DAVAO CITYGabriela Womens Partylist called today all institutions and offices to implement full protection for women in their workplaces after the Supreme Court recently decided in favor of the fired woman due to her pregnancy in 1995.
The group, however, said Labor Code provisions regarding this matter are easily being skirted off by most companies by hiring single women.
This, the group claims, is a common policy opted by companies in order to avoid shelling out additional benefits for maternal heath care and other privileges given to pregnant employees.
Prof. Luz Ilagan, GWP national chair and second nominee, said that they have recorded several cases of employees in privated establishments fired because of discovered pregnancy.
Even in the government offices, married women have less work opportunities, Ilagan said. The Mindanao woman leader said that pregnant women employed in government offices who are not married cannot avail of their reproductive health rights like maternity leave and prenatal check-ups.
Filipino women, Ilagan said, suffer more under the growing economic crisis for they have been increasingly marginalized and discriminated against especially in terms of employment.
Our party has deeply understood why women have been victimized in human trafficking and other desperate forms of livelihood. However, this is an alarming condition that government must take concrete action to rectify, Ilagan said.
Women have the right to employment and sustainable income like all other citizens. Their being women must not negate their role in the national production and development, Ilagan said.#
Gender Issues
