It provides benefits to the marginalized

FOR MANY years, women NGOs (non-government organizations) lobbied for the passage of the Magna Carta of Women (MCW). It was their fervent wish that a permanent statute be enacted that would recognize the rights of women in nation building and ensure the substantive equality of men and women.

Will the MCW address the needs of the marginalized women, namely small farmers and rural workers, fisher folk, urban poor, workers in the informal and formal economy, migrant workers, indigenous peoples, Moro, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and solo parents?

Recently, I talked to my longtime masahista whose father is a fisherman. I asked her what the role of her mother is. She explained to me that her mother prepares food for a crew of fishermen. Then her father turns over the proceeds of his catch, and she takes care of allocating the funds to pay for the operations of a banca and the share of the fishermen.

Then she sets aside funds for maintenance and the rest as profit. Does her mother get paid for doing her job as finance manager, treasurer and cook? No, she does not.

Does she get paid for managing the household, caring for the children, helping them with school work? No, she does not.

The work of “unpaid workers” is not recognized. They will not receive benefits like medical insurance or retirement. She is an invisible worker in the productive world, with no protection, rights and benefits.

The MCW now recognizes these women in the informal sector. They include unpaid family workers in household enterprises such as home workers, microentrepreneurs and producers, and operators of sari-sari stores.

Another example is the case of the lumad (indigenous peoples in Mindanao).

Since June 18, 303 lumad families comprising some 1,795 individuals fled their mountain communities in various municipalities in Surigao del Sur, after soldiers were deployed in their areas. Like other displaced persons, the lumads were forced to find shelter in evacuation centers.

In evacuation centers, women and children face various hazards. Besides insufficiency of food and water, the health of pregnant women and small children is at risk. There is an increasing number of cases of diarrhea, upper respiratory tract infection, and viral illnesses.

Clearly, the presence of military forces in lumad ancestral lands greatly affects indigenous communities, especially the women and children who are considered to be the most vulnerable.

What benefits then does the MCW provide to these marginalized women?

Right to food (Section 20) – SWS surveys tell us that 3.7 million families are experiencing involuntary hunger. Clearly, the government needs a more responsive action to address the situation.

Right to housing (Section 21) – Although socialized housing has been the objective of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, to further address the needs of the housing sector, the Senate recently passed measures including the Rent Control Act and the Magna Carta of Homeowners.

Right to decent work (Section 22) – There are at least 2.8 million unemployed Filipinos. It is thus important for the government to ensure that there is access to decent work and working environment. This includes ensuring that a woman can still do her motherly duties even while working.

Right to livelihood, credit, capital and technology (Section 23) – Congress has created the Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering to address the need to improve the performance of our students in these fields.

Right to education and training (Section 24) – It is the obligation of the State to ensure that the children have access to free primary and secondary education, and that nothing, not even their roles at home, should hinder this right. I am aware that there are still a lot of books that contain gender-stereotyping.

Gender sensitivity starts in schools. To look into the extent of this problem, I have filed a resolution to look into how gender-sensitive our present curricula, books and teachers are.

Protection of girl-children (Section 32). We are all aware of the abuses that many of the Filipino women working abroad face. But what about the abuses of the girl-child left behind. These are young daughters forced to take on the role of mothers because their mothers are gone. Worse, some of these girls become substitute-wives and are victims of sexual abuse from no less than their fathers.

The MCW, along with the law on Anti-Violence Against Women and Children, recognizes this and mandates the establishment of a Violence Against Women’s Desk in every barangay (village). It also requires the mandatory training on human rights and gender sensitivity of all government personnel involved in the protection and defense of women against gender-based violence (Section 9 [c] and [d]).

The MCW also mandates that special measures be taken to accelerate the participation and equitable representation of women in all spheres of society, particularly in the decision-making and policy-making processes in government and private entities (Section 11).

It requires that the number of women in third-level positions in government (secretaries of government agencies, undersecretaries and assistant secretaries) be increased to achieve a 50-50 gender balance (Section 11 [a]). Similarly, women leadership is encouraged in the private sector.

These representations are critical because women bring a different perspective to governance, decision-making and problem-solving. With more women in decision-making positions, there will be a harmonization of the needs and rights of men and women, with the welfare of all as the ultimate goal. –Pia S. Cayetano, Philippine Daily Inquirer

(Sen. Pia S. Cayetano, chair of the Senate committee on social justice, is the first Asian woman to become president of the Women’s Committee in the Inter-Parliamentary Union.)