women's rights in the philippines essay brainly

• Feminism , humanism , Opinion , Philippines , secularism
• May 13, 2017

Originally posted in ConatusNews  

Written By Danielle Erika Hill and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Humanism, as an ethical and philosophical worldview, provides the basis for proper action in the world with an emphasis on this world, the natural world. There is a phrase, “deed before creed,” that speaks volumes to the emphasis of humanism. Principles are nice; rights and privileges are good. But how do these affect the world? Answer: through action.

Human rights are a good example. Women’s rights are a better example. There are stipulations in international documents such as the UN Charter speaking to the equal rights of women. It needs action. It’s the same everywhere on that basic need to translate abstract ethics into practical morals.

Take, for example, the situation in the Philippines . Some things are good; other things are bad.

But these are loose statements, and can differ from the enactment of women’s rights, including advocacy and empowerment in the country. So what is the current state of women’s rights in the Philippines? What’s good and bad, and how can things improve?

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner says , “Women’s sexual and reproductive health is related to multiple human rights, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture, the right to health, the right to privacy, the right to education, and the prohibition of discrimination.”

As Olivia H. Tripon instructs from the Philippines Human Rights Reporting Project in 2008 , women have fought for a very long time to be considered human beings deserving of human rights. Filipino women earned the right to vote only as recently as 1937.  Rural and Indigenous women are even more vulnerable.

The Philippines ranks 7th in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Gender Gap Report (2016). Even with a relatively low mark in labour participation, women continue to be encouraged to excel in school and in the workplace. Women in business or positions of leadership are not an uncommon sight in the Philippines.

Filipino women enjoy a high literacy rate. The Philippines consistently earns high marks in terms of equal opportunity in education and employment, where a new law was passed in the Senate extending paid maternity leave to 120 days. And for LGBT women, an Anti-Discrimination Bill had been languishing in the Senate for the past 17 years, but is being debated now.

The initiative is spearheaded by Congresswoman,  Geraldine Roman , the first openly trans woman to be elected to Congress in the Philippines. There are many positive signs within the country, but there are still plenty of negatives.

The Philippines continues to lag significantly behind in some aspects. Filipino women are empowered, development studies say. However, matters of the heart and the vagina do not seem to be included in this empowerment. Even with anti-Violence Against Women (VAW) campaigns by the government, Filipinas are still affected by gender-based violence, which is not limited to socioeconomic or educational status . This includes, but is not limited to, sex trafficking, forced prostitution, and sexual harassment in schools, the workplace, and on the street. Instances of this last one can be seen in Catcalled in the Philippines , a Facebook page where people can anonymously submit personal accounts of harassment.

Great challenges in implementing reproductive health laws and pursuing solutions to sexual health-related issues also exist. Abortion remains illegal and punishable by law (except when necessary to save the mother’s life), even as Human Rights Watch calls equitable access to abortion “first and foremost a human right,” and even access to birth control remains a testy subject, with the Supreme Court having issued a TRO on the sale of female contraceptives.

The Philippines also remains the only country with no divorce laws ; there are provisions in the Family Code for legal separation and annulment, but the sheer expense of the process limits these options only the rich.

Neither does a culture of having serious conversations about sexual health in public exists in the Philippines. Organisations, however, that would rather see the education around it (e.g. the proper use of condoms) not taught in the schools, do. Such groups would like to see the education left to the parents, but in a culture where it is taboo to talk about sex, how does this encourage healthy education around the use of condoms at home? The answer: it does not.

The two “acceptable” methods advocated by the Catholic Church are abstinence and the rhythm method. Of course, both fail to deliver on their purported ends, and contribute to a high rate of teenage pregnancy. Added to this, is a stigma against unwed mothers (if pregnant, the man whodunit is expected to marry her) and the nonexistence of divorce, leaves a woman nominally empowered and oppressed by a deeply patriarchal society where even the notion of childlessness is seen as questionable. The expectation being that women naturally gravitate towards the desire to have biological children in their future, and furthermore have a duty to further the family line.

