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Magna Carta of Women – a victory for women’s
human rights advocates
`An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of Women of the Philippines’ was formally signed into law as Republic Act No. 9710 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on August 14, 2009 at the Malacañan Palace, Manila. The Magna Carta of Women (MCW) is a landmark legislation that serves as the Philippines’ gender equality law. The MCW is significantly linked to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in explicitly defining gender discrimination, state obligation, substantive equality, and temporary special measures and outlining provisions to implement these principles.
The enactment of the MCW caps a seven-year legislative lobby by women’s groups, the last three years of which were guided by a CEDAW framework. A Study and Action Core Group (SACG) of NGOs, CBOs and government representatives was convened to translate CEDAW into national legislation and consequently drafted a bill which received sponsorship and support from diverse women’s groups around the country. More than a thousand women petitioned Congress and hundreds attended legislation hearings to support the bill.
Conservative religious parties opposed the MCW for its emphasis on reproductive health charging that the bill would promote promiscuity, abortion, divorce and homosexuality. However, through patient dialogue, logical presentation of facts and human rights principles in congressional hearings, in community forums, schools and through mass media, and public pressure through mobilization in numbers, the legislative battle was won.
"After all the attempts to block the passage of the Magna Carta of Women, the Filipino women have finally emerged victorious. This is a by-product of women’s continuous struggle for equality and serves as a gateway in support to women’s legitimate concerns," said Gabriela women's party-list Rep. Liza Maza, who was a member of the bicameral conference committee on the law and a co-author of the House version of the measure.
“For the first time, there’s a provision which categorically acknowledges that women’s rights are human rights and therefore the principles of human rights are there such as non-discrimination, equality, participation,” said Chairperson Leila De Lima of the Commission of Human Rights.
Some key provisions of the Magna Carta of Women are:
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Ensure that the State will review and, when necessary, amend and/or repeal existing laws that are discriminatory to women within three years from its enactment;
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Institute affirmative action mechanisms so that "women can participate meaningfully in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of policies, plans, and programs for national, regional, and local development."
- Ensure mandatory human rights and gender sensitivity training to all government personnel involved in preventing and defending women from gender-based violence;
- Encourage Local Government Units (LGUs) to develop a Gender and Development (GAD) code in their respective localities based on consultation with their women constituents.
- Increase women’s representation in third level positions in government to achieve equal gender balance within the next five years while the composition of women in all levels of development planning and program implementation will be at least 40 percent;
- Provide equal access and elimination of discrimination in education, scholarships and training and outlaw "expulsion, non-readmission, prohibiting enrollment, and other related discrimination of women students and faculty due to pregnancy out of marriage."
- Promote the equal status of men and women on the titling of the land and issuance of stewardship contracts and patents; and
- The NCRFW will be renamed the Philippine Commission on Women and will be the overall monitoring and oversight body to ensure the implementation of the Magna Carta of Women. The Commission on Human Rights was also designated as the Gender and Development Ombud that will receive complaints and recommend actions for violations of the law. The NCRFW and CHR were also assigned to formulate the implementing rules and regulations of the Magna Carta of Women.
The signing was witnessed by top officials of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women and other government agencies, representatives of major women’s NGO networks, local women’s councils, women in the military and members of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and the UN Gender Mainstreaming Committee. Around 500 women in attendance represented the wide range of women’s organizations around the country, and women legislators who co-sponsored previous versions of the bill were special guests, including the former Senator and Ambassador Leticia-Ramos Shahani.
The legislative work for the Magna Carta of Women has been supported by UNIFEM through its CIDA-funded CEDAW South East Asia Programme since 2006 and later on joined by UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Habitat, UNDP, UNAIDS, and ILO through the UN Joint Programme to Facilitate the Implementation of the CEDAW.
For more information on the Act, visit the National Commission on Filipino Women website at http://www.ncrfw.gov.ph/index.php/magna-carta-of-women
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