Summary of Key Informant Interview
The respondents are VAW-C desk officers of 20 selected barangays in Sibuco,
Zamboanga del Norte most of which are Barangay Kagawad designated as VAW-C
desk officer. The Key Informant Interview was conducted by the joint effort of CHR 9
Coordinator and Documenter.
Gender Equality Situationer in the Municipality
They are not aware of any gender related ordinances in their Municipality nor the
enactment of such in their Barangay. They are aware of the livelihood program for
women initiated by their LGU, granting financial assistance for women during the
Pandemic. All of the respondents have undergone training on VAW-C given by DILG
prior to the pandemic. According to them their VAW-C Desk are functional even during
the ECQ period through the utilization of their GAD Budget One of the barangays even
recorded rape incident during the ECQ and was able to assist the victim in filing the
case and the victim was brought to a shelter in another Municipality as Sibuco does not
have any shelter for children nor for women. It is observed by the respondents that
there were higher cases of GBV before the Pandemic but with zero case of GBV during
Pandemic. They don’t have any programs during Pandemic that would address GBV in
their area, considering their main areas of concern during such time is the prevention
and control of COVID 19.
Gender-based violence (GBV) in Municipality of Sibuco
According to the respondents, the most common form of GBV they handled are seeking
economic support from their partners, rape, physical abuse and separation. It is
noteworthy that although GBV cases according to the respondents decrease (but
majority of the respondents recorded zero case of GBV) during the Pandemic compared
last 2019, rape cases in their Municipality increased. The worst part is that it is
incestuous and most of the victims are minors. One incident reported was during the
ECQ period.
The most affected sector of women victim of GBV are women farmers. Considering that
Sibuco is mostly an agricultural area, one of the biggest factor or challenge for these
victims is their access to justice given the vast geographical area. To add to that, most
of the barangays are not readily accessible as their road network is still undeveloped. It
is thick with mud or blocked by land/rock slide. The victim only means of transportation
is “habal-habal”. One of the barangays prefer to use “bangka” as their means of
transport as it is more efficient and can save them time in travel. Another challenge is
the financial capacity of the victims to sustain the complaint. Although they were