REPUBLIC ACT NO.

7192
AN ACT PROMOTING THE INTEGRATION OF WOMEN AS FULL AND EQUAL PARTNERS OF MEN IN DEVELOPMENT AND NATION BUILDING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Section 1. Title. This Act shall be cited as the "Women in Development and Nation Building Act."
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Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. The State recognizes the role of women in nation building and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men. The State shall provided women rights and opportunities equal to that of men. To attain the foregoing policy: (1) A substantial portion of official development assistance funds received from foreign governments and multilateral agencies and organizations shall be set aside and utilized by the agencies concerned to support programs and activities for women;
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(2) All government departments shall ensure that women benefit equally and participate directly in the development programs and projects of said department, specifically those funded under official foreign development assistance, to ensure the full participation and involvement of women in the development process; and (3) All government departments and agencies shall review and revise all their regulations, circulars, issuances and procedures to remove gender bias therein.
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Sec. 3. Responsible Agency. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) shall primarily be responsible for ensuring the participation of women as recipients in foreign aid, grants and loans. It shall determine and recommend the amount to be allocated for the development activity involving women.
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Sec. 4. Mandate. The NEDA, with the assistance of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, shall ensure that the different government departments, including its agencies and instrumentalities which, directly or indirectly, affect the participation of women in national development and their integration therein: (1) Formulate and prioritize rural or countryside development programs or projects, provide income and employment opportunities to women in the rural areas and thus, prevent their heavy migration from rural to urban or foreign countries;
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(2) Include an assessment of the extent to which their programs and/or projects integrate women in the development process and of the impact of said programs or projects on women, including their implications in enhancing the self-reliance of women in improving their income; (3) Ensure the active participation of women and women's organizations in the development programs and/or projects including their involvement in the planning, design, implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation thereof; (4) Collect sex-disaggregated data and include such data in its program/project paper, proposal or strategy; (5) Ensure that programs and/or projects are designed so that the percentage of women who receive assistance is approximately proportionate to either their traditional participation in the targeted activities or their proportion of the population, whichever is higher. Otherwise, the following should be stated in the program/project paper, proposal or strategy; (a) The obstacle in achieving the goal;
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(b) The steps being taken to overcome those obstacles; and (c) To the extent that steps are not being taken to overcome those obstacles, why they are not being taken. (6) Assist women in activities that are of critical significance to their self-reliance and development.
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Sec. 5. Equality in Capacity to Act. Women of legal age, regardless of civil status, shall have the capacity to act and enter

into contracts which shall in every respect be equal to that of men under similar circumstances.
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In all contractual situations where married men have the capacity to act, married women shall have equal rights. To this end: (1) Women shall have the capacity to borrow and obtain loans and execute security and credit arrangement under the same conditions as men;
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(2) Women shall have equal access to all government and private sector programs granting agricultural credit, loans and nonmaterial resources and shall enjoy equal treatment in agrarian reform and land resettlement programs; (3) Women shall have equal rights to act as incorporators and enter into insurance contracts; and (4) Married women shall have rights equal to those of married men in applying for passport, secure visas and other travel documents, without need to secure the consent of their spouses. In all other similar contractual relations, women shall enjoy equal rights and shall have the capacity to act which shall in every respect be equal to those of men under similar circumstances.
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Sec. 6. Equal Membership in Clubs. Women shall enjoy equal access to membership in all social, civic and recreational clubs, committees, associations and similar other organizations devoted to public purpose. They shall be entitled to the same rights and privileges accorded to their spouses if they belong to the same organization. Sec. 7. Admission to Military Schools. Any provision of the law to the contrary notwithstanding, consistent with the needs of the services, women shall be accorded equal opportunities for appointment, admission, training, graduation and commissioning in all military or similar schools of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police not later than the fourth academic year following the approval of this Act in accordance with the standards required for men except for those
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minimum essential adjustments required by physiological differences between sexes. Sec. 8. Voluntary Pag-IBIG, GSIS and SSS Coverage. Married persons who devote full time to managing the household and family affairs shall, upon the working spouse's consent, be entitled to voluntary Pag-IBIG (Pagtutulungan Ikaw, Bangko, Industriya at Gobyerno), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) or Social Security System (SSS) coverage to the extent of one-half (1/2) of the salary and compensation of the working spouse. The contributions due thereon shall be deducted from the salary of the working spouse. The GSIS or the SSS, as the case may be, shall issue rules and regulations necessary to effectively implement the provisions of this section. Sec. 9. Implementing Rules. The NEDA, in consultation with the different government agencies concerned, shall issue rules and regulations as may be necessary for the effective implementation of Sections 2, 3 and 4, of this Act within six (6) months from its effectivity. Sec. 10. Compliance Report. Within six (6) months from the effectivity of this Act and every six (6) months thereafter, all government departments, including its agencies and instrumentalities, shall submit a report to Congress on their compliance with this Act. Sec. 11. Separability Clause. If for any reason any section or provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect. Sec. 12. Repealing Clause. The provisions of Republic Act No. 386, otherwise known as the Civil Code of the Philippines, as amended, and of Executive Order No. 209, otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines, and all laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. Sec. 13. Effectivity Clause. The rights of women and all the provisions of this Act shall take effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
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Approved: February 12, 1992

