206. On article 6, poverty was considered the main rea6on why women entered into prostitution but there were also other factors. The presence of large foreign military bases, tourism and psychological factors were also causes. In the absence of real alternatives, prostitution represented the path of least resistance in order for women to obtain an adequate income. The repreoentativa clarified that the present Department of Social Welfare and Development was essentially the same as the former Ministry of Social Services and Development and the change had been in name only. The representative stated that it was difficult to evaluate the success of the programmes of the Department to protect young prostitutes a6 their effectiveness was limited by a lack of resourcGG, facilities and alternative sources of inaomo. Concerning the sanctions imposed on customers of prostitutes, such as sex-tourists, it was reported that if the offender was a foreign national, immediate deportation followed tho enforcement of a penalty for the offence, which could be either a fine or imprisonment. Most laws and ordinances relating to prostitution focused on the procurer. 207. Members the mail-order sociological social reality by the social the number of endorsed the need bride trade. A GtatiGticG in the of prostitution servicest and the sentences and the for bilateral cooperation in efforts to Stop further request was made to include third periodic report with regard to: the in the Philippines; the level of intervention implementation of legal penalties. including incidence of involvement by minors. 206, On article 7, in response to questions on representation in political forums and the right of NCRFW to propose candidates for political appointments, the representative Gtated that in the Government thore were special offices that focused on marginalieod groups such as women, youth, urban poor, children and the disabled. NCRFW was attached to the Office of the President and bad the right to propose candidates for all levels, including the Cabinet. NCRFW had proposed candidates in the past and would continue to do so. 209. The representative introduced article 10 on education by stating that women were disadvantaged because of socio-economic and regional factors. In K~GPOXIGQ to a question on the major reasons why girls discontinued their education, she stated that the participation figures for both men and women were basically equal and that the main reasons for students to discontinue school had little to do with gender but were mostly related to poverty. Although tuition waG free of charge, peripheral costs (clothing, transportation, food) often prevented children from poor households continuing in school. In such hoUGehOldG, absenteeism was caused by the fact that children had to augment the family income and were often ill because of the lack of medical attention and.general malnutrition. There was no evidence that the drop-out rate for girls waG highor than that for boys. Literacy cempaigns for womGn, particularly rural women, were run by both governmental and non-governmental organieations. Concerning the percentago of female university graduates, thd representative stated that data was limited as gender analysis at the tertiary level of education was usually based on the number of registrations for professional examinations and on the accreditation to professional groups. The fields of engineering, technical vocational education, law, architecture and Gciencos were traditionally male-dominated, and it waG considered unlikely that female participation would be above 25 per cent. In the fiald of medicine, there waG equal participation betweun -41-