CEDAW/C/PHL/7-8 2007-2010 (14th Congress) 2010-2013 (15th Congress) 2013-2016 (16th Congress) ♦ Amendment to the AntiRape Law (1997) provision that makes lack of consent the core definition of rape and removes the criminal liability of the rapist once the victim forgives him, and other provisions ♦ Retained in WPLA; and raises the age of statutory rape from 12 to 16 (4) Amendatory bills filed on the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 in the House (HB 812 and 2042, 2300,3638) and Senate (SB 1978, 1879, 1534, 1257 and 607) ♦ Amendment to RA 7877 or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law of 1995 to include peer harassment ♦ Retained in WPLA (5) Amendatory bills on the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law: SBN 1436, 1076, 527, and HB 813 ♦ Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy ♦ Retained in WPLA (6) Bills filed in the Senate and House of Representatives: SBN 2015, 1153, 441 and HB 1110, 22295, 2307, 3400 ♦ Strengthening the Code of Muslim Personal Law, amending early and arranged marriages Not included due to lack of common position among and strong support from the stakeholders; there is need for further consensus building and advocacy among concerned groups. Status of Legislative Initiatives Passage of landmark laws on women 20. As the matrix above shows, three of the important laws included i n the WPLA were passed during the period: (a) The MCW (RA 9710) as the national translation of the CEDAW; (b) The Reproductive Health Law (RA 10354) or An Act Providing a National Policy on Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health which gives women access to reproductive health services and information and mandates government to allocate funds for the same; and (c) The Batas Kasambahay (RA 10361) or An Act Instituting Policies for the Protection and Welfare of Domestic Workers, such as fixing the basic salaries, social protection, hours of work including day off, among others. Previous to the Kasambahay Law, the Philippine Government ratified ILO Convention 189 in 2011, which seeks to protect and promote the human rights of all domestic workers by ensuring fair terms of employment, decent working and living conditions that respect the privacy, equal treatment, normal hours of work, compensation, periods 15-03079 7/36