The taboos around sex do not help Filipino women, or society and culture in the Philippines. A proper sexual education curriculum (which includes safe sex practices, consent, and the variety of contraceptives on offer for men and women) would improve the situation for women in the Philippines. Universal access to evidence-based sexual and reproductive health education for children would be a great first step in this direction.

Another solution is the implementation, or the enforcement, of the stipulation in international documents relevant to women. For example, the UN Charter discusses the rights for women in the Preamble:

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom…

And Article 16:

Article 16.

(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution .

These and other acts protect women and girls’ rights.Through the Philippine Commission on Women, there is the Republic Act 9710, which is the “ Magna Carta for Women .” In it, the Philippine government is devoted to the “ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’s (CEDAW) Committee .” CEDAW was ratified in 1981 in the Philippines.

Some stipulations in Republic Act 9710 include the increase of women in third level government positions for a 50-50 balance, leave benefits with full pay, non-discrimination in the military, police, or associated services, equal access and discrimination elimination in the domains of “education, scholarships, and training,” and portrayal of women in mass media. Given the situation for women in the Philippines , the improvement in their livelihoods, especially rural and Indigenous women’s livelihoods, can be overturned fast. This makes the fight for women’s rights in the Philippines a battle that never really ends, and requires continual vigilance in the fight for equality and its requisite protection – however fragile the wins may be.

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Overcoming barriers to women’s work in the Philippines

Helle buchhave, nadia belhaj hassine belghith.

The current status of women in the Philippines is both a cause for optimism and a reason to accelerate efforts for promoting better access to jobs for all women. On several fronts, the Philippines is a best performer when it comes to gender equality in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region and even globally. In the latest Global Gender Gap report, the Philippines occupies the 17th place, with 78.4% of its overall gender gap closed to date. This performance is the second best in the EAP region, after New Zealand. A key driver behind the progress has been the Philippine Magna Carta for Women, a landmark law signed nearly 13 years ago seeking to eliminate discrimination against women. 

With the impressive performance in closing key gender gaps, it is therefore striking that women’s labor force participation remains persistently low. At just 49%, the Philippines’ female labor force participation in 2019 was one of the lowest in the EAP region (regional average rate is 59%). In contrast, 76% of Filipino men were in the labor force, creating a massive gender gap. Progress towards closing the gap has been minimal and female labor force participation has remained roughly the same since 1990, with the gap shrinking by a mere 0.3 percentage points since 2015. 

Women’s low labor force participation represents a missed opportunity for economic growth and increased prosperity in the Philippines. An increase of women’s labor supply by a mere 0.5 percentage points per year would increase gross domestic product (GDP) per capita by about 6% by 2040 and almost 10% by 2050.  

In our recent report, Overcoming the Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Philippines , we set out to better understand what is holding women back from the labor market and what is hindering the Philippines’ gain from the growth potential associated with women’s economic empowerment. We document that childcare and social norms about gender roles in the household play a critical role in holding back women’s participation in the labor market in the Philippines. The report adds to our research across the EAP region offering evidence on the linkages between constraints to women’s labor force participation and access to childcare services in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, and Vietnam . 

What are the barriers to women’s labor force participation in the Philippines? We find four main answers:

Skills. Women who work are mostly concentrated in low skill positions (due to economic necessity) or high skill occupations (because of high rates of education). Women in low skill positions work to avoid falling further into poverty, whereas women in high skill occupations tend to select into the labor force with high earnings potential. Although many women work in private establishments or are self-employed, an important share (around 10%) of women are employed without pay in family-owned businesses and as domestic workers, occupations which tend to offer narrower avenues for skills development and career growth. Men on the other hand represent only 4% in these occupations. An important lesson from the COVID-19 lockdown was that more than a third of women (35%) who remained employed were able to work from home as compared to 19% of men. The pandemic has also opened some new working-from-home opportunities with industries such as business process outsourcing and e-commerce . 

