A primer: Magna Carta of Women
IN celebration of March as Women’s Month, here is a Primer on Women’s Rights as laid down in the Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act 9710).
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IN celebration of March as Women’s Month, here is a Primer on Women’s Rights as laid down in the Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act 9710).
Mrs. Glenda Castro Andal (not her real name) is the legal wife of Mr. Andres Andal (also not his real name), the husband. Husband has a young secretary (Gayle Bernardo), single, whom he falls in love with (“mistress”). Their union produced an illegitimate son. Husband and mistress traveled to the US, got a quickie divorce and got married. Mistress now assumes the name Mrs. Gayle Andal.
IN a March 2019 World Happiness Report, Filipinos ranked significantly higher compared to our Southeast Asian counterparts. The Philippines ranked 69th, Malaysia 80th, Indonesia 92nd, Vietnam 94th, Lao PDR 105th, Cambodia 109th and Myanmar 131st. The significant increase of Filipinos’ happiness and life satisfaction scores in March 2019 compared to December 2018 (with an unhappiness score of 13 percent, the highest since the 15 percent in December 2014) could be attributed to three factors—resilience, hopefulness and being supportive and, likewise, a supposed lack of sense of privilege compared to other countries (“Happiness surveys and rankings xxx”, Jeline Malasig, July 3, 2019).
Baby Moon Jaden, a patient with Dravet Syndrome, whose story was posted on the Facebook page of “Moms for Marijuana” (Philippine Chapter) died in September 2013. Her loving parents, Juan and Myca Yutuc, bravely faced media to strongly advocate for medical marijuana (which could have saved her life).
The Absolute Divorce Bill was first filed in 2005 under the 13th Congress and subsequently refiled in the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th Congress, and again refiled in this 18th Congress. The current House Committee on Population and Family Relations approved a bill instituting absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage in the Philippines.
AS early as September 2019, PS Resolution 131 was filed in the Senate by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, urging a Senate investigation in aid of legislation on the recent rescues of sexual trafficking victims, and probe into prostitution rings in the country and “to examine the circumstances that push women from vulnerable sectors of society to work under exploitative conditions.” Hontiveros cites the following factual circumstances:
A US Supreme Court ruling issued last Monday will make it more difficult for Filipinos to seek residency, or green card, or admission to the United States.
Twenty-One young people between the ages of eight and 19 (when the case was filed in 2015) challenged the federal government of the United States for violating their civil rights to a safe climate. The youth plaintiffs were backed up by “Our Children’s Trust,” a nonprofit organization. The complaint was anchored on a novel legal theory—that safe climate is a civil right and that the government has violated it through policies like leasing public lands for coal mining. The youth plaintiffs chose to sue the federal government rather that the fossil fuel companies, which made the case stand out among numerous climate lawsuits.
Women, Business and the Law 2020 Report (the “Report”)is the sixth in a series of studies conducted by the staff of the World Bank. The Report’s indicators are constructed based on feedback from 2,000 respondents with expertise in family, labor and criminal law, including lawyers, judges, academics, and members of civil society organizations working on gender issues.
As we await Pope Francis’s Christmas message for 2019, let us all be reminded of his Christmas message last year:
Several years after the passage of Republic Act 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act (VAWC) of 2004, the number of women suffering from domestic violence and intimate partner abuse remains high. One in 4 women aged 15 to 49 (24.4 percent) has experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse committed by their husband or partner. Seventeen percent of these women have experienced physical violence since age 15. Two in 5 (41 percent) of these women never sought help to end violence or told anyone about the violence.
The Philippines is the leading Asian country in closing the gender gap. The country has a comprehensive gender policy framework and is a signatory of key international policies, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw), the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The country also has comprehensive gender plans, such as the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development (1995-2025), which cover all gender dimensions from political, social and economic. In terms of legislation, the Philippines passed a comprehensive law on gender equality called the Magna Carta of Women (2009). Furthermore, the country has legislation dedicated to antidiscrimination, anti-harassment, anti-violence against women and children (VAWC), maternity and childcare, and reproductive health.
On November 13, 2015, Republic Act 10699 known as the “National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act” was enacted into law, expanding the benefits received under RA 9064 (Approved on April 5, 2001). The declared policy of RA 10699 is to “promote excellence in sports by looking after the welfare of national athletes and coaches competing for the country and by providing benefits and incentives for national athletes and other athletes who win in international sports competitions and bring honor and recognition to the country” (Section 2).
(Official statement of Regent Foods Corp.)
MORE than a year ago, I wrote in this column “Andy Bautista: Out of Sight, Out of Mind!” (November 12, 2018). It has been a year since, and sadly two years since all papers, documents, and passbooks discovered by his wife, Patricia, were turned over to Atty. Minnie Retral of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who was assigned to investigate possible plunder charges against Bautista and his cohorts. A full report of the Presidential Commission on Good Government recommending the filing of charges against Bautista (as then-chairman of PCGG), Atty. Nilo Divina, Luzon Development Bank for alleged anomalies in the PCGG was also submitted by the PCGG to Retral. To date, nothing has been filed, nor any action taken despite several follow-ups by Patricia and/or her counsel(s).
