CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6
of unpaid dowry and support. Moreover, not all judicial districts created under the CMPL have
been organized and have assigned judges, making courts inaccessible and adding problems to
the enforcement of claims (such as support) granted by Circuit courts. Appeals usually stall
execution of judgment because appellate courts (District courts) do not have judges. A proposal
for the amendment of the CMPL has been submitted to the House Committee on Muslim
Affairs but no amendatory bill has been filed yet. As to the improvement of the Shari’a Court
system, specific programs for such form part of the Supreme Court’s Action Plan for Judicial
Reform.
561. Republic Act 6955, or the Anti-Mail Order Bride of 1990, which seeks to protect Filipino
women from being exploited through mail-order marriage schemes has been circumvented
through new technology and various means. The advent of the Internet has given rise to web
sites that allegedly offer pen pal or dating services. However, since these web sites operate
from places outside of the Philippines, it is very difficult to police or prevent a Filipino or a
foreign national from availing of its services. Hence, there is a need to update enforcement of
RA 6955 vis-à-vis such new technology. Meanwhile, advertisements for commercially
arranged marriages that used to regularly appear in newspapers disappeared when this law was
enacted in 1990. In reality, however, the law has only led those involved in the mail-order bride
matching business to go underground. It is estimated that 1,000 to 2,000 Filipino women enlist
with mail order agencies annually, with almost all of them ending in marriage as cited in the
Philippine fourth periodic report to the Women’s Convention.
148
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