Wage gap. Women earn more on average than men, but women in low skill positions earn much less than men. In families with both men and women being low skilled workers, the household income will suffer significantly less if the female engages in unpaid work than if the man does. In low skill positions, the daily wage is over 50% higher for men than for women, whereas in high skill occupations, the daily wage is about 20% higher for women than for men.  

Care responsibilities. The number of children reduces the likelihood of women’s employment. A large proportion of women are held back from productive employment opportunities by their family responsibilities and the concentration of women in high-skill positions declines considerably when they have young children. Having been married and having a young child aged 0 to 2 years old decreases the probability of women’s participation in the labor market by 7-14 percentage points. The presence of domestic help reduces this negative effect, reflecting how economic inequalities reinforce gender disparities.

Norms. Attitudes and beliefs about women’s roles and responsibilities decrease the probability of women’s engagement in the labor market by 14 to 22 percentage points (ISSP Family and Changing Gender Roles Survey and World Values Survey).  According to our 2021 nationally representative survey on women’s work and childcare, 75% of male and 80% of female respondents agree that a man’s job is to earn money and a woman’s job is to take care of the family and home. More than 70% of men and 76% of women believe that the emotional and psychosocial development skills of a preschool child suffers with a mother working outside the home (a belief that stands in contract to global research see for example Devercelli and Beaton-Day 2020). Moreover, willingness to use childcare services is limited, with over 95% of both men and women believing that childcare should be provided by family members.

What can the government do? We discussed policy recommendations at a recent roundtable between the World Bank, the Philippines Commission on Women, National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Education, and Oxfam Philippines. Key outcomes were that findings highlight the need for policies and programs that increase female labor force participation in the Philippines by i) providing alternatives to childcare in the home; ii) promoting policies supporting flexible work arrangements, including work from home and e-commerce , such as amendment of the Telecommuting Act (Republic Act 11165); and iii) addressing gendered social norms that affect women’s participation in the labor market through media campaigns, behavioral and attitude change interventions that influence opinions about masculinity, gender roles, earlier childhood development, legislation and company policies that equally promotes parents to engage in care responsibilities. 

“We keep gender equality front and center in our work,” according to Ndiame Diop , the World Bank’s Country Director for the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. The World Bank is committed to supporting the Philippines, and one of the priorities of the World Bank’s Philippines FY20-24 Country Gender Action Plan is to increase women’s access to paid labor.   

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Fast Facts: Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in the Philippines

August 1, 2013.

Gender equality is well advanced in the Philippines. The country scores well on international gender equality measures and indices, but more is needed to sustain the achievements and to overcome remaining challenges. Despite a favorable policy environment – the Philippines is signatory to international human rights instruments and has successfully enacted policies and laws for the protection and promotion of women’s rights - the implementation of policies appears uneven and slow.

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Republic of the Philippines Philippine Commission on Women

Violence Against Women

Violence against women (VAW) appears as one of the country’s pervasive social problems. According to the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, 17.5% of Filipino women aged 15-49 have experienced any form of physical, sexual, and emotional violence from their intimate partners. As of 2021, there were 8,399 reported cases of physical violence, 1,791 on rape, and 1,505 on acts of lasciviousness. It is alarming that despite addressing the concern, VAW persists.

VAW is deemed to be closely linked with the unequal power relation between women and men, otherwise known as “gender-based violence.” Societal norms and traditions dictate people think that men are the leaders, pursuers, and providers and take on the dominant roles in society. At the same time, women are the nurturers, men’s companions, and supporters, and they take on subordinate roles in society. This perception leads men to gain more power over women. Hence, VAW becomes a form of men’s expression of control over women to retain power.

As defined by the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993 ), VAW is “any act of gender-based violence that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public and private life. Gender-based violence is any violence inflicted on women because of their sex.”

According to Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004 , VAW is “any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, with or without the family abode, which result in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.”

