Flowers for Lolas
Atty. Dennis Gorecho
Philippines’ violations of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
The United Nations Committee on Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) found the Philippines remiss in its obligations under the convention in four instances, the latest reflected in the 2023 decision on Filipina comfort women Malaya Lolas.
The CEDAW, adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women that mandates the elimination of discrimination against women in political, economic, social, cultural, and civil fields
The Philippines ratified CEDAW in 1981, the first ASEAN country to do so. In 2003 the
Philippines ratified the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.
On International Women’s Day of March 8, 2023, a CEDAW decision was released which found that the “Philippines violated the rights of victims of sexual slavery perpetrated by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War by failing to provide reparation, social support and recognition commensurate with the harm suffered.”
The CEDAW Committee pointed out that the Philippine government had failed to adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to prohibit all discrimination against women and protect women’s rights on an equal basis with men.
It noted that while Philippine war veterans, who are mostly men, are entitled to special and esteemed treatment from the government, such as health care benefits, old age, disability and death pensions, there was no such action with the comfort women.
The Committee recommended that the victims must be provided with “full reparation, including recognition and redress, an official apology, and material and moral damages” proportionate to the physical, psychological, and material damage suffered by them and the gravity of the violation of their rights experienced.
The March 8, 2023 decision is the fourth one that found the Philippines remiss in its CEDAW obligations.
Two of these cases, KTV vs Philippines ( July 16, 2010 ) and RPB vs. Philippines (February 21, 2014) pertain to the reliance on gender stereotypes and rape myths in deciding cases of rape as forms of discrimination against women, in particular, lack of resistance and consent on behalf of the rape victim and the use of force and intimidation by the perpetrator.
In KTV vs Philippines, the judge acquitted the accused on the assumption that a woman would have physically resisted more if she were truly being raped.
In RPB vs. Philippines, the court failed to provide effective interpreter for the victim who is a 17-year-old deaf and mute.
The Committee ordered the Philippines to ensure that court officials are trained to handle cases involving women without gender bias.
Despite the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 and the Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998, numerous rape complaints are dismissed by prosecutors and judges, showing that many rape survivors are not given credence and are denied justice. CEDAW recommended that the Philippine anti-rape law should center on the lack of consent as the core of the definition of rape.
The third decision (April 22, 2015) was a response to the request for inquiry on grave and systemic violations of women’s human rights in the City of Manila as a result of the denial of reproductive health and rights services and commodities. The Committee demanded the government revoke the restrictive orders, provide comprehensive contraceptive access, and legalize emergency contraception.
In response to the recent comfort women decision , the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) recommended certain actions in its advisory issued on February 19, 2026.
The CHR said that Congress must enact legislation establishing a State-sanctioned, nationwide
reparations and compensation scheme for victims of war crimes, including survivors of wartime sexual slavery, consistent with the Committee’s call for full reparation, including financial compensation proportionate to the physical, psychological, and material harm suffered, and equal access to recognition and social benefits.
The Executive branch and concerned policy-making bodies must review, amend, and remove restrictive and discriminatory provisions in existing laws, policies, and programs that limit access to redress for civilian victims of war, particularly survivors of wartime sexual violence and sexual slavery, in compliance with CEDAW standards on non-discrimination and substantive equality.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) must integrate the history of wartime sexual slavery and the Malaya Lolas into higher education curricula, and provide faculty training on survivor-centered, gender-responsive, and human rights-based teaching approaches
The CHR advisory was issued days before the death of one of the comfort women, Lola Lola Pacita Alcazaren of Capiz who died February 26, 2028. She just celebrated her 100th birthday last December 8, 2025.
( Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0908-8665786)