piece. Fishermen are usually at sea for around 6 months. Wives sell fish in the market apart from making fishing paraphernalia. Restrictions of the pandemic and its lockdowns hindered their sales. Like other fisherfolk, they are also unable to afford registration for their boats. Sewers, handicraft workers, and other home-based subcontracted workers lost clients and had to stop operations with more than half a million products put on hold nationwide (Anita, 2021). Tailors are affected by the lack in demand for school and office uniforms as well as special occasion dresses. One handicraft worker only earns around 150php every few days and she uses her earnings to purchase raw materials. Home-based food microbusiness could not afford to restock but customers kept tabs and could not afford to pay the stores. One participant who has a home-based vinegar and food processing business has not earned during the pandemic. Having a registered business, she is being required to pay for her national and local government permits and taxes which she cannot afford. She is also being charged with BIR violations due to this but she has no access to legal aid. Majority of participants felt that life became more difficult as their already small earnings became even less. Very few of them received social amelioration program (SAP) benefits. Income was more stable among participants prior to the pandemic, who now struggle to provide for their basic needs as they shift between different ways to earn. "Mahirap kumilos, kumita, mabuhay (It is difficult to move, to earn, to live)," said one sari-sari store owner, who describes how family units need to live on meager and inconsistent daily earnings. “Ginagawan na lang (nilang mag-asawa) ng paraan ang pag-b-budget, (we just find ways to budget)” another participant says as they can only afford what is cheap at the moment which is often vegetables instead of meats. Many found any other means of earning such as online selling, peddling food, plants, and vegetables to make ends meet. Apart from worries over increasing debt, losing their homes, and food security threats, there is a deep fear of contracting the corona virus among participants of FGDs. Being confined at home is also difficult for some who miss their families who do not live with them. Making matters worse, additional expenses from online schooling such as cellphone credits and gadgets became a burden for women. Mothers also had additional work of helping their children get through online classes. Some women admitted to suffering from mental health issues due to stress from consequences of the nationally mishandled pandemic. It is clear form these initial results that women in the informal sector bore the brunt of the economic impact of the pandemic. The FGD results emphasize the urgency of responses that recognize the specific vulnerability and challenges faced by the sector, and of the need to adopt programs that recognized and respond to these realities. LGBTQI 18