VAW includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:

• Physical violence or the act that includes bodily harm
• Sexual violence or the act that is sexual in nature, committed against a woman or her child
• Psychological violence or the act or omission that causes or is likely to cause mental or emotional suffering of the victim
• Economic abuse or the act that makes or attempts to make a woman financially dependent

In the Philippines, some realities that contribute to the vulnerability of Filipino women to VAW are being accused as “naggers” or neglectful of their duties as a wife that is why they are being beaten by their spouses or being raped due to their “flirtatious” ways; in some instances, filing for sexual harassment is interpreted by her employer as being malicious on the appreciation of her good looks.

Moreover, an even more significant problem is the lack of concrete information to show the extent of VAW in the country, as many cases of violence against women often go unreported due to women victims’ “culture of silence.” Many of the victims are ashamed to relate their experiences. In contrast, others tend to dismiss their ordeal due to their lack of faith in the country’s justice system caused by frustrations over the lack of results in filing complaints.

Several government mechanisms have already been put in place to address VAW. Non-government organizations also take part in this crusade. It is uncertain when this trend will diminish in the Philippine setting, but as long as current efforts to fight VAW are sustained, hope could be set high.

Impacts of VAW

VAW strikes the personhood of women

It does not only affect women’s physical and reproductive health but especially their mental and emotional state. It has caused women to feel ashamed and lose their self-esteem. It threatens women’s personal security.

VAW limits human development

It jeopardizes women’s health and curbs their capacity to participate in social development. Working women’s productivity decreases due to frequent absences resulting from VAW. VAW is responsible for one out of every five healthy days of life lost to women of reproductive age.

VAW further drains the country’s financial resources

The Philippines spent an estimated P6 billion pesos in 2002 to treat VAW survivors. This amount covered the medical treatment of VAW injuries, psychological therapies and programs for survivors, maintenance of shelters, cost of legal and court proceedings to prosecute perpetrators, training costs of service providers, and other indirect social costs to family members of VAW survivors and perpetrators.

VAW is an issue of governance

A state promotes good governance when it makes effective remedies available to eliminate VAW in the homes, communities, and the state.

Mechanisms to Address VAW

• Inter-Agency Council on Violence Against Women and their Children
• Inter-Agency Council Against-Trafficking
• Local Committee on Anti-Trafficking and VAW
• Barangay VAW Desk

VAW Hotlines

• VAW Hotlines during Community Quarantine
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• Hotlines for Overseas Filipino Workers
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Rights and capabilities: reading the Philippines Magna Carta of Women from the perspective of the capabilities approach

The Magna Carta of Women (R.A. 7910) is the Philippines’ comprehensive women’s human rights law. The Magna Carta of Women is found to be consistent with Rawlsian notions of justice, particularly when it undertakes inequality evaluation in primary goods. Identity-based inequality evaluation is also present in the Magna Carta of Women as implied in its definition of discrimination and marginalization. With the state as the primary duty bearer, the Magna Carta of Women gives prominence to an instrumental view of agency since participation is mediated through state mechanisms and institutions. The Magna Carta of Women fails to acknowledge the contributions of care work and the implications of the gendered division of labor. The capabilities approach highlights the challenges attached to these observations. Where human rights are viewed as ethical demands, the MCW succeeds in giving attention to aspects of women’s lives that require state support.

Keywords: gender equality; law and economics; human rights; capabilities

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Rights and Capabilities: Reading the Philippines Magna Carta of Women from the Perspective of the Capabilities Approach

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(School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman)

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Women’s sexual and reproductive rights in the Philippines

In 1991, the Philippines delegated responsibility for “people’s health and safety” to the local level. In exercise of this power, an executive order 003 (“EO 003”) was issued in Manila, in 2000 which declared that the city would take an “affirmative stand on pro-life issues”. In response to a joint submission from NGOs in 2008, the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Committee) conducted an inquiry into alleged human rights violations resulting from the enforcement of EO 003.

