MAGNA CARTA FOR FILIPINO WOMEN

I recently discovered through a colleague of mine that there is a Magna Carta for Filipino women. Republic Act 9710 protects and recognize women in the workplace and promote women's rights. 

Here are the salient features of the law taken from the website of the Philippine Commission on Women http://pcw.gov.ph/law/republic-act-9710:

1. Increasing the number of women in third level positions in government to achieve a fifty-fifty (50-50) 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;
2. Leave benefits of two (2) 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 (6) months for the last twelve (12) months;
3. Non-discrimination in employment in the field of military, police and other similar services that include according the same promotional privileges and opportunities as their men counterpart, including pay increases, additional benefits, and awards, based on competency and quality of performance.
4. Provision for equal access and elimination of discrimination in education, scholarships, and training. Thus, "expulsion, non-readmission, prohibiting enrollment, and other related discrimination of women students and faculty due to pregnancy out of marriage shall be outlawed.
5. 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 family, community, and the society through the strategic use of mass media;
6. Equal status given to men and women on the titling of the land and issuance of stewardship contracts and patents.

Solo parents like me and women at that, rejoice in this law because we'll never really know what and when sickness comes to us. Having a protection of a special leave benefit in case of a surgical procedure due to a gynecological disorder is a tremendous help for a person whose a lone breadwinner of the family. Hospitalization nowadays cost a lot and we need all the financial assistance that we can get.

God bless everyone!

  

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