injuries in the hands of her uncle proceeded to report to the barangay, despite the visible concussions, the barangay was unable to detain the perpetrator, and the barangay only took pictures of her injuries. She was also unable to proceed for a medico-legal examination as she knew they would be busy responding to COVID-19. Eventually, the woman decided not to pursue her case. In cases where survivors were able to file with the PNP or the barangay, there continued barriers in terms of procuring needed documents for filing such as medico-legal examinations which would entail further cost, transportation, and exposure to possible COVID-19 infection. The closure of Courts during ECQ has also affected availability of remedies for women victim-survivors of violence. In cases of rape for instance, while sworn statements were already filed before the PNP, the closure of the prosecutor’s office due to COVID-19 would mean that no arrests would be undertaken until preliminary investigation is conducted. Arrest of and detention are available only in cases where crimes were committed in flagrante delicto. While the Supreme Court adopted electronic filing of cases - there is very limited information dissemination about this among advocates, or even with the women’s desks. Complainant's statement were still awaiting availability of prosecutors for filing.87 The GBV portal also documented challenges in accessing support services for GBV/VAW survivors. During the height of the crisis, many of the local shelters were in lockdown and have ceased admission of new cases. While Haven Shelter for Women in Alabang continued to accept cases, they required medical certificates and would require commitment by women to stay at least 3 months. This prevented one referral from staying as she still hopes that upon lifting of ECQ, she will be able to resume work. Subsequently, Haven also made their admission requirement more stringent, particularly the need of a prior Polymerise Chain Reaction (PCR) test. The latter could become a barrier for women who may not have access to free and immediate access to PCR testing. Transportation also continue to pose as barriers for many survivors. With the imposition of the ECQ and even until GCQ, mobility remained constrained with the very limited options for transportation. In several instances, to assist survivors, the Commission has also extended assistance in securing transportation and travel clearances from survivors. The imposition of ECQ has resulted in limited mobility and transportation. Often, only one person in a family is issued a pass, and travel, especially inter-region travel requires travel clearances and passes. In some cases, women survivors sought assistance of the Commission not to file cases against their perpetrators, but for assistance on how to travel to a safer place. In these instances, the Commission has processed clearances from City Mayors, Office of City Social Welfare and Development, and even barangays. These missions were undertaken through close coordination between CHR Central and its regional offices. Since ECQ, three missions have been undertaken of this nature: transporting a woman and her one year old child from NCR to Region IV-A to leave an abusive husband, transporting a woman from Region IV-A to NCR, to leave an abusive father, and more recently, transporting mother and child from Region IV-A to Region V. Transportation services were also provided in the filing of cases as in the case of a transwoman who was assisted by the Commission in filing a case of discrimination against a Barangay Captain. As the residence of the transwoman is far from the place of incidence, there is a need to provide a vehicle to aid in the filing of the criminal case, and to subsequently return for filing, as some of the offices were close or in lockdown. The case of Fabel Pineda is a somber reminder of the impact of breakdown of referral mechanisms and of failure of duty bearers to provide prompt and effective response in cases of GBV. While Fabel was able to 87 Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP). Response to the call for submissions on COVID-19 and the increase of domestic violence against women. 23