CEDAW/C/PHI/Q/6/Add.1
Constitutional, legislation and status of the Convention
1. The report states that a legal definition of discrimination against women that is aligned with the
definition in Art. 1 of the Convention has not been put into law (para. 119). Please clarify the
legal standing of the Convention with respect to national legislation. Does the Government intend
to introduce legislation that will define and explicitly prohibit discrimination against women as
defined by Art. 1 of the Convention? Also, please clarify the status of the Convention in the
domestic legal system and whether the Convention can be used in court cases.
The Philippine Constitution carries the ‘equality guarantee’ of the Convention, but has not
explicitly stated the ‘non-discrimination guarantee’. While as of now there is no enabling law that
directly translates the Convention into national law defining discrimination against women and
providing sanctions/ penalties for violation of the Convention, there are laws that provide for the
protection of women in specific circumstances. These are mentioned in the country report (para. 116).
While the Convention cannot be used to bring violators of discrimination against women, it
can however be cited as a reference for prosecution or defense.
A proposed bill, the Magna Carta for Women Bill (House Bill 5285) was recently introduced
in the House of Representatives by Representative Josefina Joson. The bill is a comprehensive piece
of legislation that covers the full range of women’s rights in all aspects of the family, community and
society. It intensifies the State’s commitment to protect and fulfill all human rights of women,
especially the women from the marginalized sector which includes rural women, fisherfolk, urban
poor, laborers, women in the informal sector, indigenous peoples, girl-children, older women and
disabled women.
Article 1 of the bill adopts the CEDAW definition of discrimination in Article of the
Convention as “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex, which has the effect
or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women irrespective of
their marital status, on the basis of equality with men and women, of human rights and fundamental
freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural and civil or any other field.” The bill is on its
Second Reading in the House of Representatives.
2. The report mentions that the Family Code, the Civil Code, the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, the
Revised Penal Code, and Customary Law still contain provisions that are discriminatory to
women or are inconsistent with new laws, for example in defining sexual infidelity for women and
men (para. 559). Please indicate whether a timetable has been put in place to review and amend
these laws so as to bring them into line with the Convention.
There are several existing laws that still have discriminatory provisions such as the Family
Code (Art. 46, 96, 211 and 225) Civil Code (Art. 39, 765, 2238, 919), Code of Muslim Personal Laws
(Art. 27-29), Revised Penal Code (Art. 333 and 334) and customary laws. Several bills that aim to
amend these laws are now pending in the legislature.
The Marital Infidelity Bill, which substitutes the terms “adultery” and “concubinage” under
Articles 333 and 334 of the Revised Penal Code with the term “infidelity,” has already been passed on
1st Reading in the House of Representatives. It will be reported out of the Committee on the Revision
of Laws, pending its 2nd Reading. A similar bill was filed in the Senate and has been referred to the
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