The Committee found that EO 003, in practice, resulted in a systematic denial of affordable access to modern methods of contraception and related information and services. This, in turn, led to unplanned pregnancies, unsafe abortions, unnecessary and preventable maternal deaths and increased exposure of women to HIV/AIDS. The Committee observed that the lives and health of thousands of women were put at risk and that the impact of the order particularly harmed disadvantaged groups of women, including poor women and adolescent girls, as well as women in abusive relationships. It was noted that impact of EO 003 was compounded by the funding ban on modern contraception in Manila’s executive order 030.

The Committee concluded that the Philippine government is accountable for grave and systematic violations of women’s rights under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), especially their rights to health [Art 12] and family planning [Art. 16 (1)(e); Art. 10 (h)]. Although the aforementioned orders were issued by the City of Manila, the Committee emphasized that delegation of power does not in any way negate or reduce the direct responsibility of the State party to fulfil its obligation to ensure the rights of all women in its jurisdiction. The Philippines clearly failed to meet this obligation.

The Committee report calls on the Filipino government to respect, protect, and fulfill women’s reproductive rights and address the unmet need for contraception by ensuring universal and affordable access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services, commodities and related information, including by legalizing access to emergency contraception. The Committee has issued a robust set of recommendations, which includes urging the Philippines to revoke executive orders 003 and 030, decriminalize abortion, and sensitize government representatives towards eliminating ideological barriers that limit women’s rights. Enforcement of the Decision and Outcomes:

Prior to the publication of the Committee findings in 2015 and as referenced in the Committee report itself, there have been certain positive developments towards the realization of women’s sexual and reproductive health rights in the Philippines. These include the Reproductive Health Act (RH Act) being signed into law in 2012, although its constitutionality was upheld only in 2014. While full implementation has not yet been felt, this law is promising in that it guarantees universal and free access to nearly all modern contraceptives. The law may have revoked, in effect at least, the aforementioned executive orders. Consider, for example, that a case filed against the government challenging the constitutionality of Executive Order 003 and demanding its revocation was dismissed in 2014 on the grounds that the case is “a moot point,” given the passage of the RH Act. However explicitly repealing the executive orders 003 and 030, as recommended by the Committee, will clearly address any questions or confusion regarding whether they still exist or not. Building on these positive developments and implementing the Committee recommendations will constitute concrete steps by the Philippines towards meeting its obligations under CEDAW. Groups involved in the case:

The NGOs involved in this case are the Philippines-based Task Force CEDAW Inquiry as well as the  ESCR-Net member organizations: the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and the International Women’s Rights Action Network Asia-Pacific (IWRAW). The Philippines-based Task Force CEDAW Inquiry (Task Force) consists of 20 member NGOs: EnGendeRights (co-convenor) which is also an ESCR-Net member organization, WomenLEAD (co-convenor); Alternative Law Groups (ALG); Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP); Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP); Health Action Information Network (HAIN); Health & Development Initiatives Institute, Inc.  (HDII); Institute for Social Studies and Action, Philippines (ISSA); Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc (KAKAMMPI); MAKALAYA; Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD); Philippine NGO Council on Population, Health and Welfare, Inc., (PNGOC); Population Services Pilipinas, Inc. (PSPI); Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panlegal/Alternative Legal Assistance Center (SALIGAN-ALAC); Save the Children USA-Philippines Country Office; The Forum for Family Planning and Development, Inc.; Woman Health Philippines; Women’s Crisis Center; Women’s Legal Bureau (WLB); Women’s Media Circle Foundation, Inc.

These organizations sent the CEDAW Committee a joint submission on 2nd June 2008 requesting the Committee to conduct an inquiry in the Philippines on systematic and grave violations of rights guaranteed in CEDAW. In the course of the inquiry the groups submitted updated information to the Committee on 23rd April 2009, 13th July 2010 and 30th April 2012. Significance of the Case

This case is significant since it is only the second inquiry conducted under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW and the first on sexual and reproductive health rights. The findings here will not only have an impact in the Philippines, but will also likely influence developments in other countries where women face similar egregious violations of their rights.

