and satisfying sex life, that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when,  and how often to do so. This further implies that women and men attain equal relationships in matters  4 related to sexual relations and reproduction.     Thus, reproductive health encompasses realities beyond concerns of conception and childbirth per  se. Choice is a key feature in both international and national definitions, and so is freedom,  consensual relations and equality between women and men. This in turn points to another important  implication of the definition: the situated character of reproductive health. In putting (gender)  equality on the table, it considers context and conditions where couple’s reproductive choices are  made; in societies where women continue to experience gender-based violence, it is their freedoms  and choices that are constrained and ignored relative to the men’s. It then becomes all the more  relevant to look into the economic, socio-cultural and political factors influencing women’s status in  society – the spaces they can move in, the extent of their decision-making, the resources they can  mobilize – in the discourse of reproductive health and rights.     Objectives of the paper    It is the aim of this document to provide updated information and figures on the status of Filipino  women with regard to reproductive health and rights. There are two parts: first is a women’s  situationer presenting data on poverty, education and employment, access to public services, political  participation, and violence against women; the second part is focused on the protection and  fulfillment of women’s reproductive health rights in the country, as presented in the various national  reports and related documents as prepared for the most recent CEDAW Committee Inquiry on  Reproductve Health (2015) and the Universal Periodic Review (2017), as well as the results of the  Commission on Human Rights National Inquiry on Reproductive Health (2016).     The information on the first part of the report is based on literature available online. For the  statistical data, these are based on the 2015 census and other reports compiled and made available by  the Philippine Statistical Authority in its website (www.psa.gov.ph), unless stated otherwise. This  should be flagged because the figures reflect the performance of the Aquino administration, rather  than the current one under Duterte. For purposes of the situationer, it was deemed that the statistics  from the PSA would be the most reliable base reference; these will also be supplemented by  statistics from other agencies and organizations, and media reports, as necessary.     Another limitation is that the data is mostly national data. Although effort has been made to come  up with more disaggregated data on women (e.g. based on age, sector, location), these data are not  always available online.     5 The LGBT RH situationer will be presented in another report.   4 Section 4(p). Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012.  As progressive as the views presented in the RH definitions are – also the ICPD program of action and the RH Law, in  general – its silence on sexual orientation and gender identities as integral to the concerns of reproductive health is  striking. Here, the conservative feature of the definition of reproductive health is surfaced. It seems to assume that the  categories of women and men (read: female and male) is a sufficient frame in addressing the reproductive health needs  of all people, and there is no need to consider the social character of gender construction and its influence on the  5 3 RH Situationer: Phlippines (November 2017)