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By Efren L. Danao, Senior Reporter
International Women’s Day will be celebrated
today with a lot of speeches and a number of articles extolling the
strides made by women in the economic, political and other fields.
Had there been a session today, lady legislators
would have been banging the gavel high up on the podium of the
Senate and the House of Representatives, as is usually practiced.
Shorn of pageantry, the observance of
International Women’s Day in the Philippines still leaves much to
be desired, with a number of vital bills gathering cobwebs at the
Senate Committee on Youth, Women and Family Relations.
Sen. Jamby Madrigal, the committee chairman, has
yet to call a hearing on any of the bills referred to her committee
since the start of the Fourteenth Congress in July 2007. She is ever
present in Senate inquiries that are covered live by radio and cable
TV but never in a hearing where it should matter most to her—her
very own committee.
Research by The Manila Times showed that
Madrigal had left untouched seven bills on the Magna Carta for Women
filed by Senators Richard Gordon, Manuel Villar Jr., Bong Revilla,
Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Edgardo Angara and Pia Cayetano.
Madrigal had promised to a group of women
activists that she would conduct a public hearing on the Magna Carta
for Women “within two weeks.” The promise was made in late
January, but no such hearing has taken place yet.
Gordon noted that the 36th session of the
Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women in August 2006 had raised as a principal concern the
Philippines’ lack of progress in enacting a comprehensive legal
framework on gender equality. He added that this concern was raised
25 years after the Philippines had ratified the United Nations
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women or CEDAW.
“The Magna Carta of Women aims to address this
concern,” Gordon said.
The measure defines discrimination, addresses
gender issues in health, education, training, livelihood,
employment, political participation, media, marriage and family
relations and property ownership.
Gordon added, “It also provides for the
adoption of special measures to protect women’s human rights and
allow women to realize their full human potentials alongside men.”
These bills are not as high profile as the
investigations on the $330-million broadband deal or the “Hello,
Garci” controversy so they have merited little attention by
Madrigal.
Also ignored were Senate Bill No. 1967, or the
Women Empowerment in Enterprises Act filed by Sen. Miriam Defensor
Santiago; Senate Bill No. 1961, or An Act Strengthening the Rights
of Women by Senate President Villar; Senate Bill No. 1929
amending the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act also
by Villar; and Senate Bill No. 1908, or An Act Establishing a
National Museum for Women again by Santiago.
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