GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT

Related Laws and Issuances

Republic Act 6949 It directs all Heads of Government
An Act to Declare March Eight of Agencies and Employers in the
Every Year as A Working Special private sector to encourage and afford
Holiday to be Known as National sufficient time and opportunities for
Women’s Day (1990) their employees to engage and
participate in any activity to celebrate
national Women’s Day
Republic Act 6955 Ban marriage matching for a fee as
An Act to Declare Unlawful the well as exportation of domestic
Practice of Matching Filipino Women workers to certain countries which
for Marriage to Foreign Nationals on a cannot ensure the protection of their
Mail-Order basis and Other Similar rights
Practices, Including the
Advertisement, Publication, Printing
or Distribution of Brochures, Fliers
and Other Propaganda Materials in
Furtherance Thereof and Providing
Penalty Thereof (1990)
Republic Act 6972 Establishes day care centers in every
An Act Establishing a Day Care barangay to free women for other
Center in Every Barangay, Instituting activities such as taking a job or going
Therein a Total Development and back to school
Protection of Children Program,
Appropriating Funds Thereof, and For
Other Purposes (1990)
Republic Act 7192 Provides equal opportunities for
Women in Development and Nation- women in all military schools of the
Building Act Armed Forces and the Philippine
National Police. Ensures that a
An Act Promoting the Integration of substantial portion of foreign
Women as Full and Equal Partners of assistance funds be allocated to
Men in Development and Nation support programs for women
Building and For Other Purposes
(1991) The measure provides for the
allocation of a certain percentage of
official development assistance for
gender concerns. The law has
likewise been the starting point of
what is now known as the Gender and
Development (GAD) Budget Policy,
which was initiated in the 1995
 General Appropriations Act, that
specifically mandates all government
departments, bureaus, offices and
agencies to set aside at least 5 percent
of their total budget appropriations on
gender and development.1

Thus, the Philippine Gender and

Development (GAD) Budget Policy
was established. It consists of two
parts. One part refers to the allocation
of Overseas Development Assistance
(ODA) funds in support of programs
and activities for women, or what has
been broadly interpreted as GAD
programs and activities; the other part
is a GAD budget allocation from the
regular budgets of government
departments or agencies and local
governments.2

To assist in the implementation of the

policy, then President Fidel V. Ramos
directed the Department of Budget
and Management (DBM), National
Economic Development Authority
(NEDA), and the National
Commission on the Role of Filipino
Women (NCRFW); now known as the
Philippine Commission on Women, or
PCW) to ensure budgetary support for
GAD.3
Republic Act 7600 This provides an environment where
An Act Providing Incentives to All basic physical, emotional and

1Retrieved from: http://www.neda.gov.ph/wp-

content/uploads/2013/10/AFGR_Book.pdf, on April 4, 2016.

2Supra.

3The brief history of the GAD Budget Policy has been provided by the National
Commission on the Role of Filipino Women(NCRFW) in GAD Planning and
Budgeting: Adding Value to Governance, NCRFW, Manila, 2003. In 2009, the
Magna Carta of Women renamed NCRFW to the Philippine Commission on
Women (PCW).
Government and Private Health psychological needs of mothers and
Institutions with Rooming-In and infants immediately after birth are
Breastfeeding Practices and for Other fulfilled, through the practice of
Purposes (1992) rooming-in and breastfeeding
Republic Act 7877 It declares that all forms of work-
An Act Declaring Sexual Harassment related sexual harassment in the
Unlawful in the Employment, employment environment are
Education or Training Environment, unlawful
and For Other Purposes (1995)
Republic Act 7882 This provides assistance to women,
Providing Assistance to Women particularly those who own small
Engaging in Micro and Cottage businesses and those who have
Business Enterprises and For Other proven themselves to have good track
Purposes (1995). records in their respective businesses
in order to fully harness the talents
and skills of the female labor force.
Republic Act 9170 The law reiterates the Constitutional
The Magna Carta of Women policy declaring: “the State affirms
the role of women in nation building
and ensures the substantive equality
of women and men.”4 The Magna
Carta of Women implements the
Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), which seeks to eliminate
discrimination by dismantling social
structures, such as laws and
institutions that treat women
unequally and bar them from attaining
their full human development.

As a rights-based law, the Magna

Carta of Women brings to focus the
responsibilities of two groups of
human rights stakeholders that are
major implementers of the Plan:

• Rights-holders, who are all

Filipino women. Among the
women population, a greater
number belongs to the poor and
marginalized sectors, whose

4Article II, Section 14 of the 1987 Constitution.

 rights in all spheres or aspects of
life — civil, social, cultural,
political, and economic — are
threatened and disregarded by
the powerful sectors of society.
Key to claiming their right is
their own capacity to think, act,
organize, and advocate these
rights.

• Primary duty-bearers, which

comprise the state, with all its
agencies and instrumentalities.
Their main mandate is to
respect, protect, promote, and
fulfill the rights of women in all
spheres of life.

Republic Act 8505 Also known as the “Rape Victim

An Act Providing Assistance and Assistance and Protection Act of
Protection for Rape Victims, 1998”
Establishing for the Purpose a Rape
Crisis Center in Every Province and
City, Authorizing the Appropriation of
Funds, Thereof, and For Other
Purposes (1998)
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of Defines as criminal the acts of
2003 (Republic Act 9208) trafficking in persons, and acts as to
promote trafficking in person, and
redefines prostitution from a crime
committed by women only to any act,
transaction, or design involving the
use of a person by another for sexual
intercourse or lascivious conduct in
exchange for money, profit, or any
other consideration, with the criminal
liability assigned to those who
promote it through trafficking in
persons
Anti-Violence Against Women and Criminalization of violence against
Their Children Act of 2004 (Republic women and their children (VAWC)
Act 9262) and protection of women and their
children in the context of a marital,
 dating, or common law relationship,
declaration of VAWC as a public
crime.

The law recognizes the unequal

relations of a man and a woman in an
abusive relationship where it is
usually the woman who is
disadvantaged. Thus, the law protects
the woman and her children. The
victim, the child who is a minor
(legitimate and illegitimate), and a
person aged 18 years and beyond who
doesn’t have the ability to decide for
herself/himself because of an
emotional, physical and mental illness
can make full use of the law. Any
child under the care of a woman is
also protected under the law.5
Republic Act 10354 The measure reiterates that the State
Responsible Parenthood and guarantees universal access to
Reproductive Health Law of 2012 medically-safe, non-abortifacient,
effective, legal, affordable, and
quality Reproductive Health care
services, methods, devices, and
supplies which do not prevent the
implantation of a fertilized ovum. The
Reproductive Health Law also
reiterates that the State guarantees the
provision of relevant information and
education thereon according to the
priority needs of women, children and
other underprivileged sectors who
shall be voluntary beneficiaries of
Reproductive Health care, services
and supplies for free.

The Reproductive Health Law

guarantees the following: (1) access
to services on Reproductive Health
(RH) and Family Planning (FP), with
due regard to the informed choice of
individuals and couples who will
5
accept these services, (2) maternal
health care services, including skilled
birth attendance and facility-based
deliveries, (3) reproductive health and
sexuality education for the youth, and
(4) regular funding for the law’s full
implementation.