Ruizo 35 religious groups and faith communities, using birth control pills might be perfectly ethical, while for others, it would be considered a variant of the many abortive products that are considered gravely immoral. By whose moral/ethical yardstick will the family planning methods be measured? The construction of the proviso and the inclusion of such a qualifying word do not answer this critical question. In a legal system where the rule of law is defined as essentially ethical, and rights and obligations are given and conceded depending on the way that the laws tip the justice scale, to loosely use ethics without sufficient safeguarding risks opening it to a plethora of subjective interpretations that diminishes the standardizing force of law. The final contentious provision I would like to look into is section 28, entitled “Recognition and Preservation of Cultural Identity and Integrity” which declares that, The State shall recognize and respect the rights of Moro and indigenous women to practice, promote, protect and preserve their own culture, traditions, and institutions and to consider these rights in the formulation and implementation of national policies and programs. To this end, the State shall adopt measures in consultation with the sectors concerned to protect the rights to their indigenous knowledge systems and practices, traditional livelihood, and other manifestations of their cultures and ways of life; Provided, that these cultural systems and practices are not discriminatory to women. Although it would appear that this provision is clearly phrased, and its idea well-safeguarded, it actually offers a doubly-problematic picture in execution, where the power relations between women and men, between the majority of the non-indigenous citizens and the indigenous peoples, are stirred. Take for example the case of the Binukot women of some of our indigenous peoples’ tribes, who are daughters of datus or rulers who are literally kept hidden in special rooms and were not allowed to be seen by any man (Abrera 33-35). If we are to take the Magna Carta of Women and apply it in this cultural milieu, it would be unclear whether the Binukot woman would be afforded the economic and physical freedoms that this law safeguards for Filipinas. On the one hand, the Magna Carta of Women should be able to set the Binukot woman free from physical, economic and social bondages imposed on her by her immediate community. On the other hand, if we are to follow the qualifying clause about how this law puts a prime on the respecting and recognizing the preservation of the traditions of the different indigenous groups, it would mean that although the Magna Carta exists to liberate women, it will never apply to a Binukot