Reg’l Gender Committee welcomes signing of Magna Carta for Women
It will be easier now to mainstream gender equality in all aspects of life with President Arroyo’s signing of the Magna Carta for Women, or Republic Act 9710 last August 14.
UPV Professor and Regional Gender and Advocacy (RGAD) Committee chairperson Rosario Asong said the RGAD will serve as forum for discussions of the implementation of the law in the region.
The law will be implemented by all national local government agencies and by the Philippine embassies abroad, and will be under the supervision of the Philippine Commission on Women (PWC), formerly, the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW).
As the law says, the PCW will be the primary policy-making and coordinating body for women and fender quality concerns and should see to it that all agencies and entities involved are effectively implementing the law.
The Magna Carta prohibits discrimination against women and recognizes, promotes and protects their rights, especially in family relationships and work sites.
The law also provides for the designation of a focal person specially trained on gender and development in consulates/embassies abroad, to attend to migrants having gender concerns or those in distress.
NEDA 6 Knowledge Management Division Chief and proponent of the creation of a Regional GAD Committee under the Regional Council (RDC) said the highlights of the Magna Carta will be further discussed by gender and development advocacy groups.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Commissioner Lilia de Lima said in a PIA dispatch, that Republic Act 9710 is the recognition that women’s rights are human rights.
She said that for the first time, there is a provision in the law that categorically acknowledged that women rights are human rights and therefore, all principles of human rights, from non-discrimination, equality, self-determination, and non-exclusion, must apply.
De Lima also said that the law is more significant because it provides full protection to women, especially those in the marginalized sectors. (PIA6/ESS)