CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 76.9 percent in 1997 to 78.5 percent in 2000), sanitary toilet facilities (74.9 percent in 1994, 77.2 percent in 1997 and 82.5 percent in 2000), and electricity (70.4 percent in 1997 and 75.4 percent in 2000; NSO 2003d). The cost of utilities, however, remains high despite legislation to curb it. 82. Problems in other services continue to abound, however. Housing shortage, for instance, remains acute. Between 1999-2004, it was estimated that total housing need would reach 3.3 million units, 1.1 million of which would form the backlog up to 1999 and 2.2 million would constitute the needs of new households to be created as a result of rapid population growth and household formation (NSO 2002:576). Moreover, with a considerable portion of the budget allocated to debt servicing, generation of jobs and preserving peace and order, government investments in social services are reduced. Human Development Index9 83. The overall human development achievements of the Philippines have been fair. The country’s human development index (HDI) has consistently risen over the past 25 years or so, but the rate of improvement has been slow relative to many countries (UNDP/HDR, various years). While rated as “medium human development country,” the Philippines consistently ranked low. It was 67th out of 140 countries in 1995, 70th out of 162 in 1999, and then slid down to 77th out of 173 in 2000 and 85th out of 175 in 2001. Nonetheless, with respect to democratic governance, the country’s scored 8 out of 10 in protection of civil liberties, political and an “exuberantly free press” (UNDP/HDR 2002). In 2001, it attained “near universal primary and secondary enrollment”, no small feat considering the country’s paucity of resources. Gender-related Development Index (GDI) and Gender Empowerment Index (GEM)10 84. The Philippines ranked 35th out of 70 countries in the gender empowerment index, higher than Asian countries like Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. Meanwhile, the Philippines ranked 66 out of 144 countries in the gender development index. Culture and gender norms and relations 85. Gender is an important social exclusion principle, resulting in gender-based discrimination. Cultural traditions differ among ethnic-religious groups. These are manifested in the following.11 a. Access to education. The Philippine Constitution enshrines the right of the child, boy and girl, to basic education, and mandates the State to provide free basic education to all. At the level of social and cultural practice, gender bias in educational investment is not systemic, and parents generally send all their children to school, if they can afford it. However, gender biases differ among cultural groups. For instance, lumad (indigenous peoples) and Muslim groups traditionally tend to favor sending or keeping their sons in school while keeping their daughters at home (Uy 1990). The Muslim struggle, however, has greatly affected the 9 HDI is a composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human developmenta long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living. 10 GDI is a composite index measuring average achievement in the three basic dimensions captured in the human development index- a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living- adjusted to account for inequalities between men and women. GEM is a composite index measuring gender inequality in three basic dimensions of empowerment-economic participation and decision-making, political participation and decision making and power over economic resources. 11The succeeding subsections draw heavily from Illo (2002b). 34