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7882

AN ACT PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO WOMEN ENGAGING IN MICRO AND COTTAGE BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. SECTION 1. Objective of the Act. It is hereby declared to be the objective of this Act to provide all possible assistance to Filipino women in their pursuit of owning, operating and managing small business enterprises.
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Sec. 2. Coverage of the Act. All women who are citizens of the Philippines, at least eighteen (18) years of age, regardless of civil status, shall enjoy the benefits provided in this Act. Sec. 3. Women With Existing Micro and Cottage Business. Any woman who, at the time of the effectivity of this Act shall have been engaged for at least one (1) year in any micro and cottage business, with a daily inventory of goods worth not more than Twenty-five thousand pesos (P25,000) or with any business equipment with a book value of not more than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) shall have priority to obtain a loan not exceeding the value of her business equipment at prime interest rate or at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum, whichever is lower from any government financing institution: Provided, That only women with good track record in sales shall be eligible to obtain such loan.

Sec. 4. Business Learner. Any woman who shall have been certified, after appropriate training by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), or any government or government-accredited training institution as eligible to operate a micro and cottage business with a maximum capitalization of Twenty-five thousand pesos (P25,000) shall likewise be eligible in obtaining a loan under the same conditions as provided in the preceding Section:Provided, That no loan for the operation of a retail store shall be granted: Provided, further, That the loan shall be limited to the purchase of the basic equipment, tools and materials: Provided, furthermore, That such basic equipment and tools shall be subject to chattel mortgage in favor of the government financing institution concerned. Sec. 5. Technical Training. The office of the TESDA shall provide and conduct such necessary technical training and programs, free of charge to all women who may avail of the benefits provided in Section 4 hereof. Sec. 6. Implementing Bureau. The function of accomplishing the objective of this Act is hereby given to the Bureau of Small and Medium Business Development of the Department of Trade and Industry created under Executive Order No. 133, including the authority to issue such necessary certification of eligibility to obtain a loan as provided in Sections 4 and 5 hereof. Sec. 7. Assurance of Loan Availability. There shall be earmarked from the loan portfolio of all government financing institutions such amount of money equivalent to five percent (5%) thereof for purposes of implementing the provisions of this Act. Sec. 8. Rules and Regulations. The Department of Trade and Industry shall promulgate such rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this Act.chan robles virtual law library Sec. 9. Prohibited Acts. The following acts are hereby prohibited: (a) to sell mortgage, pledge or in any way encumber any of the equipment, tools or materials procured through a loan and obtained by virtue of this Act while the loan has not yet been fully paid.
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(b) to refuse, deny or delay without justifiable cause granting loans as provided in this Act.

Sec. 10. Penalty. Any person who may be found guilty of committing any of the prohibited acts provided in the preceding Section hereof shall be sentenced to suffer a penalty of one (1) year imprisonment or a fine of not less than Five thousand pesos (P5,000) or both.
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Sec. 11. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved: February 20, 1995

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6949

AN ACT TO DECLARE MARCH EIGHT OF EVERY YEAR AS A WORKING SPECIAL HOLIDAY TO BE KNOWN AS NATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY.
Section 1. The eighth day of March of every year is hereby declared as a working special holiday to be known as National Women's Day. Sec. 2. To ensure meaningful observance of the holiday as herein declared, all heads of government agencies and instrumentalities,
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including government-owned and controlled corporations as well as local government units, and employers in the private sector shall encourage and afford sufficient time and opportunities for their employees to engage and participate in any activity conducted within the premises of their respective offices or establishments to celebrate National Women's Day. Sec. 3. This Act shall take effect two (2) days following its publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.
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Approved: April 10, 1990

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6725

AN ACT STRENGTHENING THE PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN WITH RESPECT TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE ARTICLE ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE OF THE LABOR CODE, AS AMENDED.
Section 1. Article One hundred thirty-five of the Labor Code, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:
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"Art. 135. Discrimination Prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any employer to discriminate against any woman employee with

respect to terms and conditions of employment solely on account of her sex. "The following are acts of discrimination: "(a) Payment of a lesser compensation, including wage, salary or other form of remuneration and fringe benefits, to a female employee as against a male employee, for work of equal value; and "(b) Favoring a male employee over a female employee with respect to promotion, training opportunities, study and scholarship grants solely on account of their sexes. "Criminal liability for the willful commission of any unlawful act as provided in this article or any violation of the rules and regulations issued pursuant to Section 2 hereof shall be penalized as provided in Articles 288 and 289 of this Code: Provided, That the institution of any criminal action under this provision shall not bar the aggrieved employee from filing an entirely separate and distinct action for money claims, which may include claims for damages and other affirmative reliefs. The actions hereby authorized shall proceed independently of each other."
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Sec. 2. The Secretary of Labor and Employment is hereby authorized to promulgate the necessary guidelines to implement this Article in accordance with the generally accepted practices and standards here and abroad.
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Sec. 3. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from the date of its publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.
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Approved: May 12, 1989