission and the
gender consultants provide consistent inputs and interpretations of the revised
gender planning and budgeting guidelines. The PCW can also give timely
comments to submitted GAD Plans and Budgets, accompanied by reasons for
any suggested changes. Problematic submissions should not be ‘conditionally’
endorsed, but should be revised based on discussions of the PCW comments,
and resubmitted to the Commission for its final endorsement. A quick
turnaround of comments is needed for this process to work.
7. Stakeholders’ involvement in making GAD plans work for women. There is

a need to harness the support of women’s organizations in various sectors
and GAD advocates in Congress and in oversight and implementing agencies
for the gender budgets to promote gender equality and equity and the
empowerment of women. This is important to keep the GAD Budget Policy
alive, and to encourage government agencies to implement not just the words
of the policy, but also respect the spirit of the law. Finally, there is a need to
institute incentives and sanctions to improve the quality of GAD Budgets and
Plans and Annual Accomplishment Reports. This is an action that will be in
line with the Magna Carta of Women.
The GAD budget is not just a technical process, or a matter of compliance. It is an

initiative that seeks to support efforts to transform government bureaucracies. This
means ensuring that agencies which are mandated to provide services do so in ways
that are sensitive and respond to gender needs of women and men.

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Empowering Women. London: Earthscan, 2005.
Honculada, Jurgette A. and Rosalinda Pineda-Ofreneo. Transforming the Mainstream: Building a Gender-
Responsive Bureaucracy in the Philippines, 1975-1998. Bangkok: United Nations Development Fund
for Women, 2000.
Human Development Network (HDN) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
“Education Costs and Finance.” Philippine Human Development Report 2000. Manila: HDN and
UNDP, 2000.
__________. Philippine Human Development Report 2008/2009. Manila: HDN and UNDP, 2009.
Illo, Jeanne Frances I. “Promoting Gender Equality, Equity, and Women’s Development.” http://www.
plcpdfound.org/New%20Look/PT5-IlloFull%20Paper. htm.
__________. Women in Agriculture: The Philippine Case. Manila: National Commission on the Role of
Filipino Women, 1994.
207
Institute for Labor Studies (ILS). “Gender Equality at Work: Progress after Beijing and Continuing
Challenges.” Philippine Labor Review, Volume XXIV, Number 1. Manila: ILS, Department of Labor
and Employment, 2000.
International Labour Organization. “Proceedings at the Colloquium on Workers’ Protection in the Informal
Economy.” 17 June 2010. www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/manila/downloads/ilapi06.pdf.
Keitel, Robert and Melissa Dorothy Ledesma. “Night Work Prohibition of Women Workers in the Philippine
Call Center Industry.” A paper presented at the International Conference on Regulating for Decent
Work, Geneva, 8-10 July 2009. 16 June 2010. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/pdf/
rdwpaper35b.pdf.
Leyesa, Maria Daryl, “Gender and Governance: The Rural Women’s Voice of Resistance to the Philippine
Agricultural Trade Policy,” Post-Graduate Diploma Course policy paper, Institute of Social Studies,
The Hague, 2008.
__________. “Who are the Women in Agriculture?” Rural Development Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, Centro
Saka, Inc., 2008.
National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW). “Applying the Tool to Assess Gender
Mainstreaming, Book 2.” In A Guidebook on Gender Mainstreaming: How Far Have We Gone?
Manila: NCRFW, 2001.
__________. GAD Planning and Budgeting: Adding Value to Governance. Manila: NCRFW, 2003.
__________. Gender Responsive Governance at Work: LGU Experiences in Using the GAD Budget.
__________. Highlights of the Implementation of the GAD Budget Policy, FY 2005-2008. Manila:
NCRFW, n.d.
__________. Laws on Women: A Compilation, Volume II. Eds. Atty. Myrna S. Feliciano and Atty.
Flordeliza C. Vargas-Trinidad. Manila: NCRFW, December 2000.
__________. Making Government Work for Gender Equality. Manila: NCRFW, 2000.
__________. Plan Framework of the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025.
__________. Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025. Manila: NCRFW, 1995.
__________. Republic Act 7192. Women in Development and Nation Building Act: Implementing Rules
and Regulations. 4th Printing 2001.
__________. “Statistics on Violence Against Filipino Women.” 16 June 2010. www.ncrfw.gov.ph/index.
php/statistics-on-filipino-women/14-factsheets-onfilipino-women/73-statistcs-fs-violence-against-
filipino-women.
__________. “Using the Tool for Gender Mainstreaming, Book 3.” In A Guidebook on Gender
Mainstreaming: How Far Have We Gone? Manila: NCRFW, 2001.
__________ and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Gender and
Development Budgeting in the Philippines: Issues, Challenges and Imperatives. Manila: NCRFW
and UNIFEM, 2004.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). “2009 NEDA Report on the Classification of
Official Development Assistance (ODA) Projects according to Gender Responsiveness.”
__________. Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 2004- 2010. Manila: NEDA, 2004.
Office of the President and Philippine Commission on Women. Republic Act 9710. Magna Carta of Women:
Implementing Rules and Regulations. April 2010.
Orbeta, Antonio. “Children and Labor Force Participation and Earnings of Parents in the Philippines.”
PIDS Discussion Paper Series No. 2005-20. Manila: Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
Philippine Ports Authority. Bahay Silungan. http://www.ppa.com.ph/ppa%20web/t/GADweb/gad1bhyslng.
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Budgeting. New York: United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2003.

