CEDAW/C/SR.327 English Page 16 Catholic. The provisions of the Revised Population Act of 1971 implied the repeal of Republic Act No. 4729, under which the sale or distribution of contraceptives had been unlawful. On the other hand, abortion constituted a class of felony under the Revised Penal Code, and that policy was supported by the 1987 Constitution, which protected the unborn from the moment of conception, thereby removing the possibility of any future law allowing abortion. 95. Information on the follow-up to the commitments given by the Government of the Philippines at the Fourth World Conference on Women was contained in the information kits which had been made available to the experts. Specifically, with regard to the girl child, measures had been adopted to address the special needs of girls in emergency situations, such as armed conflict and situations of sexual abuse. Child-friendly procedures for police investigations had been adopted, and trial judges had been enjoined to act with dispatch on all cases involving children. 96. Ms. GONZÁLEZ MARTÍNEZ, while commending the delegation of the Philippines for responding to the many questions posed by the Committee, said that the timely submission of the fourth periodic report might have obviated the need for so many questions to be raised in the first place. She acknowledged the progress which had been made in efforts to eliminate discrimination against women in the Philippines, although much more needed to be done to increase public awareness of the role of women in society and to address the problems of the subordination of women, especially within the family, violence against women and girls, and the related problems of prostitution and trafficking in persons. The international community was well aware of the action taken by the Philippines to protect the rights of migrant workers and to punish the trafficking in persons. Political will was needed, however, at the legislative level to effectively combat that scourge. The meeting rose at 1 p.m.