Homework #1: History of A Specific Law (2017)

The Magna Carta for Women (Philippines)




The Philippines’ Magna Carta for Women (MCW) was enacted into Law on 14 August
2009 by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Republic Act 9710: An Act Providing for The Magna Carta
for Women (Ruizo, 2013). The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) defined the MCW as
“a comprehensive women's human rights law that seeks to eliminate discrimination through the
recognition, protection, fulfilment and promotion of the rights of Filipino women, especially
those belonging in the marginalized sectors of the society. It conveys a framework of rights for
women based directly on international law.” (PCW, 2009). As most of the Philippine Laws are
made, the MCW was the fruit of House Bill No. 4273 of the same title and it’s Senate version,
Senate Bill No. 2396, also of the same title (Civil Service Commission, 2014). The Magna Carta
was made through the Philippines’ legal procedure of law-making, but what inspired this action
was an international convention.
The source of the Magna Carta is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which the Philippines is a signatory to. Which, as a
form of compliance to the convention, was integrated to our Constitution as:
1. SECTION 14. The State recognizes the role of women in
nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality
before the law of women and men (Art. II).
2. SECTION 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law, nor shall any person be
denied the equal protection of the laws (Art. III).
3. SECTION 14. The State shall protect working women by
providing safe and healthful working conditions, taking into
account their maternal functions, and such facilities and
opportunities that will enhance their welfare and enable them
to realize their full potential in the service of the nation (Art.
XIII).
The CEDAW was rooted from the International Bill of Human Rights which formed a
subcommission, Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), on 1946 (United Nations, 2000).
This quickly became a full commission due to women activists that fought for Women’s Rights
(United Nations, 2000). Due to the importance of this commission, they were advised by the
Economic and Social Council to draft a convention with them which eventually became the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women that we know
today (United Nations, 2000). Of course this international action was influenced by the universal
acknowledgement of the rights of women.
This international action was pushed thru because of the rise of educated women who
wanted to have the same rights as their male counterparts. According to Atty. Quan, all the action
started when women began working at par with men and desired equal powers such as voting in
elections (2016). This further developed to the creation of activists that fought for Women’s
Rights on different areas of the society and ended up as the Magna Carta of Women in the
Philippines.

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/history.htm
http://csc.gov.ph/2014-02-21-08-16-56/2014-02-21-08-19-19/magna-carta-of-women-r-a-9710.html
http://pcw.gov.ph/sites/default/files/documents/laws/republic_act_9710.pdf
http://journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/rws/article/viewFile/4287/3889