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Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination measures: Sen. Imee Marcos presides over the Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development public hearing Wednesday, May 8, 2024, on Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination bills filed by Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, Senators Grace Poe, Robinhood Padilla and herself. Marcos said that despite various laws regarding anti-discrimination, discriminatory practices are still rampant and are affecting thousands of Filipinos such as forms of cruelty primarily because of misconceptions and ignorance, among others. She cited several international laws and conventions which protect all persons being born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set out therein, without distinction of any kind, in particular as to race, colour or national origin. She stressed that the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) adopted by the United Nations in 1979 is the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive rights of women and targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations. It affirms women’s rights to acquire, change or retain their nationality and the nationality of their children. The senator stressed that the bills seek to uphold the right to equality “and prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, sex, civil status, color, economic status, ethnicity, physical condition, physical disability, political opinion or affiliation, race, or religious belief.” (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)