CEDAW/C/SR.179 English Page 9 (Ms. Laiou-Antoniou) organizations to act as pressure groups. It should draw up specific women's programmes for inclusion in the national development strategy. 54. She was particularly concerned about the position of Philippine women working abroad. In her own country, Philippine workers had no organizations to look after their interests; they earned very low wages and were open to all kinds of exploitation. There was a need for bilateral agreements between the Philippines and countries such as her own to protect the interests of those workers. 55. Ms. AOUIJ asked for more details concerning the action taken on the two cases of discrimination which, according to the representative of the Philippines, had been taken up, and what the terms of reference were of the body that considered the cases. 56. She noted with satisfaction that primary education was compulsory in the Philippines, but she would like to know what penalties were imposed if parents failed to send their children to school. What measures existed to encourage parents to do so, especially in rural areas? 57. She would further like to know whether contraception was available only to married women, or to unmarried women as well. Were contraceptives provided free of charge, and were they easy to obtain? . 58. Ms._._S_CHOl'f_::S{;llJJ..LING congratulated the Government of the Philippines on its efforts to improve the status of women, even in the current economic crisis. However, it seemed that there were still areas where the law discriminated against women, and it was essential for the Government to eliminate them. 59. Although women and men enjoyed many of the same rights in theory, those responsible for education and employment programmes in both the government and private sectors still seemed to feel that the roles of men and women were fundamentally different. For instance, school syllabuses designed to teach positive gender attitudes and avoid stereotyping still referred to the "complementarism of man and woman" (CEDAW/C/13/Add.l7, p. 31), and the Practical Skills Development programme organized by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (see page 97) concentrated on subjects such as cosmetics and massage. Surely job creation programmes for women should concentrate on training for skilled jobs? 60. She was also concerned about the health of women industrial workers, particularly in the electronics industry, although in many cases the employers concerned were multinational firms rather than Philippine firms. 61. ~A41A-TCHANGAI said that a large proportion of health-care workers in the Philippines were women (CEDAW/C/13/Add.l7, p. 153). Did those women enjoy good conditions of work, and did the predominance of women in the health sector mean that fewer women entered more technical fields of work? 62. The section of the report dealing with the World Health Organization's Expanded Programme on Immunization (page 158) indicated that the main target groups for immunization against tetanus were children and pregnant women. However, women who attempted to conceal a pregnancy or underwent an illegal abortion were also at I . ..