CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 356. Overseas Filipino workers continued to experience contract violation or contract substitution that reduces their salaries and spells poor working conditions, violation of local laws and, for women workers, vulnerability to physical and sexual abuse. Domestic helpers in Singapore and Malaysia complain of insufficient food, too much work leaving little time to rest, prohibition of use of the telephone or socialization or daily baths, verbal abuse from female employers, and sexual harassment and lascivious conduct from male employers. Women in the economic zones 357. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) was created to establish, operate and manage economic zones (ecozones) throughout the country. As of December 2001, PEZA was operating or managing four public ecozones and 34 private ecozones and nine information technology parks and buildings nationwide. As of 2003, these zones employed 907,127 workers, 80 percent of whom are women who were mostly employed in garments and textiles, food and beverages processing, wood manufacturing and electronics. 358. Women workers in the Cavite Economic Zone cited as their most serious problems low pay, excessive salary deductions, forced overtime, high production quota and lack of incentives. Other issues were poor ventilation, ‘no union policy’, unpaid overtime work, non-remittance of SSS payments, non-regularization, as well as sexual harassment, difficulty in availing of maternity leave and issuance of doctor’s certificate, and gender bias in promotion. The women further cited work-related health problems: over-fatigue, migraine and headaches induced by lack of sleep resulting from too much overtime work (Pineda Ofreneo and others 1999). Blurred vision, respiratory illnesses and accidents were believed to result from poor working conditions. While companies were supposed to maintain company doctors, they seldom visited and when they did, women were not given time to consult with them due to long hours of work or short breaks. Family planning services were also not adequately provided, in violation of the Labor Code (Edralin 2001). Only seven percent of the firms were unionized and employees were not given the chance to participate in decision-making, which makes it difficult for them to air their problems. Women in the informal sector 359. The informal sector is estimated to have contributed 45 percent on the average of the country’s GNP from 1987 to 1993 (ILS 1994). It may be viewed as a seedbed for entrepreneurship that can spur economic development. Despite its poor condition, it possesses a strong potential for enhancing equity and economic growth because of its ability to innovate. 360. Informal-sector workers, or employed workers that do not receive a wage or salary, account for more than half of the country’s employment (NSO 2003c). Between 1996 and 2002, the sector has been expanding at about 1.5 percent per year (Table B11.8), slower than the growth in total employment (about 1.7 percent). A large portion of the growth in informal sector employment came from women self-employed workers, whose number has increased by 22 percent since 1996. As heavily protected industries collapsed, workers who were laid off from their jobs sought refuge in self-employment, providing them a means of economic support. With the economic performance of the country still shaky, more workers, particularly women, are being pushed into the informal economy (Illo 1999). 99