Women with the intent of removing discrimination, advancing substantive equality and strengthening state obligations to promote, protect and fulfill women’s human rights.
Special laws Protection from discrimination The Magna Carta of Women is the framework law on women’s human rights. It is a source of implementable rights; it is also a policy document from where many other laws may be derived. However, since its passage in 2009, only one out of the six identified discriminatory laws has been repealed. Furthermore, there are specific provisions that need to be amended, such as specifying a timeframe for completion of repeal and amendment of discriminatory laws or a target quota in relation to women’s representation and participation in all spheres of society, particularly in the decisionmaking and policymaking processes in government and private entities. 1. Republic Act No. 9710 (Magna Carta of Women) In 2006, one of the observations in the Concluding Comments to the Combined 5th and 6th Periodic Report of the Philippines to the CEDAW Committee25 was the absence of a law defining antidiscrimination, despite the country’s ratification of CEDAW in 1981. A consultative body led by a non-governmental organization was formed, and a gender equality law was drafted, which contains the provisions of CEDAW and other relevant principles on gender equality. On 14 August 2009, Republic Act No. 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women was passed, defining discrimination against women in accordance with Article I of CEDAW, substantive equality as well as the obligations of the State as the primary duty-bearer in protecting, promoting and fulfilling women’s human rights and gender equality. The Magna Carta is considered as the domestic translation of CEDAW, bringing CEDAW into the nation’s legal system as a source of enforceable rights. The law affirms landmark principles such as women’s human rights, the role of women in nation-building, empowerment of women and the integration of women’s concerns in the mainstream of development. It enumerates the rights and empowerment of all women, with special attention to women in the marginalized sectors. It also sets
up the institutional mechanisms necessary to realize women’s equality: the concept of gender mainstreaming, the focal point system, the gender and development budget, and strengthening of the national women’s machinery. Institutional mechanisms for women’s equality include the Philippine Commission on Women, formerly the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, and establishment of the Gender Ombud through the Commission on Human Rights. The law also has implementing rules and regulations, which provide more detail to the law. According to the Philippine Commission on Women,26 some of the salient features of the Magna Carta of Women are: • Increasing the number of women in senior positions in government to achieve a fiftyfifty gender balance within the next five years while the composition of women at all levels of development planning and program implementation will be at least 40 percent. • Leave benefits of two months with full pay based on gross monthly compensation for women employees who undergo surgery caused by gynecological disorders, provided that they have rendered continuous aggregate employment service of at least six months for the last 12 months. • Non-discrimination in employment in the field of military, police and other similar services which includes according the same promotional privileges and opportunities as their male counterparts, including pay increases, additional benefits and awards, based on competency and quality of performance. • Provision for equal access and elimination of discrimination in education, scholarships and training. Thus, expulsion, non-readmission, prohibiting enrollment and other related discrimination against women students and faculty due to pregnancy out of marriage shall be outlawed. • Non-discriminatory and non-derogatory portrayal of women in media and film to raise the consciousness of the general public in recognizing the dignity of women and the role and contribution of women in the family, community and society through the strategic use of mass media.
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