Women's Priority Legislative Agenda (WPLA)
A signatory to the Convention on th elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) including its Optional Protocol, the Philippines is duty-bound to systematically and continously implement all th eprovision of the Treaty. The United Nations (UN) CEDAW Committee, in its Cocluding Comments to the Combined 5th and 6th Philippine Progress Report on the Implementation of the CEDAW, urged the Philippine Government to among others:
Enact a comprehensive legal framework for the promotion o f gender equality and womens empowerment, specifically to ensure the Conventions applicabilty and / or ttranslation into the national legal system, and review and revise discriminatory provisions in existing national legislation;
Strengthen the national machinery for the advancement of women and provide it with the authority decision-making power and human and financial resources necessary to work effectively to promot egender equality;
Take appropriate measures to supress the exploitation of prostitution of women including through the discouragement of the demand for prostitution.
Accelerate women's equal participation in political and public life and ensures that the representation of women in public and bodies reflects th efull diverstity of the population;
Enhancement the womens access to health care, including the reproductive health services, to address high material mortality rates, high fertility rates and in adequate family planning services; and
Adopt effective measures in the formal labor market to eliminate occupational segregation, narrow and close the wage gap between women and men, and enhance the situation of women in the informal economy.
The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), established through Presidential Decree 633 to be the Philippine machinery for the advancement of women, is the advisory body to the President on women in gender in concerns as the lead agency that monitors the implementation of the CEDAW in the country, the NCRFW has laid down its Women Priority Legislative Agenda (WPLA) for the 14th Congress. The WPLA is primarily anchored on the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development (PPGD),Framework Plan for Women (FPW), and the provision on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), particularly it's Concluding comments.
The WPLA specifically seeks to repeal th ediscriminatory provisions of existing laws as formulate and adopt new legislations that promote women's empowerment and gender equality. it likewise applies the norms and standards set out by CEDAW through sustained advocacy for the passage of the following legislations:
This sustained legislative advocacy seeks to: (a) increase public awareness and understanding of the issues of women that need legislative intervention/action; (b) gain the support of legislators and stakeholders for the passage of the WPLA; (c) produce more champions for the WPLA in both the House of Representatives and the Senate; (d) extend the network of WPLA advocates to include other stakeholders.