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The material posted here was provided to the Division for the 
Advancement of Women by the Government in response to a note 
verbale. It is being made available in electronic format in
the form received. In cases where it was not possible at this 
time to reproduce charts and tables supplied, these can be 
obtained by contacting the Division for the Advancement of 
Women directly.
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                     PHILIPPINES
         HIGHLIGHTS OF INITIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS ON
   ENSURING THE IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING OF THE BEIJING
          DECLARATION AND PLATFORM FOR ACTION

I.   INTRODUCTION;

The Philippine government made specific commitments to
translate the strategies of the Platform for Action (Beijing)
into concrete efforts to improve women's lives. These
commitments are:

* integration of the Beijing Platform for Action(BPA) in the
key result areas of all heads of agencies and departments;

* inclusion of the Women's Budget Statement in formulating the
national budget as this guarantees that substantial resources
are allocated for women-specific
programs and projects;

* allocation of at least 20% of the national budget to social
programs and services since these are central to women's
concerns and everyday lives;

* access to training and credit facilities of rural women to
enable them to fight poverty and avail of opportunities that
would improve their lives;

* implementation of a fast-track and systematic negotiation
strategy with receiving countries to forge bilateral agreements
that would protect the rights of women migrant workers, and
continued lobbying of Philippine missions abroad for support on
the country's offer to host an International Conference on
Migration and Development;

* legislation of more stringent laws penalizing those who
engage in trafficking, illegal recruitment and undocumented
migration as well as laws that would shift criminal liability
from the prostituted women to pimps and procurers;

* setting up of support services to women migrant workers,
especially for victims of violence, and for victims of
trafficking to help them in their rehabilitation and eventual
reintegration in society;

* access to health services of all women to address various
stages of their life cycle, including access to family planning
services to help couples make free and informed choices on
matters regarding their fertility;

*  affirmation of couples' reproductive rights so that they
could decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing
of their children and have the information and the means to do
so. This would ensure that every child is a wanted child who
would enjoy proper care and nurture from her or his parents;

*  affirmation that abortion is not recognized by government as
a family planning method, rather it is a public health concern
that society must address itself to;

*  implementation of the Philippine Perspective Alan for
Gender-Responsive Development, a 30-year framework for pursuing
full equality and development for women and men, as
government's own interpretation of the Platform for Action.

*  adoption of the Policy Imperatives on the Areas of Concern
of the Beijing Declaration Platform for Action, focusing on ten
areas 

II. NCRFW: BPA's Central Monitoring Arm

The NCRFW's mandate as the central monitoring arm of the above
mentioned BPA commitments is espoused in the following
Directives:

*  Expanding the Social Reform Agenda to cover the Beijing
Platform for Action on Women (11 October 1995)

"Make arrangements with the National Commission on the Role of
Filipino Women on the implementation of the post Beijing
activities"

*  Approving and Adopting the Philippine Plan for
Gender-Responsive Development, 1995 to 2025 (EO 273, 8
September 1995)

"The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW),
in coordination with the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA), shall:

- monitor the implementation of the Plan b~ various government
agencies;
and 

- conduct the periodic assessment and updating of the Plan
every six years or upon every change of national leadership

"The NCRFW is hereby authorized in consultation with the
President and concerned government agencies to issue orders,
circulars or guidelines, as may .be necessary for the
implementation, coordination, monitoring, assessment and
updating of the Plan, as well as in the implementation of the
provisions of this Executive Order"

*    . "The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women,
as the government machinery for the advancement of women, and
the National Economic and Development Authority would monitor
how government agencies implement the Plan. They are also
tasked to conduct periodic assessment and updating every six
years to ensure that its various provisions remain relevant to
and consistent with women 's experiences and aspirations. "
(Source: Speech of President Fidel V. Ramos during the
Launching of the Philippine Plan for- Gender Responsive
.Development (PPGD) held last May 31.., 1996 at Heroes Hall,
Malacanang).

*    Guidelines to Implement Section 27 of the General
Provisions of the CY 1996 General Appropriations Act (RA No.
8174) on Gender Responsive Projects (DBM/NEDA Joint Circular
No. 1, 8 March 1996)

"Agencies shall submit a semestral Implementation Report on the
identified GAD-PAPs to NCRFW copy furnished DBM and NEDA every
third week of February and August of each year pursuant to RA
7192. "

III. HIGHLIGHTS OF ACCOMPLlSHMENTS

     In the disposal of its monitoring function, the NCRFW for
the past six months,  accomplished the following:

     1.   Policy Imperatives and Program Implications of the
BPA

          1.1. Upon receipt of the Presidents' October 11, 1995
memorandum to Secretary Ernesto Garilao (directing him among
others, to expand the Social Reform Agenda to cover the Beijing
Platform for Action on Women), the NCRFW has coordinated with
Dr. Patricia Lontoc, then secretary General of the Social
Reform Agenda, in line with drawing-up a scheme for monitoring
the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action by
concerned agencies. Subsequent meetings were held with Mr.
Emmanuel Buendia and Mr. Jojo Deles to firm-up initial
discussions with Ms. Lontoc.