The release of the Committee report is timely because the Committee will review the compliance of the Philippines with CEDAW in July 2016 during its periodic review. The current recommendations of the Committee will surely be addressed then and this may provide an added impetus for their effective implementation.

This summary was prepared by ESCR-Net and reprinted with permission.

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What you should know about women prisoners in the Philippines

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

WOMEN PRISONERS. Inmates at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City on March 4, 2020.

File photo by Jire Carreon/Rappler

There are certain images that come to mind when someone mentions Philippine prisons. One may think of the photos of the men in the New Bilibid Prison sleeping too closely for comfort, or the fact that political personalities don’t often stay detained for long.

Filipina prisoners, however, are not in the same situation as their male counterparts, experts say. This is because female prisoners require special attention for their gendered needs.

For instance, activist Reina Mae Nasino’s story rings a painful memory for advocates: she was a mother whom authorities separated from her child at birth. By the time she saw her baby River again, the infant had died from a bacterial infection.

According to lawyer Kristina Conti, Nasino’s case shows a violation of the Bangkok Rules , a 2010 United Nations resolution on the rights of women prisoners. It holds that decisions to allow children to stay with their mothers in prison should be based on the best interest of the child.

Here are other things to know about women in conflict with the law (WICL) in the Philippines:

While WICLs are placed in jails across the country, the largest women’s prison is the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City. It has a capacity of 1,500, but its population as of March 1, 2021, is 3,364, according to Superintendent Virginia Mangawit.

Congestion rate in CIW, as of March 1, 2021

Majority of the crimes the women at CIW were accused of are drug-related, at 63.64%. This is followed by crimes against property, like robbery and shoplifting (19%), and crimes against persons, like murder and assault (13%).

Most of the women in CIW are aged 40 to 59, at 1,798, followed by younger women aged 22 to 39, at 1,021.

Overall, detention centers for females in the Philippines are more crowded than male detention centers, according to criminal justice expert Raymund Narag. Most jailed women are mothers, he said in a webinar organized by University of the Philippines Institute of Human Rights (UP IHR).

Human Rights Watch reported in 2020 that the Philippines has the most congested penal system in the world. As of January 2021, the Bureau of Corrections reported a total congestion rate of 301%, which means the 7 Bureau of Corrections facilities are holding 4 times more inmates than their total capacity can handle.

Social challenges

Women have special vulnerabilities when they are detained. Although women can commit crimes the same way men do, gender roles and power perceptions come into play in the crimes’ circumstances, Conti said in the UP IHR webinar.

When it comes to drug cases, women have minor, yet established, roles.

“You can rarely see women as masterminds of drug-related crimes. Generally, they would just be accused of use, possession, sometimes participating in a buy-bust, but very rarely they are the ones who are the subject of the buy-bust,” said Conti.

In Rappler’s investigation into 557 killings in Bulacan in the first 17 months of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, just 62 of the victims were female, and only 31 of their cases were drug-related.

Women also face sexual harassment and violence upon arrest and during detention. In July 2020 , the Philippine National Police said two teenage girls were sexually harassed by two cops, Staff Sergeant Randy Ramos and Staff Sergeant Marawi Torda, after they were arrested for violating curfew in Ilocos Sur. 

One of the girls, 15, was shot dead after filing a molestation complaint against Torda. The other girl who survived, 18, lodged a rape complaint against Ramos. The cops were accused of being involved in the 15-year-old’s murder.

Health and family challenges

There is no uniform maternal care system across penal institutions, according to lawyer and doctor Lee Edson Yarcia. The availability of breastfeeding facilities and reproductive health services depends on the respective jail warden’s resources.

The Department of Health has named pregnant women as one of the most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. Yarcia, in the UP IHR webinar, told the story of Grace (not her real name), who was pregnant in an unnamed prison. 