OF the top 10 best hospitals in the Philippines, St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City (SLMC) is ranked as No. 1 according to their web site (https://www.stlukesonline.org). Their Mission is “to improve the health of people in the communities we serve.” Their Vision is “to be the community’s trusted partner in providing exceptional, patient-centered care.” Their Values: “Icare, Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Excellence, Quality and Safety.” Their Promise: “Patient-Centered Care” (ibid).
The Water for All Refund Movement, the biggest water consumer group in Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite and other areas, deplores Metro Manila’s very high water rates, lack of effective sewerage and sanitation, low transparency in water rate setting, and calls for strong government action and stricter regulations. WARM President Rodolfo B. Javellana Jr. has issued the following statement, excerpts of which are herein reproduced.
Our Supreme Court has administrative supervision over all courts and the personnel thereof and has the power to discipline judges of lower courts, or order their dismissal by a vote of a majority of the members who actually took part in the deliberations on the issues in the case and voted thereon (Article VIII, Section 6 & 7, 1987 Constitution).
Plain packaging, also known as generic, neutral, standardized or homogeneous packaging refers to packaging that requires the removal of all branding (colors, imagery, corporate logos and trademarks) permitting manufacturers to print only the brand name in a mandated size, font and place in the pack. There have been moves to ban or abolish branding for products that health practitioners identify as unhealthy and bad for the public. It started with tobacco products to deter smoking by removal of positive association of brands (including design and symbol) with the consumption of tobacco. Removal of branding on tobacco started on December 12, 2012, when Australia enacted its Plain Packaging Act and became the first country to require plain packaging, with all packets being sold in logo-free, drab dark brown packaging. Some tobacco companies opposed to plain packaging have sued the Australian government but lost these cases.
Over the last weekend, I had the distinct experience of watching firsthand the violent protests in Hong Kong. I had attended a Zonta International District Conference at the Hong Kong Convention Center and stayed (overnight) at the Grand Hyatt, Wanchai District, where the protests were held. For over 18 weeks, militant protesters marched the streets of Hong Kong. Workers by weekday, protesters by weekend. All shops were closed, the MRT service was shut down, the city was paralyzed. We could not get any taxi to or from the hotel to anywhere—so we did the next best thing—join the protesters (vicariously) on CNN/BBC.
Minnie and Toti Castillo, parents of Horacio “Atio” Castillo, a 22-year-old freshman law student who died after incurring injuries from hazing-related violence, still recall the opening statement made by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, then-chairman of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, in the Senate Hearing on September 25, 2017.
Concern over the escalation of attacks against lawyers and judges in the Philippines has prompted the issuance by lawyers’ organizations worldwide of the statement reproduced hereunder: It is hoped that our Philippine government and our justice system heed the recommendation.
To promote good corporate governance and the protection of minority investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), pursuant to its regulatory power under Section 179(d) of the Revised Corp. Code of the Philippines (Republic Act 11232) issued the Rules on Material Related Party Transactions (RPT) for publicly listed companies (PLCs) (Memorandum Circular 19) dated April 25, 2019, and published on April 27, 2019.
Violence against Women and Girls is one of the most systematic and widespread human-rights violations. One of the expressions of VAWG is child, early and forced marriages (CEFM). According to the 2016 State of the World’s Population Report of UNFPA, 47,000 girls around the world are married before the age of 18 every day. In developing countries, such as the Philippines, 1 in 4 girls will be married before they are 18. In the Philippines, 15 percent of women aged 20 to 24 years old were first married or in union before 18 (NDHS 2013). This has prompted the filing of Senate Bill 162 (by Sen. Risa Hontiveros) House Bill 1486 (by Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy and Rep. Edcel Lagman) and House Bill 3899 (by Rep. Alfred Vargas).
On August 6, 2018, President
Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11055 known as the “Philippine
Identification System
Act.” The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), pursuant to its mandate to
carry out the provisions of RA 11O55, pro-mulgated the implementing rules and
regulation (IRR) on October 5, 2018.
Executive Order 292, enacted by President Corazon C. Aquino, provided for a list of regular holidays and national special days, and set National Heroes Day as a regular holiday celebrated on the last Sunday of August. This was amended by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who signed into law Republic Act 9492 on July 24, 2007, which transferred the celebration to the last Monday of August, in line with her “Holiday Economics” program allowing for long weekends aimed at encouraging domestic tourism and leisure. But neither Executive Order 292 and RA 9492, nor any president has ever proclaimed any Filipino as official national hero—not even the likes of Jose Rizal or Andres Bonifacio who are commonly referred to as our National Heroes in the history books we read while we were in grace school. The debate continues, to date, on who is the “better” hero between the two.
IT took a transgender, Gretchen Custodio Diez, and an unfortunate female restroom incident with a now maligned female janitor to bring to the public’s attention the need to clearly define the rights of the LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer) who continue to experience discrimination due to their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. Having failed to be passed in the 17th Congress, equal rights advocates are hopeful the Sogie bill will be passed in the 18th Congress. Under the newly re-filed Sogie bills of Senator Risa Hontiveros (SB159) and Representatives Geraldine B. Roman (HB134) and Maria Lourdes O. Acosta-Alba (HB95), Sogie is defined as follows:
IN furtherance of the “right to [correct] information,” I have committed to publish this Joint Statement by the Philippine Pediatric Society and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines (PIDSP) on Dengue Disease Awareness.
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