          1.2. The NCRFW Board of Commissioners agreed to
identify priority policy imperatives under the 12 BPA Areas of
Concern toward which agencies may collectively focus their
efforts to attain a more observable impact in the immediate
years. (Please see Annex A).

          1.3. Through an NCRFW Board Resolution NCRFW line
agency members adopted and translated into implementable
programs and targets the relevant policy imperatives ensuring
from the Beijing Platform for Action. It should be noted that
these policy imperatives are in consonance with the Philippine
Plan for Gender-Responsive Development (PPGD), 1995-2025, and
the Women in Development and Nation Building Act (RA 7192), so
that the monitoring of its implemenation will be one and the
same, the results of which will be submitted to the NEDA, SRC,
the Cabinet, and the Office of the President (Please see Annex
B) for details of Post-Beijing Action Plans by
Department/Agency). \

          1.4. The NCRFW has likewise conducted information
dissemination drive on the results of the Fourth World
Conference on Women. Fora, have been held in NCR, CAR, Regions
7 and 8. A seminar kit on the 12 areas of concern on the
Beijing Platform for Action entitled "Breaking New Ground in
Beijing" was produced, highlighting the gains of the
:Conference.

     2.   NCRFW's Participation in the Anti-Poverty Summit

     The women's sector raised the following minimum demands:
(a) speeding up of the passage of the Anti-Rape Law redefining
rape as a crime against persons and expanding the definition of
rape; (b) consideration of women's issues as a cross-c concern
in the Social Reform Agenda (SRA) and developing a grid of
indicatetors monitoring purposes with the NCRFW and organized
women's groups; (c) including the NCRFW as a regular member of
the Social Reform Council (SRC) to ensure the integration of
women's concerns in the SRA programs; (d) implementation
allocation by line agencies of the government as well as LGUs
of at least 5% of their respective budgets for women's programs
and projects, benefitting particularly the most disadvantaged
groups and at the same time developing criteria, indicators
implementing mechanisms in consultation with organized women's
groups to the effective use of this 5% budget for women; (e)
electing Local S Representatives and increasing the
representation of women in decision making at national and
local levels to at least 30%; and (f) implementing the intent
of the Barangay Day Care Law and increasing allowances of day
care workers and barangay health workers.

     Likewise, women/gender concerns were incorporated on some
of the Enhanced Master Plans of Operations. Study Group II also
came up with a synthesis of major commitments made by the
Philippine government in international conferences such as the
World Summit for Social Development (WSSD), International
Conference on Population and development (ICPD) and Fourth
World Conference on Women (FWCW).

     3.   Implementation of Executive Order 268

          3.1. With the approval of the proposal for staff and
organizational expansion, the NCRFW shall create a new
division, the Monitoring and Evaluation Division (MED), tasked
with the following functions:

     *  establish and maintain a national monitoring system
which will ensure, among others, that women participate in and
benefit from the intents of pertinent laws, policies and major
programs deemed essential to women's advancement;

     *  monitor and assess national implementation and
compliance to international conventions/treaties on women such
as the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women and the Beijing Platform for
Action;

     *  gauge the progress and identify gaps in the
implementation of Gender and Development (GAD) plans, policies
and laws and come up with policy recommendations to enhance
their implementation; and

     *  liaise with pertinent committees of Congress and other
monitoring groups that are involved in monitoring the
implementation of critical laws, policies and program affecting
women.

          3.2. Among others, EO 268 provided for the creation
of new seats for ex-officio Board members from concerned
government agencies (Department of Agriculture, Department of
Budget and Management, Department of Education, Culture and
Sports; Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Health,
Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of
Labor and Employment, National Economic and Development
Authority, Department of Social Welfare and Development,
Department of Trade and Industry). The completion of the
line-up of Commissioners led to the creation of NCRFW Board
Committees which correspond to the BPA priority areas.

     These Board Committees are: (1) Poverty, Economic
Structures and Environment; (2) Decision-Making, Institutional
Mechanisms; (3) Human Rights, Violence Against Women, Women in
Armed Conflict; (4) Education, Media, Culture and Arts; (5)
Health, Girl Child; and (6) Legislative Liaison Group.

