CEDAW/C/PHI/Q/6 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women Distr.: General 14 February 2006 Original: English Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Pre-session working group Thirty-sixth session 7-25 August 2006 List of issues and questions with regard to the consideration of periodic reports Philippines The pre-session working group examined the combined fifth and sixth periodic report of the Philippines (CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6). Constitutional, legislation and status of the Convention 1. The report states that a legal definition of discrimination against women that is aligned with the definition in article 1 of the Convention has not been put into law (para. 119). Please clarify the legal standing of the Convention with respect to national legislation. Does the Government intend to introduce legislation that will define and explicitly prohibit discrimination against women as defined by article 1 of the Convention? Also, please clarify the status of the Convention in the domestic legal system and whether the Convention can be used in court cases. 2. The report mentions that the Family Code, the Civil Code, the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, the Revised Penal Code and Customary Law still contain provisions that are discriminatory to women or are inconsistent with new laws, for example in defining sexual infidelity for women and men (para. 559). Please indicate whether a timetable has been put in place to review and amend these laws so as to bring them into line with the Convention. 3. According to the report, the Government plans to complete implementation of its gender and statistics programme in order to monitor changes in the status of women and the fulfilment of their human rights (para. 25). Kindly provide information on the set of 32 core indicators of the status of women and women’s enjoyment of their rights mentioned in paragraph 20 and assess progress in the systematic use of gender and development indicators in policymaking in all relevant areas. 06-25030 (E) 090306 *0625030*