132 Table 52. DSWD GAD-related Budgets
General Budget 2015
(P’000) Services for Center-based Clients Pantawid Pamilya PAMANA Fund/Livelihood Program Sustainable Livelihood Program Total
Declared as GADRelated
% General Budget
1,059,506
1,387,257
131%
64,737,890
39,269,398
61%
760,064
77,950
10%
4,943,228
2,329,312
47%
71,500,688
43,063,917
60%
Note: Percentage of budget was computed to indicate the relative size of the GAD allocation claimed. Amounts declared as GAD-related may include amounts from other budget items not reflected in the above.
It is however difficult to assume that such will be the case. Center-based clients, for example, are not all women and children. A major portion of the budget for Pantawid Pamilya (4Ps) was likewise appropriated on the assumption that it will promote the institutionalization of mechanisms to promote the rights of women in armed conflict situations. 4Ps is not being implemented in ARMM, however, and only 28% of the 2015 budget for 4Ps (P18.1 billion) is in fact projected to be spent in Mindanao. Even in the case of the PAMANA Fund, unless programs are specifically identified and targeted, it is difficult to assert without qualification, that the use of the budgeted funds will promote the rights of women in armed conflict situations. If it has not yet been done, it is necessary to undertake a gender analysis of the participants/beneficiaries of each the programs identified in the above table. Such an analysis will serve as the basis for adjusting programs to make them more gender- sensitive. Along this line, while there is recognition that 4Ps serves some of the practical needs of women (e.g., knowledge on promoting good nutrition and environmental sanitation enriched through Family Development Sessions, access to income to ensure better food on the table), there is a need to think more deeply and creatively on how to promote their strategic needs (e.g., challenging patriarchal relations in the household and community, access to labor markets without increasing their existing burdens). In the case of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), DSWD’s GAD plan specifically flags the reluctance of women to participate in livelihood assistance projects. It states succinctly that “women are already burdened with the reproductive tasks of household-keeping and childrearing” which conditions limit their ability to take on other productive roles, such as those linked to participating in livelihood and education programs. Given its own understanding of the dilemma these women face, appropriating close to half of the total budget for SLP just to build up the GAD plan seems inappropriate. Rather funds should be allocated for the hard work of developing and putting in place mechanisms to ensure that women's work is not increased as they engage in productive work, such as, the provision of daycare/child-minding centers to care for their children while they are at work.
FY 2015 Alternative Budget