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THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
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SENATE 
S.B. No. 994 
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Introduced by Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada 
Explanatory Note 
SECTION 14, Article I1 of the Philippine Constitution explicitly stipulates the 
fundamental equality between women and men, recognizing the women’s role in nation 
building. In response to the United Nations Decade for Women (‘l976-1985), which 
focused the world’s attention on the situation of women as it brought to fore the various 
problems and issues confronting them in countries of various stages of development, 
the Philippine government ratified the United Nations Convention and the Elimination of 
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, one of the most important documents that 
resulted from the Women’s Decade. 
However, Filipino women, like other women all over the world, still continue to 
share essentially the same burden. They are confronted by a legacy of structures of 
inequality that are reinforced by structures and perceptions that produce a seemingly 
unending cycle. This situation retards the pace of their personal development, relegates 
them largely to the reproductive spheres of life, affords them minimal chances or fails to 
harness their full potential for national deveiopment. This cycle must be broken if 
women are to be effectively mobilized for development (PLAN FRAMEWORK of the 
Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025, National Commission 
on the Role of Filipino Women. 
’ 
Because of the under-valuation of women’s work, the tasks that are related to 
housework, child rearing and family care are largely taken for granted and perceived as 
minor functions that are once in a whjle given patronizing importance but are generally 
seen as “natural” functions that have no direct contributions to societal development. 
This situation is carried over to the public economic domain where women are 
the last to be hired and the first to be fired while at the same time receiving unequal pay 


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for work of equal value. In the private sector, the Department of Labor and Employment 
(DOLE) study shows a disparity of more than a thousand pesos per month between 
male and female workers, the gap increasing significantly from unskilled to managerial 
and supervisory levels (DOLE-Institute of Labor Studies, 1991 ). 
Unequal pay is further aggravated by different access to opportunities. Studies 
have shown, for instance, the females tend to be given limited access, relative to males, 
to training opportunities and concomitantly to promotions. A DOLE-ILS study in 1991 
found out that male workers receive training more frequently, have more fringe benefits, 
and are promoted more often than female workers. 
As the Philippines moves towards aiming for the full realization of gender- 
responsive development, legislation is needed to ensure that enabling mechanisms are 
created to fulfill the equality stipulated by the Constitution, as well the UN Convention on 
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which our government 
has committed to in its ratification. 
This Bill seeks to be one such mechanism, as it seeks to amend certain 
provisions of the Labor Code by expanding the prohibited acts of discrimination against 
women on account of their gender. 
In view of the foregoing, the immediate approval of this bill is sought in earnest. 


, a -  
THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
First Regular Session 
) 
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" J { \  
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Introduced by Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada 
AN ACT 
EXPANDING THE PROHIBITED ACTS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN ON 
ACCOUNT OF SEX, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE ARTICLES 135 AND 137 OF 
P.D. 442, AS AMMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LABOR CODE OF THE 
PHILIPPINES. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION I. Article 135 of the Labor Code, as amended, is hereby further 
amended to read as follows: 
"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 
of form of remuneration and fringe benefits, to a female employee 
as against a male employee, for work of equal value; [and] 
Favoring a male employee over a female employee with respect to 
promotion, ASSIGNMENT, training opportunities, study and 
scholarship grants solely on account of their sexes; 
(c) 
GIVING PREFERENCE TO A MALE EMPLOYEE OVER A 
FEMALE EMPLOYEE IN THE HfRlNG PROCESS, WHETHER 
THROUGH 
NOTICES, 
ANNOUNCEMENTS 
OR 
ADVERTISEMENTS 
FOR 
EMPLOYMENT 
AND 
APPRETICEMENTS 
FOR 
EMPLOYMENT 
AND 
APPRENTICESHIP OR IN THE ACTUAL RECRUITMENT, HIRING 
(b) 


OR EMPLOYMENT OF WORKERS WHERE THE PARTICULAR 
JOB CAN BE EQUALLY HANDLED BY A WOMAN; AND 
FAVORING A MALE EMPLOYEE OVER A FEMALE EMPLOYEE 
WITH RESPECT TO DISMISSAL OF PERSONNEL OR THE 
(d) 
APPLICATION OF THE FIRST IN - FIRST OUT OR OTHER 
RETRENCHMENT POLICY OF THE EMPLOYER.” 
SECTION 2. Article 137 of the Labor Code is hereby amended to read as 
follows: 
“Art. I37 Prohibited Acts. - (a) It shall be unlawful for any employer: 
(1) To.deny any woman employee the benefits provided for in this Chapter 
or to discharge any woman employed by him for the purpose of 
preventing her from enjoying any of the benefits provided under this 
Code; 
(2) To discharge such women on account of her pregnancy, or while on 
leave or in confinement due to her pregnancy; 
(3) To discharge or refuse the admission of such woman upon returning to 
her work for fear that she may again be pregnant; AND 
(4)TO DENY ANY WOMAN THE BENEFITS OF EMPLOYMENT OR 
OTHER STATUTORY BENEFITS UNDER OUR LAWS BY REASON 
OF HER GENDER.” 
SECTION 3. Within thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary 
of Labor and Employment, in consultation with the Tripartite Industrial Council, shall 
issue and publish the necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions of 
this Act. 
SECTION 4. All laws, executive orders, presidential decrees, presidential 
proclamations, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of 
this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete 
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of national 
circulation, whichever comes earlier. 
Approved,