CEDAW/C/SR.327 English Page 6 26. There was a separation of Church and State under the Constitution, so that the Church was not expected to assist the Government in implementing equality policies and programmes. There were, however, gender-sensitive Church programmes for women. 27. The sectoral ministries established by the Government had been mandated to set up focal points. There were now 72 focal points for women in national and subnational agencies. 28. The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women had had a budget of roughly US$ 528,000 in 1995 and US$ 640,000 in 1997, amounts that were small in comparison with needs. That allocation was expected to increase. Additional funding for some programmes was received from donor agencies. 29. The Convention was well known to women’s non-governmental organizations, some of which advocated for it. 30. The Philippine Plan for Gender-responsive Development would serve as the basis for the country’s long-term development plan, and had been institutionalized as the main vehicle for implementing the commitments assumed at the Fourth World Conference on Women. 31. The Philippine Commission on Human Rights advocated women’s rights through information campaigns, consciousness-training, promotion of institutional mechanisms and legislation, and research. 32. Under Republic Act No. 7192, up to 30 per cent of official development assistance could be earmarked for women’s programmes. Increasing allocations had been made over the past four years. 33. Consideration of the semi-annual reports submitted by all government agencies was the responsibility of Congress and the Office of the President, or their authorized agent. In the case of the Office of the President, that was the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women. 34. In 1995 the total women’s budget allocation had been 990 million Philippine pesos. The allocation had been used for women-specific programmes and projects, establishment of institutional mechanisms, and policy research and review. 35. Specific acts had been adopted containing affirmative measures to increase the participation of women in the executive and legislative branches of Government. 36. The Family Code provided that management of the household was a joint responsibility of husband and wife. While no study had been conducted, observation suggested that more men now shared in parenting and household responsibilities, although women continued to bear the primary responsibility. 37. The bill on sexual harassment had become law in February 1995, and rape had been made a heinous crime under Republic Act No. 7659. 38. Government and non-government agencies were conducting information activities to raise public awareness so as to prevent crimes and violence / ...