Press Release
March 7, 2008

TOWARDS ACHIEVING WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Despite being a signatory to numerous international commitments protecting and fulfilling women's rights, Filipino women continue to suffer from various forms of inequalities and discrimination, stemming from the economic, political and social divide.

Take a quick peek on these figures.

According to the 2006 Labor Force Survey (LFS), the National Statistics Office estimated that there are 12.8 million employed women while 936 thousand are unemployed. As expected, the number of employed and unemployed men were consistently higher over the past years at an estimate of 20.4 million and 1.7 million respectively. In terms of Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR), female and male LFPR were estimated at 48.8 percent and 79.1 percent respectively.

In promoting women's health rights, both genders should have access to information and options for family planning. Interventions to promote women and girl-children's health as well as to prevent incidence of violence against women should be actively pursued especially by local government and civil society organizations.

On the surface, Filipino women are better off than their counterparts in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea, in terms of political participation. Women last year held 27 seats or 12.4% of the total 217 seats in the Lower House. In contrast, women's participation in the Lower House in Malaysia was 7.8%; Indonesia,11.4%; Thailand, 5.6% and South Korea, 3.7%.

But the share of women in the Philippine power structure is still very low, which leads to a restrain of their capacities and opportunities for development. Women have low participation in decision-making processes at all levels. In fact, the Civil Service Commission reported that few women candidates - who ran for public office - succeeded in securing public posts.

Despite the high success rate in elections, Filipino women still have dismal participation as decision-makers in the public sector. In 2004, the average proportion of women in key elected posts was no more than 17%. The dismal performance of women in the 2004 elections registered a sharp drop after an increasing trend beginning 1995.

In 1981, our government has assumed the role to promote gender equality and women's empowerment as a vital element for addressing global concerns with the ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

However, even with the existence of CEDAW and the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals as well as other international commitments and national laws as a solid framework for the promotion of gender equality, there are still existing gaps which hinder us in carrying out our obligation to empower women.

Only this legislator has the heart to protect women.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara - also the author of the 1992 Breastfeeding Law -- has called for the promotion of gender equality in the country as a vital element to ensure the protection of the rights of women.

"Filipino women are already part and parcel of our economic development. They have been joining the labor force for decades now. Thus, their concern is the concern of the country," he said.

His bill, the Magna Carta of Women is a piece of legislation that serves as a guarantee of basic rights. The CEDAW which has also been referred also as the "international women's bill of rights" is the first major document that contains a ban on all forms of discrimination and recommends temporary special measures to immediately achieve equality in fact between men and women.

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