In Grace’s experience, physical distancing was impossible, clean drinking water was sold for P1 per cup, and face masks were only available for the elderly and pregnant women like herself. When she gave birth, she was reportedly only given two days to nurse the baby.

The non-separation of a mother and her newborn child is not just a matter of emotional fulfillment, but it is standard medical care. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months is best for an infant’s health, according to the World Health Organization.

The country also lacks facilities for female children in conflict with the law, according to Maricel Deloria, the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) assistant bureau director for programs.

Post-detention

The challenges for women do not stop when they are freed from detention. According to human rights lawyer Catherine Alvarez, women face stigma when they have been charged with a crime, on top of existing layers of discrimination.

“ Mayroong pagtingin ng society na hindi ka dapat maging nanay kasi nag-commit ka ng crime ,” said Alvarez in the UP IHR webinar. (There is a perspective in society that a woman is not fit to become a mother because she committed a crime.)

The DSWD said, since most of the incarcerated women in the country are in their productive years, they lose much of the quality time they could have given as a parent by the time they come back to their families.

“ While we understand na ’yung mga lalaki, tatay, ay may kakayahang magbigay ng gabay, alam natin ang emotional attachment ng nanay habang lumalaki [ang mga anak nila]. Ito ay naobserbahan namin ,” said Deloria. (While we understand that the men, the fathers, also have the ability to guide their children, mothers have an emotional attachment to their children as they grow up. We have observed this.) – with a report from Michael Bueza/Rappler.com

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Human Rights in the Philippines: Understanding Your Rights and Legal Protections

• Last updated: 15 June 2023 10:06
• Created: 17 June 2022 09:47

Human rights are fundamental rights and freedoms that are inherently granted to every human being. In the Philippines, these rights are enshrined in the Philippine Constitution and various international treaties and agreements. It is essential to understand your rights and legal protections to ensure that you can exercise your freedoms and protect yourself from any violations.

Right to life, liberty, and security of person

The right to life, liberty, and security of a person is a fundamental human right. It guarantees every person the right to live free from any form of violence or abuse. The Philippine Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing. The country has laws and institutions in place to protect individuals from these abuses, such as the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, the Human Security Act of 2007, and the Commission on Human Rights.

Right to due process of law

The right to due process of law is the right to a fair trial, the presumption of innocence, and the right to legal representation. The Philippine legal system ensures that individuals are not subject to unfair treatment by the state. The country has established courts and other legal institutions that guarantee that individuals can defend themselves in court and are protected against arbitrary actions by the state.

Right to freedom of expression

The right to freedom of expression includes the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association. It allows individuals to express themselves freely without fear of reprisal. The Philippine Constitution guarantees these freedoms, and there are laws and institutions in place to protect individuals who exercise them, such as the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 and the Freedom of Information Act of 2016.

Right to privacy

The right to privacy guarantees individuals the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and to keep personal information confidential. The Philippine Constitution protects these rights, and there are laws and institutions in place to enforce them, such as the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and the Anti-Wiretapping Law.

Right to equal protection of the law

The right to equal protection of the law guarantees that all individuals are treated equally under the law, regardless of race, gender, religion, or other characteristics. The Philippine Constitution prohibits discrimination, and there are laws and institutions in place to enforce this principle, such as the Magna Carta of Women and the Anti-Discrimination Act.

Legal remedies for human rights violations

If you believe that your human rights have been violated in the Philippines, there are legal remedies available to you. You can file a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights, an independent government agency tasked with protecting human rights. You can also seek legal assistance from a lawyer or a human rights organization, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

It is crucial to know your rights and assert them when necessary. By doing so, you can help ensure that your freedoms are protected and that those who violate your rights are held accountable. Protecting human rights is essential to promoting a just and equitable society in the Philippines. It is our duty to respect and uphold human rights, for the benefit of ourselves and future generations.

Written by : Pinoy Attorney

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