Cases of Corruption and Gender and Development Funds in the Philippines

This paper examines corruption-related activities concerning the utilization of Gender and Development (GAD) funds in the country. This study also consolidated cases of abuse of power, mismanagement of resources, malversation, and/or embezzlement in the Budget Policy and framework of Gender and Development implementation. This paper used document review as its primary method of gathering data and paper analysis of the Commission on Audit (COA) and Sandiganbayan decisions and Budget Policy implementation of Gender and Development Funds. Moreover, This paper suggests research-based recommendations for implementing gender-responsive Projects, Programs, and Activities (PPAs) and enhancement of Gender-based policy formation. Findings revealed that most of the cases of abuse in using GAD funds were initially from the inefficiency of institutions and persons in authority to identify existing gender issues. The lack of knowledge on GAD budget policy implementation and lack of accountability measures in the GAD budget framework makes the GAD fund volatile for corruption-related activities of leaders and managers. Thus, the identified corrupt-related practices undermine the processes of GAD budget policy/framework.