President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure providing additional leave benefits for employed mothers, Malacañang said Thursday.
Though the Palace has yet to release a signed copy of the measure, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed to Palace reporters that the President has signed the law, beating the 30-day deadline for the proposed measure to lapse into law.
Under the Expanded Maternity Leave Act, all working mothers in government and private sector will be granted 105 days of paid maternity leave credits, providing them an option to extend their leaves for another 30 days without pay.
They will also be given with seven days leave transferrable to fathers. It also doubles the allowed paternity leave to 14 days.
An additional 15 days will be granted to single mothers. The law applies to all instances of pregnancies, removing the four-pregnancy cap.
With the passage of the law, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo allayed concerns that its implementation would lead companies to hire fewer female workers.
“I don’t think so. The additional number of days in maternity leave, as well as the benefits, will only lessen the profits. The profits of employers are already large enough. It’s like, it would be their social service,” Panelo said in a Palace press briefing.
“Discrimination is prohibited to us. [If they discriminate against women] they will be accountable to that,” he said. “[Besides], Filipinos are family-oriented. These businessmen will understand.”
Senator Risa Hontiveros, a proponent of the measure, welcomed the development as a “massive victory” for women and their families.
“The law squarely addresses our lack of maternity leave days and puts us on a par with international standards. It also supports the best available evidence and practice which are consistent with improving maternity leave policy,” Hontiveros added.
Tingog party-list group first nominee and Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Kittilstvedt-Romualdez on Thursday said the new law should not be used as an excuse to discriminate women in the workplace as he praised President Duterte’s enactment of the measure.
“We should remain steadfast in fighting discrimination against women, especially [as] our Constitution recognizes the role of women in nation-building and promotes equality for them,” said Romualdez, one of the authors of the bill.
Romualdez also congratulated her colleagues in the House for approving the measure.
Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, a co-author of the measure, urged local governments to implement the law to the fullest as “they can exercise their powers on business permit renewal to make sure all enterprises in their jurisdictions comply with properly implement this new law.”
“Many women loyal, hardworking employees and some even hold key posts at our workplaces. Keeping them is good for business,” Herrera-Dy said.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin called the new law “a decisive win for women workers and social justice.”
“After 26 years of labor and birthing pains, women workers have successfully given life to a landmark legislation that upholds the rights, wealth, and health of our country’s workforce,” said Villarin.
“We look forward to the law’s immediate and full implementation so more Filipino families can avail of law’s health and economic benefits, as a matter of right,” Villarin added.
The country’s biggest labor group, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines also welcomed the signing of the 105-day Expanded Maternity Leave Law.
“By expanding the paid maternity leave benefits to 105 days, we have a win-win situation for both working mothers and their babies and for businesses. With the faithful enforcement of the law, the TUCP expects the next generation of Filipino workers to be healthier and more productive with the measure ensuring more protection for their working mothers who nurture them. We also envisage that these babies who will become the next generation of workers will, at the same time, being healthier translate into higher profits for employers and businesses,” the TUCP said.
Associated Labor Unions executive vice president Gerard Seno said the effectivity of the law will encourage other countries in neighboring Asian countries to ratify and enforce an expanded maternity convention in their own setting.
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“This would create a domino effect and compel other countries in the region to replicate and do the same to improve working and economic conditions for their own women workers. Ours will help convince employers to invest in the next generation of workers,” he added.
Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano also hailed the new law.
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“This measure is an acknowledgment of the dual role of women in society: as members of the work force and as mothers,” she said.
The principal author and sponsor of the expanded maternity bill in the House of Representatives, Cayetano also led the passage of the original version of the measure in the Senate back when she chaired the committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality in the 16th Congress.
