Article 39Labor and Agrarian Laws and Social Legislation, p. 39

LABOR LAWS AND SOCIAL LEGISLATION SPECIAL LAWS AND IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

States and other duty-bearers are answerable for the

observance of human rights. They have to comply with

the legal norms and standards enshrined in international

human

rights

instruments

in

accordance

with

the

Philippine

Constitution.

Where

they

fail

to

do

so,

aggrieved

rights-holders

are

entitled

to

institute

proceedings for appropriate redress before a competent

court or other adjudicator in accordance with the rules

and procedures provided by law.

CHAPTER II DEFINITION OF TERMS

Section 4. Definitions . - For purposes of this Act, the

following terms shall mean:

(a)

"Women

Empowerment"

refers

to

the

provision,

availability, and accessibility of opportunities, services,

and observance of human rights which enable women to

actively

participate

and

contribute

to

the

political,

economic, social, and cultural development of the nation

as well as those which shall provide them equal access to

ownership, management, and control of production, and

of material and informational resources and benefits in

the family, community, and society.

(b)

"Discrimination

Against

Women"

refers

to

any

gender-based distinction, exclusion, or restriction which

has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the

recognition,

enjoyment,

or

exercise

by

women,

irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of

men and women, of human rights and fundamental

freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil,

or any other field.

It includes any act or omission, including by law; policy,

administrative

measure,

or

practice,

that

directly or

indirectly excludes or restricts women in the recognition

and promotion of their rights and their access to and

enjoyment of opportunities, benefits, or privileges.

A

measure

or

practice

of

general

application

is

discrimination against women if it fails to provide for

mechanisms to offset or address sex or gender-based

disadvantages or limitations of women, as a result of

which women are denied or restricted in the recognition

and protection of their rights and in their access to and

enjoyment of opportunities, benefits, or privileges; or

women, more than men, are shown to have suffered the

greater adverse effects of those measures or practices.

Provided , finally , That discrimination compounded by or

intersecting with other grounds, status, or condition, such

as ethnicity, age, poverty, or religion shall be considered

discrimination against women under this Act.

(c) "Marginalization" refers to a condition where a whole

category

of

people

is

excluded

from

useful

and

meaningful participation in political, economic, social,

and cultural life.

(d) "Marginalized" refers to the basic, disadvantaged, or

vulnerable persons or groups who are mostly living in

poverty and have little or no access to land and other

resources, basic social and economic services such as

health care, education, water and sanitation, employment

and

livelihood

opportunities, housing, social security,

physical infrastructure; and the justice system.

These include, but are not limited to, women in the

following sectors and groups:

(1) "Small Farmers and Rural Workers" refers to those who

are engaged directly or indirectly in small farms and

forest

areas,

workers

in

commercial

farms

and

plantations,

whether

paid

or

unpaid,

regular

or

season-bound. These shall include. but are not limited to,

(a) small farmers who own or are still amortizing for lands

that

is

not

more

than

three

(3)

hectares,

tenants,

leaseholders, and stewards; and (b) rural workers who are

either

wage

earners,

self-employed,

unpaid

family

workers directly and personally engaged in agriculture,

small-scale mining, handicrafts, and other related farm

and off-farm activities;

(2)

"Fisherfolk"

refers

to

those

directly

or

indirectly

engaged in taking, culturing, or processing fishery or

aquatic resources. These include, but are not to be limited

to,

women engaged in fishing in municipal waters,

coastal and marine areas, women workers in commercial

fishing and aquaculture, vendors and processors of fish

and coastal products, and subsistence producers such as

shell-gatherers, managers, and producers of mangrove

resources, and other related producers:

(3) "Urban Poor" refers to those residing in urban and

urbanizable slum or blighted areas, with or without the

benefit of security of abode, where the income of the

head of the family cannot afford in a sustained manner to

provide for the family's basic needs of food, health,

education, housing, and other essentials in life;

(4) "Workers in the Formal Economy" refers to those who

are employed by any person acting directly or indirectly

in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee

and shall include the government and all its branches,

subdivisions,

and

instrumentalities,

all

government-

owned and -controlled corporations and institutions, as

well as nonprofit private institutions or organizations;

(5)

"Workers

in

the

Informal

Economy"

refers

to

self-employed,

occasionally

or

personally

hired,

subcontracted,

paid

and

unpaid

family

workers

in

household incorporated and unincorporated enterprises,

including

home

workers,

micro-entrepreneurs

and

producers, and operators of sari-sari stores and all other

categories who suffer from violation of workers' rights:

(6) "Migrant Workers" refers to Filipinos who are to be

engaged, are engaged, or have been engaged in a

remunerated activity in a State of which they are not legal

residents, whether documented or undocumented;

(7) "Indigenous Peoples" refers to a group of people or

homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and

ascription

by other, who have continuously lived as

organized

community on communally bounded and

defined

territory,

and

who

have,

under

claims

of

ownership since time immemorial, occupied; possessed

customs, tradition, and other distinctive cultural traits, or

who have, through resistance to political, social, and

cultural inroads of colonization, non- indigenous religions

and culture, became historically differentiated from the

majority of Filipinos. They shall likewise include peoples

who are regarded as indigenous on account of their

descent

from

the

populations

which

inhabited

the

country, at the dime of conquest or colonization, or at the

time of inroads of non-indigenous religions and cultures,

or the establishment of present state boundaries, who

retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural,

and

political

institutions,

but

who

may

have

been

displaced from their traditional domains or who may

have resettled outside their ancestral domains as defined

under Section 3(h), Chapter II of Republic Act No. 8371,

otherwise known as "The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act

of 1997" (IPRA of 1997);

(8) "Moro" refers to native peoples who have historically

inhabited Mindanao, Palawan, and Sulu, and who are

largely of the Islamic faith;

(9) "Children" refers to those who are below eighteen (18)

years of age or over but are unable to fully take care of

themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect,

cruelty,

exploitation,

or

discrimination

because

of

a

physical or mental disability or condition;

(10) "Senior Citizens" refers to those sixty (60) years of age

and above;

(11) "Persons with Disabilities" refers to those who are

suffering from restriction or different abilities, as a result

of a mental, physical, or sensory impairment to perform

an activity in the manner or within the range considered

normal for a human being; and

(12) "Solo Parents" refers to those who fall under the

category of a solo parent defined under Republic Act No.

8972, otherwise known as the "Solo Parents Welfare Act

of 2000".

(e) "Substantive Equality" refers to the full and equal

enjoyment of rights and freedoms contemplated under

© Compiled By RGL

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