LIST OF ACRONYMS
ADB Asian Development Bank

AFMA Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act
AFMP Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan
AGM Assistant General Manager
AO Administrative Order
AoA Agreement on Agriculture
APR Annual Performance Report
AR Accomplishment Report
ARED Assistant Regional Executive Director
ARMM Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
ASEC Assistant Secretary
AusAID Australian Agency for International Development
BALS Bureau of Alternative Learning Systems
BEE Bureau of Elementary Education
BEIS Basic Education Indicators System
BESRA Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda
BLES Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics
BNFE Bureau of Non-Formal Education
BOC Bureau of Construction
BP Budget Policy
BSE Bureau of Secondary Education
BSP Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
BWSC Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns
BWYW Bureau of Women and Young Workers
CAAP Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
CAB Civil Aeronautics Board
CBFMS Community-Based Forest Management Strategy
CDMP Comprehensive Development and Management Plan
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
CENRO Community Environment and Natural Resources Office/Officer
CESO Career Executive Service Officer
CHED Commission on Higher Education
CICT Commission on Information and Communication Technology
CIDA Canadian International Development Agency
CO Central Office
COA Commission on Audit
CODI Committee on Decorum and Investigation
COGAD Committee on Gender and Development
COWID Committee on Women in Development
CPA Cebu Ports Authority
CS Certificate of Stewardship
CSC Civil Service Commission
DA Department of Agriculture
DAC Department of Agriculture and Commerce
DAO Department Administrative Order
DBCC Development Budget Coordination Committee
DBM Department of Budget and Management
DECS Department of Education Culture and Sports
DEENR Department of Environment, Energy and Natural Resources
DENR Department of Environment and Natural Resources
DepEd Department of Education
DILG Department of Interior and Local Government
DNR Department of Natural Resources
209
DO Department Order
DOH Department of Health
DOLE Department of Labor and Employment
DORP Drop-Out Reduction Program
DOTC Department of Transportation and Communications
DPWH Department of Public Works and Highways
DSWD Department of Social Welfare and Development
EC European Commission
ECC Employees’ Compensation Commission
EDPITAF Educational Development Projects Implementing Task Force
EIS Environmental Impact Statement
EMB Environmental Management Bureau
ENR environment and natural resources
EO Executive Order
ERDB Ecosystem Research and Development Bureau
FASPO Foreign-Assisted Projects Office
FIELDS Fertilizer, Irrigation and Infrastructure, Extension and Education, Loans,
Dryers and other post-harvest facilities, Seeds and other genetic materials
FMB Forest Management Bureau
FMS Financial Management Service
GAA General Appropriations Act
GAD gender and development
GADFP GAD Focal Point
GADFPS GAD Focal Point System
GADMAP GAD roadmap
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GMA Ginintuang Masaganang Ani
GMEF gender mainstreaming evaluation framework
GOCCs government-owned and controlled corporations
GO-NGO government and non-government organization
GPB GAD Plan and Budget
GREAT Women Gender-Responsive Economic Actions for the Transformation of Women
GST gender sensitivity training
HIV/AIDS Human Immuno-deficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
HRD Human Resources Division
HRDS Human Resources Development Service
ICT information and communication technology
IEC information, education and communication
IFMA Integrated Forest Management Agreement
ILO International Labour Organization
ILS Institute for Labor Studies
IMC Instructional Materials Council
IMCS Instructional Materials Council Secretariat
IRR Implementing Rules and Regulations
JMC Joint Memorandum Circular
KIA key implementing agency
KRA key result area
LAM land administration and management
LAMP Land Administration and Management Project
LEDAC Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council
LGU local government unit
LLDA Laguna Lake Development Authority
LMB Land Management Bureau
LTFRB Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board
LRT Light Rail Transit
LRTA Light Rail Transit Authority
LTO Land Transportation Office

