Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco, Jr. has ordered the Key Shelter Agencies to find a way to use their GAD budgets to immediately help women and children in Marawi's evacuation centers.
In a special meeting on June 21, 2017, Secretary Evasco convened the housing agencies under the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) to initiate discussions on government's reconstruction efforts. Marawi City has been recently devastated by fighting between the Maute group and government forces.
Acknowledging that the physical rebuilding of homes and structures will take time to ensure effective and responsive shelter interventions, it was agreed that Shelter Agencies will take initial and immediate steps to alleviate the plight of Marawi residents living in evacuation centers. To achieve this, the funds allocated for Gender and Development (GAD) from each agency will be mobilized to address the particular needs of women affected by the conflict.
Republic Act 9710, also known as the Magna Carta of Women, mandates government agencies to allot at least five percent (5%) of its total budget for GAD programs addressing gender issues and concerns. It was noted that agencies have difficulty utilizing their entire GAD budget. Cabinet Secretary Evasco instructed HUDCC Key Shelter Agencies to find a way to reallocate up to half of their current GAD budgets and all remaining unutilized GAD funds from previous years to provide for the particular needs of women in evacuation centers. Options such as providing hygiene kits and pyscho-social support services are being considered.
The Key Shelter Agencies under HUDCC include the National Housing Authority, Social Housing Finance Corporation, Home Development Mutual Fund - more commonly known as the Pag-Ibig Fund, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, Home Guaranty Corporation, and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation. Secretary Evasco hopes that other agencies will take initiative to find ways to use resources to immediately help those affected by the recent conflict in Marawi.