The House of Representatives’ committee on women and gender equality has endorsed for plenary approval a bill to increase the maternity leave period to 100 days with pay and an option to extend for an additional 30 days without pay for female workers.
“The bill reached second reading in the House and a version of the bill from the Senate was passed and transmitted for concurrence during the 16th Congress,” said Diwa Rep. Emmeline Aglipay-Villar who chairs the committee.
The measure aims to protect the maternal and postnatal health of female employees as well as the welfare of the child.
Once passed, House Bill 4113 or the “100-Day Maternity Leave Law” will also assure the security of tenure to female workers who will receive not less than two-thirds of their regular monthly wages while on maternity leave.
Elizabeth Angsioco, national chairperson of the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines and one of the resource persons during the committee hearing, said the existing maternity leave benefit of 60 to 78 days was extremely inadequate.
“We belong to a group of countries with the shortest maternity leaves in the whole world based on the International Labor Organization resources,” she said.