     It is anticipated that the creation of these committees
will facilitate the ; implementation and monitoring of the
identified BPA policy imperatives.

     4. Women's Budget Statement

     Steps were taken to institutionalize the mobilization of
resources for GAD activities. These included:

*  The insertion in the 1995 General Appropriations Act of a
provision (Section 27) directing agencies to place priority on
gender-based projects, programs and set aside an amount from
their 1995 appropriations for projects that address gender
issues or aptly called "1995-1996 Women's Budget Statement";

*  The publication of "The Women's Budget: Philippines,
1995-1996" which assessed the extent of different agencies'
utilization of Sec. 27 of the 1995 General Appropriation Act;

*  Issuance of Presidential Directives instructing the
incorporation of GAD funding requirements into the annual
budgets of government line agencies with focus on activities
relating to GAD training and database management;

*  In cooperation with the DBM, the NCRFW pushed for the
allocation of resources for gender concerns. The 1995 national
budget directs government offices to set aside an amount of
their appropriation for projects addressing gender issues. For
the 1996 and 1197 budget call, GAD is among the priority
programs of government that agencies have to include in their
work plans and programs. In addition, and more importantly, the
1996 General Appropriations Act {section 27) requires all
departments. bureaus, offices and agencies to set
aside a minimum of five percent (5%) out of their 1996
appropriations to be used for projects designed to address
gender issues in accordance with RA 7192; and

*  NCRFW was represented during the Technical Budget Hearing
for 1997 proposals to review agencies' allocation for GAD
activities. It likewise provided technical assistance to
agencies on GAD budgeting.
In pursuance of the commitment put toward by RA 7192 on
allocation of ODA for WID/GAD programs, the government
advocated with the international donor community for assistance
to GAD initiatives.

IV. ISSUES AND FUTURE ACTIONS

The monitoring of the Platform of Action poses critical issues
and concerns:

     *  As the agency mandated to "monitor compliance with and
implementation of provisions granting equal treatment and
giving protection to women ", the NCRFW need to take the lead
in the systematization and synchronization of activities and
initiatives undertaken by entities concerned in the
implementation of BPA

     *  The strengthening of those systematization and
synchronization scheme; require the definition of
accountabilities among the key actors in BPA Monitoring. Such
will eliminate the problem if overlapping of functions and
mandates.

     *  The review of existing monitoring structures both at
the national and subnational levels may give an assessment as
to whether these structures are underutilized in the disposal
of monitoring functions. As the monitoring of the BPA would
entail a complex process, the feedbacking of information and
institutional arrangements required are areas that need to be
thoroughly studied.

In adopting a monitoring and reporting scheme for the BPA,
emphasis may be given on the following:

     *  There are existing planning, monitoring and evaluation
systems being operationalized by various coordinating agencies
both at the national and subnational levels. A list of these
agencies and how their respective schemes work maybe useful in
firming up the BPA's own monitoring scheme.

     *  Each government agency has an internal monitoring
system. The feasibility of monitoring the BPA's twelve areas of
concern through the relevant agencies may be pursued. Laws and
presidential directives that impinge on the BPA may form part
of this process.

     *  The inclusion of important action items in the surveys
done by data-producing offices (e.g., NSO) may also be
explored.

     *  The international bodies/agencies may likewise be
tapped in sourcing monitoring data to substantially evaluate
the BPA.

     *  The NGO community being part of the system committed to
the BPA implementation may have their own monitoring systems
which could be adopted to consider BPA priorities.

     *  Of the BPA action items, ranking maybe necessary to be
able to come up with relevant indicators that shall gauge the
extent of implementation of commitments.

The setting up of a BPA monitoring scheme may entail the
following steps/processes:

     - Preparatory Phase

          * formation of an inter-division task to review the
policy imperatives and the PPGD; process planning/validation

          * review of policy imperatives and PPGD; completion
of integration matrix

          * workshop of Commissioners, ManCom and technical
officers

     - Consultation Phase

          * series of consultations with oversight agencies to
define the structure and substance of the national consultation

          * conduct of one national consultation-workshop to
firm up agency plans and strategies on the implementation and
monitoring of the BPA and PPGD

          * eight regional consultation-workshops to firm up
agency plans and strategies on the implementation and
monitoring of the BPA and PPGD

     - Post Consultation Follow-Up

          * meetings with oversight agencies, re: delineation
of roles and coordination arrangements

          * monitoring/follow-up consultations