PH commission vows to monitor implementation of Magna Carta of Women

The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) on Wednesday vowed to strictly monitor the enforcement of Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women, particularly in government and private sector workplaces.

"This is one thing that we would look into, the monitoring of the Magna Carta of Women implementation to make sure that our people in the government, for example, or even in the private sector, where women predominate are not being victimized. Mahirap po kasing mag-monitor dahil ang mga data po natin ay hiwa-hiwalay (It's difficult to monitor because the data are not compiled)," PCW chairperson Ermelita Valdeavilla said at a Palace press briefing.

The Magna Carta of Women is a comprehensive women's human rights law, which seeks to eliminate discrimination through the recognition, protection, fulfillment, and promotion of the rights of Filipino women, especially those who are part of the marginalized sectors of society.

The PCW said this was the local translation of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women's (CEDAW), particularly in defining gender discrimination, state obligations, substantive equality, and temporary special measures.

Further, this also recognizes human rights as guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

The Magna Carta of Women defines discrimination against women as:

• any gender-based distinction, exclusion, or restriction which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field;
• any act or omission, including by law, policy, administrative measure, or practice, that directly or indirectly excludes or restricts women in the recognition and promotion of their rights and their access to and enjoyment of opportunities, benefits, or privileges;
• a measure or practice of general application that fails to provide for mechanisms to offset or address sex or gender-based disadvantages or limitations of women, as a result of which women are denied or restricted in the recognition and protection of their rights and in their access to and enjoyment of opportunities, benefits, or privileges; or women, more than men are shown to have suffered the greater adverse effects of those measures or practices; and
• discrimination compounded by or intersecting with other grounds, status, or condition, such as ethnicity, age, poverty, or religion.
• In the same press briefing, the PCW chairperson stressed that violence against women remains a global pandemic.

"It affects one in three women or an estimated 641 million individuals worldwide, which is more than five times the Philippine population," Valdeavilla said.

She said the 2022 national demographic and health survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority revealed nearly one in five Filipino women have experienced emotional, physical or sexual violence at the hands of their current or most recent intimate partner. — VDV, GMA Integrated News