CEDAW/C/SR.1405 28. Under Philippine electoral law, persons judged to be insane were not entitled to vote. A law had been passed to ensure that polling stations were accessible to persons with disabilities and the older persons. 29. Ms. Verzosa (Philippines) said that the Government was aware of the fact that vulnerable groups of women were disproportionately exposed to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. It met frequently with representatives of those groups and took note of their concerns with a view to making the necessary legislative amendments. 30. Ms. Nwankwo asked whether the State party envisaged taking measures to address the stigma attached to women with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities and to improve the gender sensitivity of justice institutions, including transitional justice mechanisms. 31. Ms. Patten, noting that the Committee had adopted its views on the case of Karen Vertido in 2010, asked when the legislation that would enable her to receive adequate compensation would be enacted. She invited the delegation to describe the measures that it had taken to comply with the Committee’s views in R.P.B. v. the Philippines. 32. Ms. Jahan asked whether the Convention and the Optional Protocol had been translated into the various regional and indigenous languages spoken in the country and how data were collected on the groups of women most frequently exposed to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. 33. Ms. Verzosa (Philippines) said that the Government was working on a new law to allow the payment of compensation when the treaty bodies found the human rights of a person or a group of persons to have been violated. Training had also been provided to police officers with the aim of reducing the stigmatization of persons with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions of gender. The training had led to improved procedures for dealing with cases of domestic violence involving transgender persons. A transgender woman had recently been elected to serve as a member of a provincial government and had promised to pursue the adoption of the anti-discrimination bill. 34. The Government had drafted a reply to the Committee’s views in R.P.B. v. the Philippines and would transmit it to the Committee once the necessary consultations had taken place. The Convention had been translated into various languages. Both the Convention and the Magna Carta of Women were available in hard copy and could be consulted online. Collecting data on the groups of women most frequently exposed to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination remained a challenge. However, the Philippine Statistics Authority collected data on indigenous people and persons with disabilities as part of the national census. 35. Ms. Nwankwo said that the State party was to be commended on having expanded the mandate and elevated the status of the newly renamed Philippine Commission on Women. She asked whether the Commission was endowed with sufficient human and financial resources to enable it to execute its mandate effectively. She also wished to know what steps had been taken by the State party to enhance the monitoring of expenditure under the gender and development budget and to ensure the judicious use of the resources available under that budget by local governments and State-run companies. 36. Noting that the Women’s Empowerment, Development and Gender Equality Plan, which served to implement the Magna Carta of Women, was coming to an end in 2016, she asked how the State party intended to evaluate the results achieved under the Plan thus far and to adopt a new plan to replace it. 37. While the State party was to be commended on its efforts to build the capacity of the Commission on Human Rights, the Committee had received reports of a general lack of political will to act upon its findings and recommendations in respect of violations of the 6 GE.16-11608