Policy Analysis

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9710

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MAGNA CARTA OF WOMEN

A Policy Analysis

Social Welfare Policies, Programs, and Services

(SPPS4)

SAPIYA G. SAMBUTUAN
BSSW-3 Student
I. Introduction and Problem Statement

Human Rights is the universal right of everyone, regardless of age, belief, skin color, gender or
ethnicity, that no one can take away. Human rights are co-dependent on each other, such that the right to
freedom co-exists with the right to life, that without due process, no Human right can ever be taken away.

Human rights cannot be selectively active at any one time for any Human, they are present at all
times, in every situation, whether that situation is related to civil, cultural, economic, political or social
issues, as such the deep rooted sentiments that women should only be limited to housework, is a stagnant
state of thinking, as the digital age has provided each and everyone with the opportunity to better
themselves through education, and merit should be the sole basis for the qualification in the workplace, and
gender should not be an issue.

Hence I have chosen R.A. No. 9710 otherwise known as “An Act providing for the Magna Carta of
Women.” Because of the underlying issues that it seeks to address, in regards to the age old discrimination
against women, which is the result of a patriarchal centered upbringing, that “ The State shall provide the
necessary mechanisms to enforce women’s rights and adopt and undertake all legal measures necessary
to foster and promote the equal opportunity for women to participate in and contribute to the development
of the political, economic, social, and cultural realms..”

As such, each and every human being, each individual, is equal by virtue of the inherent dignity of
each human person. As such no person, should suffer discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity, gender,
age, language, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, political or other opinion, national, social or
geographical origin, disability, property, birth or other status as established by human rights standards. In
that same way, gender should never be an issue in in the selection of candidates if the basis for such is
purely through educational background and merit. and while the law recognizes that there are some
occupations ill-suited for women, such as gender sensitive occupations that do not fall into the category of
a medical field.

Each and every individual has the right to participate in and access information, relating to the
decision-making processes that affect their lives and well-being. Women, especially those in the
marginalized sector are repressed of this Constitutional guarantee, when powerful Patriarchal clans, seek
to manipulate the control of information dissemination, in order to maintain their established affluence and
unchallenged authority.

All people have the right to participate in and access information relating to the decision-making
processes that affect their lives and well-being, much more so women, as it was only fairly recently in the
1900’s that women first began the movement to be able to vote, and the Philippines as a developing nation,
should all the more protect this movement, that women can not only vote by the letter of the law, but also
vote freely and without coercion in their respective communities. Although Rights-based approaches
require a high degree of participation by communities, civil society, minorities, women, young people,
indigenous peoples, and other identified groups, it should not deter people from participating, that while
Patriarchal centered rule has existed for quite a long while, and people have grown accustomed to this
often misaligned tradition perpetuated by decades of oppression, the Law has given women a voice
through R.A. 9710, and the same should be protected to the utmost.

A nation cannot develop if it actively perpetuates or allows injustice in its system, how much
more-so if half the population, which are women who are oppressed and discriminated against, will a nation
even be able to stand the test of time?

In Conclusion, it is the role of the State and other duty-bearers who are answerable for the
observance of human rights. They have to comply with the legal norms and standards enshrined in
international human rights instruments in accordance with the Philippine Constitution. This means that they
are duty bound to protect the rights of women in accordance with R.A 9710, and to resolve these issues
wherein the rights of women in particular, are clearly violated. Where they fail to do so, aggrieved rights-
holders are entitled to institute proceedings for appropriate redress before a competent court or other
adjudicator in accordance with the rules and procedures provided by law.
II. Objectives of Social welfare

The State shall provide the necessary mechanisms to enforce women’s rights and adopt and
undertake all legal measures necessary to foster and promote the equal opportunity for women to
participate in and contribute to the development of the political, economic, social, and cultural realms.

III. Bases of Allocation

All individuals are equal as human beings by virtue of the inherent dignity of each human person.
No one, therefore, should suffer discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, gender, age, language, sexual
orientation, race, color, religion, political, or other opinion, national, social, or geographical origin, disability,
property, birth, or other status as established by human rights standards.

IV. Competing Value Orientation

Naturally there are various competing values that influence women most especially those within the
marginalized sector who are still affected by ancient traditions which favor patriarchal archetypes, which
actively restrict women from participating in decision making processes that affect their lives and well-
being. Which is what the law seeks to address and to empower women to actively participate in democratic
activities.
V. Guiding theory/theories:

The guiding theory which is predominant within the law, is that of “Gender empowerment” by
targeting specific spheres, and uplifting them within the individual lives of women through (1)
socioeconomic development; (2) rising gender egalitarian attitudes that transform economic development
into a cultural process of human development; (3) historical legacies stemming from a society’s cultural and
political traditions; and (4) institutional design factors.

This is apparent from the wording of the law, “The State shall provide the necessary mechanisms
to enforce women’s rights and adopt and undertake all legal measures necessary to foster and promote the
equal opportunity for women to participate in and contribute to the development of the political, economic,
social, and cultural realms” that not every woman within the Philippines is able to enjoy all the opportunities
of education, and even decision-making processes which affect their life and well-being, and are mostly
trapped by ancient stagnant traditions/cultures that actively restrict them.

The law seeks to address 1.) The socioeconomic development particularly for women in the
marginalized sector, by giving them equal opportunities that are otherwise denied of them.

The law cannot out right penalize people especially those who are only following their beliefs in
cultural tradition, but what it can do however, is make education and equal opportunities readily available to
both men and women in order to transform economic development in to a cultural process by which future
generations are more versatile to shed off ancient stagnant ways of thinking this is what “2.) rising gender
egalitarian attitudes that transform economic development into a cultural process of human development”
is.
What the law envisions is not to make following old cultural traditions a criminal offense, but rather
to shape the future generation to be more gender sensitive that the nation may grow as whole, and it is
through education that women are able to see the flaws within their old traditions, and identifying certain
mental blocks from enabling them to assert their self-worth (3) historical legacies stemming from a society’s
cultural and political traditions.
 The law recognizes as well that there are specific parts within the governmental system itself which
may be which may not share the same view and outcome as R.A. 9710, but that it enables the law to mold
and shape future laws to be more gender empowerment oriented, so to actively give women, particularly
those within the marginalized sector, the opportunity to better themselves, by affecting “ (4) institutional
design factors.”

VI. Recommendation

It is to my understanding that the law, is broad in concept but, tries nonetheless to address issues
regarding discrimination against women, and I recommend that in order for these tools to be more readily
available to the public, I suggest that, under Section 13 of the R.A. 9710 on Equal Access and Elimination
of discrimination in Education, Scholarships and Training, I recommend that it include programs such as
online learning that specifically give women access to have training seminars and presentations, that such
materials be readily available online.