LWUA Local Water Utilities Administration
MAG Men against Graft
MARINA Maritime Industry Authority
MC Memorandum Circular
MCIAA Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority
MDG Millennium Development Goal
MFO major final output
MGB Mines and Geosciences Bureau
MIAA Manila International Airport Authority
MIS Management Information System
MOOE Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses
MRT Metro Rail Transit
MSA miscellaneous sales applications
MTPDP Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan
NAMRIA National Mapping and Resource Information Agency
NAPC National Anti-Poverty Commission
NCCA National Commission for Culture and the Arts
NCMB National Conciliation and Mediation Board
NCRFW National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women
NEDA National Economic and Development Authority
NEAP National Educators Academy of the Philippines
NEP National Expenditure Program
NETRC National Education Testing and Research Center
NFA National Food Authority
NGADFPS National GAD Focal Point System
NGO non-government organization
NLRC National Labor Relations Commission
NMP National Maritime Polytechnic
NNC National Nutrition Council
NRDC National Resources and Development Corporation
NSTIC National Science Teaching Instrumentation Center
NTC National Telecommunications Commission
NWPC National Wages and Productivity Commission
NWRRB National Water Resources and Regulatory Board
ODA official development assistance
OFW overseas Filipino worker
OIC officer-in-charge
OPIF Organizational Performance Indicator Framework
OSEC Office of the Secretary
OSHC Occupational Safety and Health Center
OTC Office of Transport Cooperatives
OTS Office for Transportation Security
OWWA Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
PADC Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation
PAMB Protected Area Management Board
PAP program/activity/project
PATAMABA Pambansang Tagapag-ugnay ng mga Manggagawa sa Bahay (National Network
of Informal Workers)
PAWB Parks and Wildlife Bureau
PCW Philippine Commission on Women
PDPW Philippine Development Plan for Women
PENRO Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office/Officer
PIDS Philippine Institute for Development Studies
PIMME project implementation, management, and monitoring and evaluation
PKKK Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan
(National Rural Women Congress)
PMED Program Monitoring and Evaluation Division
LIST OF ACRONYMS 211

