28 A Preliminary Diction Study study and the law, and as a language teacher and a student of the Law, I would like to explore the critical vantage point which views under a more scrutinizing lens how language is used to draft laws and the consequential rights for Filipinas. For the methodology, this study focused mainly on the diction of the law, paying closest attention to the provisions which contain clauses that have been considered contentious or, at the very least, debatable. Other aspects of the language are highly recommended to be taken into account as well. However, for the limited purposes of this preliminary study, the discussions will look into legislative word choice in order to explore and identify the possible power-relation tensions that are inevitably built into the language of the law. This short critical paper also seeks to delve into several legally consequential implications of the provisions of the law. The analysis in this paper will also use the basic principles of statutory construction in order to theorize possible tension-points that may be facilitated by the language utility in this particular piece of recent legislation. Statutory construction is the procedure of rendering and enforcing legislation. Some amount of interpretation is always essential when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and straightforward meaning. But in most cases, there is some ambiguity or vagueness in the words of the statute that must be resolved by the judge. To find the meanings of statutes, judges use various means and methods of statutory interpretation, including traditional canons of statutory interpretation, legislative history, and purpose (Martin 18-23). The central question that this paper seeks to answer is this: “How are words used to create, deprive, change and perpetuate the rights of women as provided for in the written law?” Due to the expansive array of laws written for the rights of women, this paper will focus on the most recent legislative milestone and crowning achievement of the advocacy for women’s liberation and equal rights: the Republic Act 9710 or the “Act Providing for the Magna Carta for Women”, signed by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and enacted into law on August 14, 2009. This essay seeks to explore how the wording of the Magna Carta for Women truly, in the word choice, strengthen the empowerment or women, or actually weaken or defeat the purpose thereof. The Magna Carta of Women (MCW) serves as the Philippines’ gender equality law. It is a comprehensive women’s human-rights legislation that seeks to eliminate discrimination against women and outlines the duties of the state in recognizing, protecting, fulfilling and promoting the rights of women, especially the marginalized. It closely resembles the provisions of CEDAW, the women’s rights convention, particularly