• Ensure heightened awareness, education, and training on sexual and reproductive health rights and services, as well as on the government’s obligations under CEDAW, by Endnotes Declaring Total Commitment and Support to the Responsible Parenthood Movement in the City of Manila and Enunciating Policy Declarations in Pursuit Thereof, Exec. Ord. No. 003 (2000) (Phil.). 1 a. disseminating CEDAW-related information to judges, lawyers and prosecutors at all levels of government; b. prioritizing the protection of women’s right to health over religious ideologies that may discriminate against women and creating strategies to sensitize government officials to ensure women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services, commodities, and information; Guttmacher Institute, Unintended Pregnancy and Unsafe Abortion in the Philippines : Context and Consequences, 3 In Brief 2–5 (2013) [hereinafter Guttmacher Institute, In Brief]. 2 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), Summary of the inquiry concerning the Philippines under article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, paras. 13, 34, 47, U.N. Doc. CEDAW/C/OP.8/PHL/1 (2015) [hereinafter CEDAW Committee, Summary of the Philippines inquiry]. 3 4 c. providing proper counseling and information on sexual and reproductive health services in all public health facilities to empower women to make informed decisions; d. ensuring that training on sexual and reproductive health rights, services, and commodities in public health facilities is regularly conducted and adequately funded; e. integrating sexual and reproductive health education and comprehensive sex education in school curricula; and f. engaging in educational and awareness-raising campaigns on modern contraceptive methods and the risks of unsafe abortion, addressing in particular the misconceptions and gender-based stereotypes discouraging the use of modern contraceptive methods.78 VII. Conclusion The CEDAW Committee’s groundbreaking inquiry on access to contraception in the Philippines presents a distinctive opportunity for the Philippine government to fulfill its obligations under its own constitution and national laws and policies, as well as its commitments under binding international human rights treaties, particularly CEDAW. The Philippine Constitution guarantees the right to health as a fundamental right79 and recognizes women’s health needs as a priority;80 existing national laws and policies, such as the Magna Carta of Women and RPRH Act, recognize women’s right to access comprehensive health services, including family planning services and information. The Philippine government must secure the full and immediate implementation of the CEDAW Committee’s recommendations in order to promote women’s substantive equality, eliminate gender-based discrimination resulting from the denial of women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services and information, and protect their human rights. Const. (1987), art. II, sec. 14 (Phil.). Id. art. II, sec. 11 & art. XIII, sec. 1. 5 Id. art. XIII, secs. 11–13 & art. II, sec. 15. 6 The Philippine-based Task Force CEDAW Inquiry consists of twenty members: EnGendeRights (co-convenor); WomenLEAD (co-convenor); Alternative Law Groups; Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines; Family Planning Organization of the Philippines; Health Action Information Network; Health and Development Initiatives Institute; Institute for Social Studies and Action, Philippines; Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino; MAKALAYA; Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development; Philippine NGO Council on Population, Health and Welfare; Population Services Pilipinas; Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panlegal/Alternative Legal Assistance Center; Save the Children USA-Philippines Country Office; Forum for Family Planning and Development; Woman Health Philippines; Women’s Crisis Center; Women’s Legal Bureau; and Women’s Media Circle Foundation. 7 International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting women’s human rights through the use of CEDAW. See http://www.iwraw-ap. org. 8 Center for Reproductive Rights et al., Imposing Misery: The Impact of Manila’s Contraception Ban on Women and Families (2007) [hereinafter Center for Reproductive Rights, Imposing Misery]. 9 10 11 Linangan ng Kababaihan (Likhaan) and Reproductive Health, Rights and Ethics
Center for Studies and Training (ReproCen).
 Center for Reproductive Rights, Imposing Misery, supra note 9. Declaring Total Commitment and Support to the Responsible Parenthood Movement in the City of Manila and Enunciating Policy Declarations in Pursuit Thereof, Exec. Ord. No. 003, whereas clauses (2000) (Phil.). 12 Id. 13 Jaileen F. Jimeno, In Manila, pills and condoms go underground, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, May 2, 2005, http://pcij.org/stories/in-manila-pills-and-condoms-go-underground. 14 15 16 17 Id.; Center for Reproductive Rights, Imposing Misery, supra note 9, at 36–38. Press release, Center for Reproductive Rights, Manila City Denounced for Contraception Ban (Nov. 18, 2010), http://www.reproductiverights.org/feature/manila-city-denounced-for-contraceptionban. Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations: Philippines, para. 13, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/ PHL/CO/4 (2012). 18 Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Rashida Manjoo, Addendum, Communications to and from Governments, paras. 314–319, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/14/22/Add.1 (2010). See generally Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, U.N. Doc A/66/254 (2011) (by Anand Grover).
 Further Strengthening Family Health Services, Exec. Ord. No. 30, preamble (2011) (Phil.). 19 20 21 Id. sec. 2. The barangay is the smallest political subdivision in the Philippines. Balanga mayor: No ban yet on contraceptives, ABS-CBN News, Sept. 9, 2011, http://www.abscbnnews.com/nation/regions/09/09/11/balanga-mayor-no-ban-yet-contraceptives; Tuklasin Natin, Legal Experts Challenge Constitutionality of Seven Balanga Barangays Restricting Access to 22 12 CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ACCOUNTABILITY FOR DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN THE PHILIPPINES 13