including maternal health, and the gaps in the responses to gender-based violence due to reporting barriers posed by the pandemic On the provision of relief goods and assistance, initial monitoring of the Commission reveal limited inclusion, if not exclusion of much needed hygiene and menstrual kits in government provided relief packages.23 This has been raised by urban poor women, women with disability and IDPs in Mindanao.24Women also complained of the absence of milk and food for toddlers/children. 25 For women with disability and older persons, the lack of provision for maintenance medicines has been repeatedly complained of and in one instance, the Commission has intervened and referred requests for medication for a child with disability to the Department of Health. 26 Disruption of SRH services have also been raised including access to information on pre an post-natal care, maternal health services, and access to family planning commodities. Results of the Gender Inclusion Assessment, led by UNFPA showed that 2 out of 5 female respondents cannot access contraceptives, 3 out of 10 female respondents reported limited access to pe-natal and delivery services, and 1 out of 2 LGBT respondents cannot access HIV and AIDS services. 27 The Commission on Population and Development itself has reported a drop of 50% in people using their services since March, and attributing the same to lack of public transport, limited clinical staff and reduced clinic hours. 28 Experts have also stated that the lockdown meant that more than 5 million women in the Philippines are likely to find their reproductive health services disrupted. 29 During the Commission’s relief drive in Payatas, an urban poor woman related how her pre-natal checkups were interrupted due to the lockdown, the absence of transportation, and also of her fear of exposure to infection should she visit hospitals. In the community-based monitoring of women with disabilities, disruption of supplies of Family Planning (FP) commodities was also mentioned. The case of Catherine Bulatao, the woman who died on the 24th of April after having been refused by six hospitals presents the lethal impact of the failure to ensure SRH during the crisis. Catherine chose to give birth in her home in Brgy. 183 in North Caloocan City, after having given birth, she suffered severe bleeding and was advised to proceed to a hospital. She was refused by six hospitals resulting in her death.30 While commendable measures have been subsequently adopted such as mobile clinics and teleconferencing in local government units, the adoption of the Interim Guidelines on the Continuous Provision of Maternal 23 Women with Disabilities Peer Monitoring by CHR-GEWHRC, 17 March-17 April 2020 CHR-CCHP. Report on the COVID-19 Emergency Situation in IDP Areas in Region VIII and Mindanao Regions. 4-8 May 2020 25 Women with Disabilities Peer Monitoring by CHR-GEWHRC, 17 March-17 April 2020; Interviews with women in Brgy. Rolling Hills, Payatas 26 Women with Disabilities Peer Monitoring by CHR-GEWHRC, 17 March-17 April 2020, the case of a boy with disability in Bulacan; 27 UNFPA etl al, Silayan, see note 19 28 Ana Santos. Philippine Faces Baby Boom after lockdown hits family planning. Aljazeera. 14 July 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/7/14/philippines-faces-baby-boom-after-lockdown-hits-family-planning 29 Ana Santos. Philippine Faces Baby Boom after lockdown hits family planning. Aljazeera. 14 July 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/7/14/philippines-faces-baby-boom-after-lockdown-hits-family-planning 30 Nikka Valenzuela. Women who has just given birth dies after being rejected by 6 hospitals. Inquirer. 27 April 2020. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1265145/woman-who-had-just-given-birth-dies-after-being-rejected-by-6hospitals 24 6