QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 7192)
Republic Act No. 7192 is cited as the “Women in Development and Nation Building Act.”
The State recognizes the role of women in nation building and ensures equality before the law and equal rights/opportunities. It provides that: (1) a substantial portion of official development assistance funds shall be set aside for programs/activities for women; (2) all government departments must ensure equal benefit and direct participation of women in development programs/projects (especially those funded under foreign development assistance); and (3) agencies must review and revise regulations, circulars, issuances, and procedures to remove gender bias.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
NEDA shall determine and recommend the amount to be allocated for development activities involving women.
An assessment of the extent to which programs/projects integrate women in the development process and the impact of such programs/projects on women, including implications in enhancing women’s self-reliance and improving their income.
NEDA (with assistance from the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women) must collect sex-disaggregated data and include such data in program/project papers, proposals, or strategies.
Programs/projects should be designed so the percentage of women who receive assistance is approximately proportionate to either their traditional participation in targeted activities or their proportion of the population, whichever is higher. If not, the program/project paper must state: the obstacles, the steps being taken to overcome them, and if not being taken, why not.
It requires the active participation of women and women’s organizations in development programs/projects, including involvement in planning, design, implementation, management, monitoring, and evaluation.
Women of legal age, regardless of civil status, have capacity to act and enter into contracts equal to men under similar circumstances. Married women must have equal rights where married men have such capacity.
Examples include: (1) women can borrow and obtain loans and execute security/credit arrangements under the same conditions as men; (2) women have equal access to government and private agricultural credit, loans, and nonmaterial resources and equal treatment in agrarian reform and land resettlement programs; (3) women have equal rights as incorporators and can enter into insurance contracts; and (4) married women have equal rights to apply for passports, secure visas and other travel documents without needing spousal consent.
Yes. Women must have equal access to membership in all social, civic, and recreational clubs/committees/associations devoted to public purpose, and they are entitled to the same rights and privileges as their spouses if they belong to the same organization.
Consistent with the needs of service, women must be accorded equal opportunities for appointment, admission, training, graduation, and commissioning in all military or similar schools of the AFP and PNP, not later than the fourth academic year following approval of the Act, subject only to minimum essential adjustments due to physiological differences.
Married persons who devote full time to managing the household and family affairs may, upon the working spouse’s consent, obtain voluntary Pag-IBIG, GSIS, or SSS coverage to the extent of one-half (1/2) of the working spouse’s salary/compensation, with contributions deducted from the working spouse’s salary.
NEDA, in consultation with concerned government agencies, must issue rules and regulations necessary to implement Sections 2, 3, and 4 within six (6) months from the Act’s effectivity.
Within six (6) months from effectivity and every six (6) months thereafter, all government departments and their agencies/instrumentalities must submit a report to Congress on their compliance with the Act.
Separability: invalidity of any section provision does not affect the remaining enforceable provisions. Repeal: inconsistent provisions of the Civil Code (RA 386), Family Code (EO 209), and other inconsistent laws/decrees/rules are repealed.