curfew.’ [Right now, we don’t have electricity as most of our electricity come from illegal connections. My children find it very difficult to work on their modules, they have no light. We are awaiting for the second wave of assistance but none arrived. So now, I try to stretch what I earn from doing laundry to buy us food – sometimes its just porridge, if not enough, coffee and bread will do. I am also trying to find ways to pay for the penalty of my son who was arrested due to curfew violations]. Some former residents of Navotas were relocated in Bulacan, even then, they still recounted the difficulties they experienced. One woman shared‘ dahil bago palang kami sa lugar di kami nasali sa SAP56, wala pa daw kami sa masterlist ng barangay. Dito po namin naranasan magutom. Mabuti nalang po may tanim kami na mga gulay at kamote, kamoteng kahoy at saging. Ang pagkain namin sa umaga kamoteng kahoy, tanghali kanin na bigas, at sa gabi saging kaming mag-asawa. Ang anak nalang naming ang pinapakain naming ng bigas para mapatagal namin ang bigas. Madalas tuyo o asin ang ulam at gulay na aming pananim” [ Since we are new in the place, we were not included in the SAP, they said we’re not in the masterlist. It is here that we experienced hunger. It’s good that we have planted vegetables and other root crops. In the morning we would eat cassava, for lunch we’d have rice. For dinner, my husband and I would only eat banana and only our children would eat rice so we could further extend our supply. Most of the time, we only have dried fish and the vegetables we’ve grown]. Community Based Monitoring with Women with Disabilities For women with disabilities, pre-existing communication and physical barriers are further exacerbated during the crisis. Pre-existing physical barriers were compounded by containment and quarantine measures. Persons with disability were considered high risk and not allowed outside the home, and mobility was further constrained by absence of transportation. This made it difficult for persons with disability households, and those with other high risk population like the elderly and minors. The Commission received several complaints from persons with disability headed household who were unable to procure basic necessities because of restrictions and who were prevented from entering grocery stores with their personal assistants. Access to disability specific treatment, medication and rehabilitation services were also interrupted due to limited mobility and absence of transportation. One interviewee said, “Mahirap kasi sa kaso ko on-going chemo therapy may kasama pang senior citizen”. [I find it difficult in my case to undergo chemotherapy, while (caring?) for a senior citizen].57 Panaghoy sa Panahon ng Pandemya During the pandemic, another group of already vulnerable and marginalized women were those left behind by the war on drugs. The CHR-GEWHRC, in continuation of an earlier research on the impact of the war on drugs on women and children, continued to monitor situation of women left behind during the pandemic. Data from the San Jose Tagapagtanggol volunteers show that prior to the pandemic, they were taking care of 45 families left behind by EJK, as of October of 2020, the number reached 67 families. In Barangay Holy Spirit alone, there was an increase of 22 cases. In June 2020, the GEWHRC, in partnership with a community church organization assisted in the documentation of cases of EJK during the ECQ/MECQ period. The interviews conducted with the widows and partners of EJK victims showed the difficulty of dealing with this human rights violations during a pandemic. It showed the multiple burden of women left behind in taking care of their families, and at the same time arranging funeral services, autopsy and filing of cases. According to the women interviewed by the Center, violent deaths of family members made their already difficult situation even more difficult. Even before the violent killing of their family members, the 56 57 DSWD’s Social Amelioration Program under Bayanihan Heal as One Law CHR. Community Based Peer Monitoring with Women with Disability. March to June 2020. 13