65. Affirmative measures also exist to respond to the particular needs of women in the workplace. Maternity protection has long beén provided to women. Recent jegislation, RA 8187 or the 1996 Paternity Leave Act, also grants paternity leave for men on the occasion of childbirth of their spouses. Article 132 of the Labor Code requires employers to provide women with certain facilities like separate toilet rooms and dressing rooms. 66. The Anti-Sexual Harassment Act protects employed women from harassment and penalizes discriminatory acts committed against them. 67. Education is a basic right of every Filipino male and female alike. In 2000, simple literacy rates for women and men 10 years old or older are almost equal at 92.3 per cent and 92.0 per cent, respectively, ora gender gap of 0.3 per centage point. 68. The Government has also ensured that women's rights in securing travel documents, specifically, the passport, are upheld, Guidelines of issuance of passports to women as stipulated in the Philippine Passport Act of 1996 do not require that women seek the consent of their husbands for their application for said document. submission The guidelines of pertinent documents only require to establish the Life expectancy of females has the use of the gender and development approach for project development, creation of services to deal with problems of physical and sexual abuses as well as other reproductive health issues, and the provision of credit, livelihood skills, and information to enhance women’s economic productivity. 73. The Philippine Government also puts high priority on the transformation of society's attitudes and values towards the recognition of the equal roles, rights and responsibilities of women and men. In this connection, it has adopted three development plans for women since 1989. The Philippine Development Plan for Women (GAD) 1989-1992 recognized the shared responsibility implement of programs government for women's agencies to advancement. Agencies created Gender and Development focal points to coordinate plan implementation and lead the capacity building mainstreaming. 74. Meanwhile, Development the of the agency Philippine 1995-2025 (PPGD), Plan was for gender for Gender deliberately long-term in perspective and was envisioned to inform medium-term plans, such as the Framework Plan for Women (FPW), whose objectives, programs and projects are set for a shorter period. FPW aims to civil or marital status of women applicants, 69. blueprint for the review and development of gender responsive programs by the different government agencies. These include, among others, training in always been higher than males in the Philippines (71.28 years for females in 1999 compared to 66.03 years for males promote the economic empowerment of women while upholding and protecting women’s human rights in the context of gender-responsive governance. for the same year). 70. The Philippines has maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 190 per 100,000 in 1970 afd 179.7 in 1995. The 75. The Philippine GAD Budget Policy, enshrined in the annual budget law, requires the use of five per cent of every agency's budget to implement its MMR plans under the PPGD and FPW. The National Council in 1991-97 estimated from Survey (NDHS). 71. In the is 1998 1998 172 per 100,000 National live births Demographic as Health NDHS, maternal deaths were pregnancy, at childbirth, or in the period after childbirth. Filipino women also face 4 one-in-100 chance of dying of maternal causes in their lifetime. Maternal deaths are higher in poor rural and isolated areas and poor urban communities. 72. Since 1986, the Philippine Government, through the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, has actively pursued various programs to ensure the effective the Role of Filipino Women, with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), estimated to be 14 per cent of all deaths of women ages 15-49. Approximately 2 women for every 1,000 live birth die during on implementation Philippine Plan for Gender of laws for women, Responsive The Development, 1995-2025, formulated in 1995, has served as the are tasked to monitor the implementation of the FPW and the budget policy. From 1999 to 2003, an average of 130 out of the 335 national GAD plan submissions from departments and their attached agencies were received by NCRFW. Article 4 76. The Philippine Government does not subject the rights provided under the Covenant to any limitations other than those determined by law. Such limitations - where they exist —- are compatible with the nature of these rights and are solely for the purpose of promoting the general welfare in a free society, PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT'S 2ND TO 4TH PERIODIC REPORT 69