PNR Philippine National Railways
PO peoples’ organization
POEA Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
POLO Philippine Overseas Labor Office
PPA Philippine Ports Authority
PPC Philippine Postal Corporation
PPGD Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development
PRAISE Program on Rewards and Incentives for Service Excellence
PS Bank Philippine Savings Bank
PSB Promotion and Selection Board
PTWG Policy Technical Working Group
Quedancor Quedan and Rural Credit Guaranty Corporation
RA Republic Act
RD Regional Director
RENRO Regional Environment and Natural Resources Office/Officer
RFU Regional Field Unit
RIC Rural Improvement Club
RTD Regional Technical Director
SBM school-based management
SDC TB Social Development Committee Technical Board
SDS Social Development Staff
SEAGA Socio-Economic Analysis and Gender Analysis
SEPO Senate Economic Policy Office
SIF State Insurance Fund
SIFMA Socialized Industrial Forest Management Agreement
SO Special Order
SPCMAD Special Project Coordination and Management Assistance Division
SSS Social Security System
STD sexually-transmitted disease
SY school year
TDC Technology Demonstration Center
TEC Teacher Education Council
TELOF Telecommunications Office
TESDA Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
TRB Toll Regulatory Board
TWG Technical Working Group
UN United Nations
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women
USEC Undersecretary
VAW violence against women
VAWC violence against women and children
WAG Women against Graft
WAGI Women and Gender Institute
WEED Women Workers’ Employment and Entrepreneurship Development
WID women in development
WTO World Trade Organization

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ACCOUNTING FOR

A REVIEW OF THE PHILIPPINE GAD BUDGET POLICY

JEANNE FRANCES I. ILLO

Women and Gender Institute

Copyright © 2010 Miriam College

Miriam College - Women and Gender Institute

With research and book production support from:

National Economic and Development Authority

United Nations Development Programme

ISBN No: 978-971-0177-01-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized

Cover design, book design and layout: Ryan Jay D. Crisostomo

The Philippines has reached a milestone by institutionalizing gender and development

A Joint Memorandum Circular issued in 1994 by the National Economic and

CAYETANO W. PADERANGA, JR.

The value of the study lies in its approach of looking at interconnectedness of

Prof. Aurora Javate de Dios

The review of the national-level implementation of the Philippine gender budget

DA: Melanie Brieta, Sheila B. Edrina, and Vicky Guardalupe;

At WAGI, Ellen C. Guanzon provided administrative support to the project, while

Jeanne Frances I. Illo

PART ONE: OVERVIEW

CHAPTER 1: Background and Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CHAPTER 2: Trends and Patterns of Budget Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

PART TWO: CASES

CHAPTER 3: The Department of Transportation and Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

CHAPTER 4: The Department of Environment and Natural Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

CHAPTER 5: The Department of Labor and Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

CHAPTER 6: The Department of Public Works and Highways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

CHAPTER 7: The Department of Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

CHAPTER 8: The Department of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

PART THREE: LEARNING FROM THE CASES

CHAPTER 9: Budgeting and Spending for Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Table 2.1: Comparative GPB and AR figures for 2002-2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Figure 1.1: Analytical framework for the GAD budget study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Box 2.1: GAD Budgeting and Planning Procedural Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK

To assist in the implementation of the policy, then President Fidel V. Ramos

OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

4 ACCOUNTING FOR GENDER RESULTS

A second aspect, compliance of government departments to the GAD Budget Policy,

BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK 5

General Appropriations Act DBM Budgeting Instructions GAD Budget

GAD Budgets GAD Planning and Programming

GENDER MAINSTREAMING STRATEGY

(including gender analysis)

IMPACTS ON CLIENTS IMPACT ON THE ORGANIZATION

Other Policies and Programs; Stakeholdersʼ Advocacy

6 ACCOUNTING FOR GENDER RESULTS

An inquiry into budgeting as a political process involves an exploration of advocacy

As a technical concern, gender budgeting requires the development of guidelines,

Viewing gender budgeting in terms of governance change process raises questions

BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK 7

8 ACCOUNTING FOR GENDER RESULTS

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has a mixed gender mainstreaming record,

The two infrastructure-sector agencies—Department of Public Works and

BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK 9

10 ACCOUNTING FOR GENDER RESULTS

TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF