Position Paper on Proposed Senate Bills on the Magna Carta of Women
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We at Pro-Life Philippines Foundation, Inc. commend the Honorable members of the Senate, specifically Senators Pia Cayetano, Manny Villar, Loren Legarda, Edgardo Angara, Panfilo Lacson, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., Richard Gordon, Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, and Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, for their initiative in introducing Senate Bill Nos. 1701, 1712,1797, 1865, 1891, 1959, 2048, 2114, and 2240 respectively, on the Magna Carta of Women.
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Indeed, as premised by these bills, we recognize that women are full and equal partners with men in all spheres of development and nation building – social, cultural, political, and economic. We acknowledge that a strong patriarchal system in our country continues to be perpetuated, which makes it an urgent need to comprehensively legislate a bill of rights for women, which is equated to human rights, that will ensure this fundamental equality. Finally, we agree that the State has the obligation to accord to women the highest protection, rights, and opportunities available to every member of society.
However, there are specific issues taken up in the proposed bills for which we humbly but firmly state our position and recommendations, specifically on three (3) substantive points, to wit:
1. In connection with provisions that stipulate comprehensive health services, information, and education for women and girl-children, we are firm in our stand that:
a. Life begins at the moment of conception. Thus, induced abortion is an act of murder under the divine and natural law as well as under our legal law as embodied in the Philippine constitution.
It should be noted with grave concern that under certain international instruments that deal with rights of women, abortion is recognized as a human right.
b. Natural family planning methods are the only safe methods for family planning because they are congruent to the natural processes and cycles of a woman’s reproductive system.
Relevant and valid scientific studies have indicated that artificial methods of family planning inhibit and interfere with normal and healthy reproductive processes resulting in serious complications and side effects. Foisting this option upon women is, for all intents and purposes, giving them the means to harm themselves. Surely, this goes against the essence of the Magna Carta of Women precisely because it contradicts its basic premise that the State shall accord women the highest protection.
It is in this light that we recommend the following:
a. To include a clear definition in the Magna Carta of Women that rights of women, including reproductive health rights, shall include all rights recognized under international instruments duly signed and ratified by the Philippines which do not violate or are in conflict with the provisions of our Constitution and other existing laws.
b. To include a provision in the Magna Carta of Women that will stipulate the creation and strict implementation of a strong government program that will promote Natural Family Planning.
2. In connection with provisions that stipulate equal rights in matters relating to marriage and the family, we agree that women should be accorded joint decision in the number and spacing of their children. Corollary to this right is the belief on the primacy of their role as parents in the total formation of their children. Correspondingly then, while appreciating the proposed bills’ focus on women as equal partners in the country’s economic and political development, the State should equally encourage them to be effective family leaders and primary socializers of their children. As a principle declared in the Child and Youth Welfare Code (PD 603):
“ The child is one of the most important assets of the nation. Every effort should be exerted to promote his welfare and enhance his opportunities for a useful and happy life …The molding of the character of the child starts at home … The natural right and duty of parents in the rearing of the child for civic efficiency should receive the aid and support of the government.”
On this matter, we recommend the following:
a. The inclusion of a provision in the Magna Carta of Women that will obligate Local Government Units to develop their respective comprehensive programs to educate and train parents on proper and effective parenting. We further recommend that such education and training program include, especially, training parents on how to give their children sex education, for, after all, there is no better teacher in imparting proper values on human sexuality to a child than one’s parents.
b. The inclusion of a provision in the Magna Carta of Women that will stipulate the provision of facilities that would allow women to balance family obligations and professional responsibilities such as private areas where lactating mothers could conveniently and comfortably express their milk, as well as day care centers for the children of employees in government offices and private companies. Towards this end, we recommend the integration in the Magna Carta of Women of an expanded version of proposed Senate Bill No. 2210, “Mother-Child Friendly Act of 2008” introduced by Senator Sonny Trillanes, which obliges companies with at least 100 employees to provide day care centers for their employees’ children.
Again, in regard to women’s right to joint decision in the number and spacing of their children, we register herewith our protest House Bill No. 3971 (Tax Exemption Bill), which provides removing income tax deductions for a fourth child born after 2010 and a third child born after 2012. This policy is clearly government interference in and violation of the right of women to joint decision in the number of their children, and an insidious measure at population control and social engineering.
3. In connection with the provisions that aim to ensure women’s empowerment in the civil service, we do not agree that stipulating an incremental increase in the hiring of women in the civil service to achieve a 50-50 gender-balance, or whatever ratio, for that matter, is the right way towards this end.
We maintain that equality does not necessarily mean sameness. Rather, and more importantly, equality implies fairness and justice. And in this case, what is fair and just is to hire civil service workers based on merit and not on gender. What is fair and just is to empower women to be competitive so that they are selected not because they are women but because they are qualified to be so. What is fair and just is to give to them that dignity. For this, education and training is the key.
In this regard, then, we recommend the expansion and strengthening of the provisions in the proposed bills that deal with equal access and elimination of discrimination in education, hiring, and scholarship. Because education is one significant area where Filipino women have so lagged behind due to deeply imbedded socio-cultural factors, the Magna Carta of Women must not only stipulate equal access and elimination of discrimination, but should, in this instance, give women an edge by providing fast-track measures such as increasing the number of government scholarships and educational and training grants specifically for women, providing incentives for families to send their daughters to school, and/or penalties for those who fail to do so.
4. We note that, in some of the bills, although no provisions deal with Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgender, these have surprisingly been included in the Definition of Terms. Thus, we feel that defining these terms is superfluous and should be omitted.
We pray for the Senate’s favorable consideration of our position and recommendations.
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