By Clara Rita A. Padilla, March 29, 2007
“Congressional and local electoral candidates must take their stand to uphold women’s rights as protected by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Women’s Convention),” says Atty. Clara Rita A. Padilla, Executive Director of EnGendeRights. She adds, “Women’s rights activists want to hear their stand on prevailing issues such as access to the full range contraceptive methods including emergency contraception, access to safe and legal abortion, sexuality education for adolescents, skills and education for women in prostitution, legalization of divorce, repeal of discriminatory Muslim Code provisions and lesbian rights.”
These concerns except for lesbian rights were included in the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Concluding Comments during its 36th Session in August 2006. CEDAW monitors the implementation of the Women’s Convention by the Philippine government.
“Candidates must take a stand in opposing bills restricting access to medically safe methods of contraception such as emergency contraceptive pills, Depo Provera, and IUDs. They should file bills that uphold women’s rights including bills on Reproductive Health Care, Anti-Discrimination against Sexual Orientation; repeal of the penalty imposed on women who induce abortion and those assisting them as means to decrease maternal mortality and morbidity related to complications from unsafe abortion; and implementation of sexuality education in schools for adolescents, among others,” Atty. Padilla added.
Atty. Padilla stressed, “The Philippine government must fulfill its obligations under the Women’s Convention. Candidates must place women’s rights agenda in governance and development priorities of the government.”
“We cannot have government officials who use their religious beliefs in governance. Clearly, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has wielded her influence in the Department of Health and the Population Commission in campaigning for the so-called ‘natural family planning’ (NFP) method as a means of courting the religious right,” said Atty. Padilla.
“Another glaring example is the continued conduct of congressional hearings on bills filed by blatantly religious party-list groups such as Buhay party-list that aim to prohibit safe and effective methods of contraception including IUDS and emergency contraceptive pills and even increase the penalty for women who induce abortion all stemming from their religious beliefs,” Atty. Padilla continued.
This religious stance has no place in governance. It disregards women’s realities where half of all pregnancies of Filipino women are unintended; about 200 Filipino women die from maternal-related causes out of every 100,000 live births (UNFPA, 2006 State of the World Population); nine in 10 women who induce abortion are married or in a consensual union, more than half have at least 3 children, roughly two-thirds are poor and nearly 90% are Catholic; about 800 women die every year (or two women die every day) due to complications resulting from unsafe abortion; approximately 473,000 women had abortions and an estimated 79,000 women were hospitalized for complications due to unsafe abortion in 2000 (Singh S et al., Unintended Pregnancy and Induced Abortion in the Philippines: Causes and Consequences, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2006, at 4). Such stance actually endangers women’s lives and health violating women’s basic right to life and health.
“Elected officials must realize that our very own Constitution states that, ‘Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.’ Elected officials must be reminded that they are mere representatives of the Filipino people and that their obligation is to the Filipino people and not to themselves,” Atty. Padilla added.
