Senator Risa Hontiveros has said that the legislative bicameral committee tasked to reconcile the Senate and the House of Representatives’ versions of the Expanded Maternity Bill Law successfully concluded its conference on Monday.
The bicameral version of the law provides the following: 105 days of paid maternity leave credits to all working mothers, of which 7 days (daddy quota) are transferable to fathers, and an additional 15 days additional to solo mothers, for a total of 120 days.
The law applies to all instance of pregnancies, removing the four-pregnancy cap.
The reconciled version of the bill will now be submitted to the Senate and House of Representatives for ratification. The ratified version will then be signed by the President into law.
In the House of Representative, the Gabriela Women’s Party lauded the approval of the bicameral version of the expanded maternity leave bill as it kicked off the month-long #PinkOctober campaign for women’s health.
“This is a very positive start of our #PinkOctober campaign that seeks to highlight women’s health. This is proof of women’s resounding call for lawmakers to increase the current 60-day maternity leave period for normal delivery, which is way below the international minimum standard of 98 days,” said Gabriela party-list Rep. Emmi de Jesus, member of the bicameral conference committee on the proposed maternity leave bill.
“At a time when women workers are increasingly crushed by the pressure of making ends meet amid rising prices, a longer paid maternity period is one of the few positive things that the government can enact,” De Jesus added.
At the bicameral meeting Monday, de Jesus argued that the Social Security System (SSS) should be able to cover the additional maternity benefits for female employees in the private sector without hiking the workers’ contributions by an estimated 0.3 or 0.4 percent.
“The SSS should not use the expanded maternity leave as justification for a contribution that will further cut the take-home pay of our workers. The state pension fund should address its inefficient collection, failed investments, and foregone revenues from loans instead of depriving mothers of longer maternity leave period” de Jesus added.
Gabriela also lauded the improved provision in the bicameral version on penalties of at least P20,000 for the non-conferment of the expanded maternity leave to employees, from the original minimum penalty of P5,000 in the Senate version.