While the rest of the country is talking about how former President Erap Estrada is slugging it out with Senator Panfilo Lacson, allow me to talk about one pressing issue that caught my attention. An article was forwarded to me on Facebook just this morning about how women are being unjustly treated by the schools here in the Philippines. Apparently the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines wants be exempted from several provisions of the Magna Carta law for Women. Based on the implementing rules and regulations of the said law, unwed mothers who are treated unfairly in schools (be it teachers or students), can file charges and claim damages. This is because we’ve had several cases already of students and teachers being dismissed from schools because they’re single mothers.
According to the article:
Monsignor Gerardo Santos, national president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), said the CEAP would ask that a provision on such an exemption be inserted into the new law’s implementing rules and regulations.
He said the chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), Emmanuel Angeles, has said he would support the CEAP’s participation in the writing of the IRR.
“It is important that we respect the religious affiliation of these institutions, the schools, or company the persons [concerned] belong to,” Santos told the CEAP national convention at the Manila Hotel.
Let me just express my disappointment over the position of the CEAP. Unwed single mothers have the same rights as any other person in the country. They should not be discriminated or persecuted. They already have the daunting task of raising their child alone and yet you want to make it even harder for them? I personally know a lot of single parents and I admire them for their tenacity and resilience. They work two-three times harder than the average person and the love that they have for their kids is just heart-melting. It’s sad that all of their sacrifices might get thrown out the door just because of them not being married.
I’m not saying that we should roll out the red carpet and attend to all the needs of single parents. I just don’t agree with the idea of making life even harder for them. Life is already difficult because of their circumstance and society wants to pull them down even further. It’s just so frustrating.
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buwis excempted…… pagbatikos s pamahalaan excempted….. pati ba naman sa Magna Carta for Women excempted pa rin, lahat na lang ng gusto nila libre. Sino ba nangangailangan ng pagkalinga ng mga alagad ng simbahan, di ba un minsan naligaw ng landas. Pag lahat ng nagkamali ay di bibigyan ng pagkakataong muling tumayo paano na kinabukasan ng anak nila. Parang sinabi na nila na pagnadapa ka huwag ka ng tumayo. Kaisa mo ko sa iyong pananaw.