CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 Article 7 Political and Public Life Equal rights with men in political and public life A. SITUATION OF WOMEN 236. The Philippine Constitution guarantees equal rights to women and men in political and public life. However, they continue to be a minority in electoral politics, in the highest levels of public office on appointive capacity, and in the Executive and Judicial branches of government. Electoral politics 237. For the second time in its history, the Philippines has a woman president, also installed into the presidency by people power. There had been no significant changes in other elective positions, however. For instance, in 2001 as in 1998, no more than 20 percent of the candidates are women. Also, the proportion of women who won the elections remained at 20 percent or below. These trends persisted despite women voters outnumbering men voters. In the 1998 national elections, 17.2 million women registered as voters as compared to 16.9 million men voters. Women’s voter turn out rate was also higher at 87.0 percent versus the men’s 85.7 percent in 1998, and 76.7 percent versus 75.9 percent among the men in the May 2001 national and local elections. 238. In the Legislature, the share of women in the Senate went down from 17 percent in 1995 to 9 percent in 2001, with only three women out of the total 23-member Senate. The trend is reversed in the House of Representatives, where women’s share of the seats increased from 9 percent in 1995 to 16 percent of the 205-member chamber. 239. The implementation of RA 7941, or the Party List System Act of 1995, allocates 50 seats or 20 percent of 250 seats in the House of Representatives for party list representatives from the marginalized sectors such as peasant communities, urban poor, farmers, fishers and women. In the 1998 elections, the Commission on Elections accredited six women’s parties, but only one, Abanse! Pinay, out of the six parties garnered the required percentage share of votes for a seat. Abanse! Pinay again won a seat during the 2001 elections, after the Supreme Court disqualified the parties who garnered more votes but did not represent the marginalized sectors. 240. The Party List mechanism provides an opportunity for the representation of women’s interest by the representatives of women themselves. However, the low level of awareness on the party list system, along with the inexperience and lack funds of the sector parties, has so far limited its impact. Women in appointive positions in the Executive Branch, Judiciary and Constitutional Commissions 241. President Arroyo’s administration is notable for having appointed the most number of women to the Cabinet. By end of 2003, five out of 19 department secretaries are women. They handle the budget, labor, social welfare, science and technology and environment and natural resources 73