Philippine Alliance of Women With Disabilities 2. In order to apply for a Marriage License, couples are required to go to a Pre-Marriage Counseling by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (for civil marriages), and a Family Planning and Responsible Parenthood Seminar by the Municipal / City Health Officer of the Department of Health. There have been incidents when persons with disabilities who undergo these seminars have been advised by local government officers either not to get married, or, not to have children because of the possibility of giving birth to children with disabilities51. Recommendation for Marriage and Family Life: Following General Recommendations No. 21 and 29, immediately repeal discriminatory provisions of the Family Code of the Philippines, and related Executive Orders, and eliminate practices which discriminate against women with disabilities in their right to marry and found a family. ANNEX- I About the organizations involved in this submission: The Philippine Alliance of Women with Disabilities (PaWiD) is a subset of member organizations of the Philippine Coalition on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The PaWiD advocates specifically for the rights of women and girls with disabilities. • • • • • • • Nationwide Organization of Visually-Impaired Empowered Ladies Transforming Communities for Inclusion of Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities-Philippines Philippine Alliance of Persons with Chronic Illness Filipino Deaf Women’s Health and Crisis Center Philippine Federation of the Deaf Philippine Deaf Resource Center / Deaf Resources Philippines Women’s Leap Toward Economic and Social Progress Contact person: lizamartinezpapci@gmail.com ANNEX - II Comments on State Replies to Issues (CEDAW_C_PHL_Q_7-8_Add-1_23670_E.): 1. Measures taken to address discrimination and violence against women and ensure access to service: “18.2 Support services, benefits and privileges for persons with disabilities are provided by law (Programs on the advancement of women’s rights and accessibility for 52PWDs are being implemented by the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA). NCDA created the Sub-Committee on Access to Justice and Discrimination for Persons with Disabilities to handle complaints of discrimination. The Subcommittee works with the Public Attorney's Officer (PAO).” There is no evidence or disseminated information of any comprehensive program by the National Council on Disability Affairs or other government agency on the advancement of women with disabilities’ rights or accessibility for persons with disabilities, including women with disabilities. In fact, after the six years term of this administration, the Council still has yet to actually amend the Accessibility Law to make it inclusive of all impairment groups. In terms of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Council and the Department of Justice, this has been only to generate “PWD53-Friendly Public Attorneys”54 for the “speedy resolution of cases”. Despite this, our 51 52 53 http://www.baguio.gov.ph/?q=content/marriage the acronym in State terminology for persons with disabilities the acronym in State terminology for persons with disabilities Persons with disabilities may now avail of free legal assistance. http://www.ncda.gov.ph/category/sub-committees/sub-committee-access-to-justice/ 54 9 October 2012. 12