On the eve of Mother’s Day, Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. filed two bills seeking to provide greater benefits to unwed mothers and single pregnant employees.
Senate Bill 769 proposes to provide maternity leave benefits to all pregnant women, regardless of their marital status.
If passed, the bill would amend Article 133 of the Labor Code of the Philippines which states that only married women are eligible for the maternity leave benefit.
In Senate Bill 794, Villar proposed to grant unmarried women with children the same basic personal exemptions and additional exemptions for dependents as those enjoyed by married women.
The passage of this bill would also amend certain provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code which provides minimal exemptions for single unmarried women.
Under the present law, a single unmarried woman who falls under the category of head of the family is entitled to a basic personal exemption of P25,000 only.
"This restricts the woman’s economic viability and adds more strain to her already difficult situation of providing for the financial needs of her child or children single-handedly. We have to be attuned to the changing needs of our people," Villar said.
Villar’s bill proposes to raise the basic personal exemption to P32,000 and adds an additional exemption of P8,000 for each dependent.
In filing the two bills, Villar explained that he is not encouraging pregnancy out of wedlock or single motherhood.
"I only acknowledge the fact that times are changing and we have to provide for the needs of Filipinas who are single mothers. A mother is a mother whether she is single or married," Villar said.
"Most unwed or single mothers are working women who enjoy the same privileges given to married female employees especially when it comes to maternity leave benefits," he added.
He argued that the health of all women during their pregnancy and delivery period should be ensured without depriving them of the opportunity to work and earn a living.
Meanwhile, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago presented her own Mother’s Day gift: A bill calling for the establishment of a national folic acid education program for would-be mothers.
Under Senate Bill 1497 filed by the senator, the Secretary of Health would be mandated to "carry out a program to educate women of reproductive capacity on the importance of taking a daily dietary supplement containing an appropriate level of folic acid to prevent infant birth defects."
Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate, a vitamin that is found naturally in green leafy vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains which has been found to reduce the risk of infant birth defects when taken daily by pregnant women as part of their dietary supplement.
Santiago said that the DOH could encourage food manufacturers to fortify with folic acid food products such as bread, instant noodles and juices and to endorse these products by giving them their stamp of approval.
She added that the DOH could also provide folic acid supplements for the low-income child-bearers. "Because almost 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned or incorrectly timed, it is important that women of reproductive capacity take folic acid even if they are not pregnant if there are reasonable chances that they may become pregnant soon," Santiago said.
Citing data from the DOH, Santiago noted that cleft lips and palates are among the top 12 birth defects in the country.
On an annual basis, more than 4,000 babies are born with cleft lips, palates or both.
"I know that the government is severely cash-strapped at present but that’s not a reason to ignore basic social services. If the government can religiously pay our foreign debts, then all the more that it should use much-needed funds for programs such as the (folic acid campaign)," Santiago said.