KAWIT, Cavite – The municipality of Kawit left P7.7 million of its Gender and Development (GAD) budget unspent, according to a recent Commission on Audit (COA) report.

The audit found that 13 out of 21 planned programs were either not implemented or had minimal accomplishments.

COA revealed that out of a P21.37 million GAD budget, only P13.63 million was utilized, resulting in the P7.7 million unexpended balance.

Seven programs with a total budget of P2.99 million were not implemented at all. These included the construction of breast-feeding areas in different offices (P800,000), a capability building program to raise awareness on violence against women and children (P500,000), and the construction of sports facilities (P1 million).

Five other programs showed minimal fund utilization. A gender sensitivity training reached only 118 of the targeted 480 male spouses, using just P68,775 of its P260,000 budget. A program for counseling and referral for abused women served only five out of 20 targets, spending P15,000 of its P200,000 allocation.

The audit report revealed that local government units are required to allocate at least 5% of their annual budgets for gender mainstreaming in policies, programs and projects. This requirement stems from a joint memorandum circular issued by the Philippine Commission on Women, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Budget and Management, and National Economic and Development Authority.

“The inability of the Municipal Government to fully maximize the budget and implement 13 out of 21 PPAs for Gender and Development defeated the attainment of the GAD mandate and addressing the gender issues identified in its PPAs,” the COA stated in its report.

Auditors ordered Kawit Mayor Angelo Aguinaldo to provide explanations for his negligence and deviations and factors hindering implementation of the municipality’s GAD Plan and Budget.

The report also called for the GAD Focal Point System to ensure more effective and efficient implementation of GAD programs and judicious utilization of the GAD Budget in the future.