I first read about the harassment of a Filipina by EDSA Shangrila Hotel security at Marcelle’s blog before he removed it (Fortunately, I got a Google cache and you can read the full entry below the cut). You can read the comments that still continue to come in.

I recalled my sister who experienced the same harassment twenty years ago when she visited my father in Manila Garden. At that time, we were still building a house in Manila since our main home was Cebu. Before she could enter the elevator, she was stopped. In the same manner as Cleo, she spoke in English (being a Cebuano) because she was not fluent in Tagalog. My sister was very humiliated and insulted while my father raised hell with the hotel staff.

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President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on August signed into law the measure prohibiting discrimination against women, and recognizing and promoting their rights.

Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women, signed at the Heroes Hall in Malacañang Palace, ensures women’s equitable participation and representation in government, political parties, international bodies, civil service and the private sector.

RA 9710 recognizes and protects women’s rights at home, at work and in all spheres of society toward developing all aspects of their well-being. Its most salient features include increasing the number of women personnel until they fill half of third-level positions in the government, setting up in every barangay (village) a “violence against women’s desk,” providing incentives to parties with women’s agenda and barring the derogatory portrayal of women in media and film.

The new law’s most “empowering provision” is its recognition that “women’s rights are human rights,” Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Leila de Lima told reporters after the 10 a.m. signing.
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