Gender and Development (GAD) Budget Policy and Promotion of Gender Equality in the Barangays of Iligan City, Philippines: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

This article adapted the Gender and Development framework embodied in the Philippine Plan for Gender Responsive Development (PPGRD) 1995 – 2025. PPGRD envisions promoting gender empowerment and equality by addressing the needs and issues of marginalized women at the basic administrative local government units through representation and a legislated gender budget. With more than 2 decades since PPGRD was passed, the pressing need in this study was to determine how gender mainstreaming and GAD Budget Policy (GBP) compliance had fared in the southern part of the country, specifically in the city of Iligan, and within its most basic administrative units, the barangays. This article focuses on the GAD Budget Policy, a vital component of GAD, to determine gender budget compliance at the barangay level, specifically in the 15 barangays of Iligan City. The study, conducted from 2016 to 2017, used Key Informant Interviews and reviewed national and local GAD ordinances and documents.