Saturday, August 1, 2015

STRENGTHENING THE PCW (Part 2 ) ON HUMAN RIGHTS, GENDER EQUALITY AND RULE OF LAW

In the preceding Article we quoted the first three Sections of RA 9710, the Magna Carta of Women (MCW), to stress why we need to thoroughly understand the Human Rights of Women, as  well as ensure that we respect and uphold Gender Equality and the Rule of Law.

The Magna Carta of Women which is now a six (6) year old law is given much focus and attention by the various agencies of government including the Commission on Audit (COA) that checks on the proper use of their budget for mainstreaming Gender and Development, GAD.

Many government agencies, entities and instrumentalities are now doing  Gender Planning and Budgeting, GPB, as mandated by the various laws. The General Appropriations Act, GAA constantly include that provision where at least 5% of the budget of all government entities including State Universities and Colleges, SUCs, and Government Owned and Controlled Corporations, GOCCs, should be dedicated to mainstreaming GAD in their agencies.

Likewise, the Magna Carta of Women, mandates that 5% of the budget of all government agencies including SUCs and GOCCs should be used for their programs, activities and projects, PAPs on GAD. The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), is mandated to take on the bulk of work to review the proposed GPBs of all those mandated to mainstream GAD. This means review of hundreds of GPBs  of various government agencies and instrumentalities.

Apart from the mandate to review and approve the various GPBs, PCW is also tasked to monitor and assess their Accomplishment Reports. Of course the biggest task which the PCW is mandated to do is the implementation of the Magna Carta of Women. 

Under Chapter 111 of the MCW, on the duties related to the Human Rights of Women it states:

The State, private sector, society in general, and all individuals shall contribute to the recognition, respect, and promotion of the rights of women defined and guaranteed under this Act.

Section 5. The State as the Primary Duty-Bearer.- The State as the primary duty bearer, shall:

(a)       Refrain from discriminating against women and violating their rights;
(b)       Protect women against discrimination and from violation of their rights by private corporations, entities, and individuals; and
(c)        Promote and fulfill the rights of women in all spheres, including their rights to substantive equality and non-discrimination.

The State shall fulfill these duties through law, policy, regulatory instruments, administrative guidelines, and other appropriate measures, including temporary special measures.

Recognizing the interrelation of the human rights of women, the State shall take measures and establish mechanisms to promote the coherent and integrated implementation and enforcement of this Act and related laws, policies, or other measures to effectively stop discrimination against and advance the rights of women.

The State shall keep abreast with and be guided by progressive developments in human rights of women under international law and design of policies, and other measures to promote the objectives of this Act.

The Philippines is very famous and well recognized for having passed progressive laws that provide for the protection of human rights of everyone. Programs on mainstreaming gender and development that promotes  gender equality and respect for the rule of law are well set. However, despite the existence of many beautiful laws human rights violations, gender discrimination and non-compliance of laws continue to persist.

The PCW is in a very strategic position to be able to check the proper implementation of the beautiful laws especially those that protect women and children. However, the PCW cannot cope up with a huge mandate, due the measly number of employees and personnel, as well as its very small annual budget.

It is humanely impossible for the PCW personnel to perform its tasks mandated by law considering how lean it is. The budget allocated by the government is also very small and many of the projects undertaken come from foreign grants and aids.

It is good that the PCW Board of Commissioners where several of us represent the private sector have asserted for the review of the PCW as an organization. We are glad that our government counterparts are very receptive about the proposal for upgrading this entity. Somehow, there is now hope that soon there will be an improvement of the PCW as a government agency.

One of the items I have stressed during a review of the functions of PCW  is the fact that the State is the primary duty bearer in ensuring that women’s human rights are always respected and upheld. I pointed out that as an organization tasked in monitoring implementation of many laws such as the MCW, it is ironic that there is no lawyer in the organization.

In the future, I hope that PCW would employ young and dynamic feminist lawyers who are passionate in ensuring that we will respect and uphold human rights, gender equality and rule of law in this country.

As I train Public Prosecutors from different parts of the country on the Gender Sensitive Manner of handling cases, I often hear them express their disgust on how some judges decide cases. Many Prosecutors raise the questionable manner by which some judges decide cases especially on Trafficking in Persons under Republic Act 9208 and also RA 9262, the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004.

Some Prosecutors label the Family Court Judges before whom they appear to be "arrogant, despotic and gender insensitive."  They tell me that they do not intend to file administrative cases as this would only disrupt further the flow of cases they handle. They expressed that they only desire for the judges to change their attitude in handling cases.

Pursuant to the advocacy of the Transformative Justice Institute on "Truth Telling"  and "Enhancing the Communication Between the Judiciary and the Citizenry", which was part of the Blueprint of Action for Judicial Reform,  I have raised this concern to the Office of the Court Administrator, OCAD.
 The Honorable Supreme Court Administrator, Midas Marquez assured me that he is going to talk with the Judge mentioned by some Public Prosecutors. 

The Public Prosecutors also requested for a government entity to conduct regular research and monitoring to be able to establish  patterns of how gender insensitive and unresponsive are some orders and decisions of some judges. Many orders and decisions they say are highly questionable.

We are of course aware that under our jurisdiction once an accused is acquitted from cases, the People of the Philippines could no longer appeal due to the rule on double jeopardy. This rule however results in tremendous miscarriage of justice especially in cases involving women and children.

It is really sad that we hear of many stories that some accused are acquitted for several reasons and considerations. Several complainants have raised their Complaints to the UNCEDAW in the manner their cases were handled by trial court judges. UNCEDAW in a Communication involving the case of Karen Vertido found that the Philippine government is remiss in properly training the trial Judge who resorted to stereotyping in making the decision.

Now that there is an increase in the budget of the Judiciary we expect that proper trainings for Judges and Justices to become gender sensitive and responsive shall be carried out. Hopefully, the GAD Budget of the Judiciary shall be put to use in accordance with laws.

Public Prosecutors are willing to share stories of decided cases to Researchers and Monitors from the PCW.  There can be analyses of the whole record of decided cases to check on the pattern of some judges. The Legal group from PCW may also review decided cases by the Supreme Court and analyze how some “sexist language” continue to persist in their decisions. Of course we are all aware that lower courts oftentimes quote Supreme Court decisions.

The PCW can share its analyses of decided cases with the Philippine Judicial Academy,PHILJA, tasked in educating Justices, Judges and court personnel. Indeed, there is an urgency on the need to strengthen the Philippine Commission on Women. Let us all join hands in ensuring that this will be realized the soonest possible time.

The book of Psalm Chapter 103 verse 6 states: The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Dory Cruz Avisado
8-1-15