Art XV

SECTION 1. The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation.
Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development.

Art XI

SECTION 12. The Ombudsman and his Deputies, as protectors of the people, shall act
promptly on complaints filed in any form or manner against public officials or employees of the
Government, or any subdivision, agency or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned
or controlled corporations, and shall, in appropriate cases, notify the complainants of the action
taken and the result thereof.

CEDAW

Article 16
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all
matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of
men and women:
(a) The same right to enter into marriage;

(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full
consent;

(c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;

(d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters relating
to their children; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;

(e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to
have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights;

(f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of
children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the interests
of the children shall be paramount;

(g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a family name, a
profession and an occupation;

(h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management,
administration, enjoyment and disposition of property, whether free of charge or for a valuable
consideration.

2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including
legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of
marriages in an official registry compulsory.
RA 7192

Sec. 5. Equality in Capacity to Act. Women of legal age, regardless of civil status,
shall have the capacity to act and enter into contracts which shall in every respect be equal
to that of men under similar circumstances.
In all contractual situations where married men have the capacity to act, married women
shall have equal rights.

To this end:

(1) Women shall have the capacity to borrow and obtain loans and execute security and
credit arrangement under the same conditions as men;
.
(2) Women shall have equal access to all government and private sector programs
granting agricultural credit, loans and non-material resources and shall enjoy equal
treatment in agrarian reform and land resettlement programs;

(3) Women shall have equal rights to act as incorporators and enter into insurance
contracts; and

(4) Married women shall have rights equal to those of married men in applying for
passport, secure visas and other travel documents, without need to secure the consent of
their spouses.

In all other similar contractual relations, women shall enjoy equal rights and shall have the
capacity to act which shall in every respect be equal to those of men under similar
circumstances.
.
Sec. 6. Equal Membership in Clubs. Women shall enjoy equal access to membership
in all social, civic and recreational clubs, committees, associations and similar other
organizations devoted to public purpose. They shall be entitled to the same rights and
privileges accorded to their spouses if they belong to the same organization.

Sec. 7. Admission to Military Schools. Any provision of the law to the contrary
notwithstanding, consistent with the needs of the services, women shall be accorded equal
opportunities for appointment, admission, training, graduation and commissioning in all
military or similar schools of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National
Police not later than the fourth academic year following the approval of this Act in
accordance with the standards required for men except for those minimum essential
adjustments required by physiological differences between sexes.

Sec. 8. Voluntary Pag-IBIG, GSIS and SSS Coverage. Married persons who devote
full time to managing the household and family affairs shall, upon the working spouse's
consent, be entitled to voluntary Pag-IBIG (Pagtutulungan Ikaw, Bangko, Industriya at
Gobyerno), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) or Social Security System (SSS)
coverage to the extent of one-half (1/2) of the salary and compensation of the working
spouse. The contributions due thereon shall be deducted from the salary of the working
spouse.
The GSIS or the SSS, as the case may be, shall issue rules and regulations necessary to
effectively implement the provisions of this section.

Art 4 1987 Phil. Constitution

SECTION 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:

(1) Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this
Constitution;

(2) Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;

(3) Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine
citizenship upon reaching the age of majority; and

(4) Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.

SECTION 2. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from
birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship.
Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance with paragraph (3), Section 1
hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.

SECTION 3. Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the manner provided by

law.

SECTION 4. Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain their citizenship,
unless by their act or omission they are deemed, under the law, to have renounced it.

SECTION 5. Dual allegiance of citizens is inimical to the national interest and shall be
dealt with by law.
Republic Act 8171
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE REPATRIATION OF FILIPINO WOMEN WHO HAVE
LOST THEIR PHILIPPINE CITIZENSHIP BY MARRIAGE TO ALIENS AND OF
NATURAL-BORN FILIPINOS.

Section 1. Filipino women who have lost their Philippine citizenship by marriage to aliens
and natural-born Filipinos who have lost their Philippine citizenship, including their minor
children, on account of political or economic necessity, may reacquire Philippine citizenship
through repatriation in the manner provided in Section 4 of Commonwealth Act No. 63, as
amended: Provided, That the applicant
is not a:

(1) Person opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group
of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing organized government;
(2) Person defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault,
or associatEon for the predominance of their ideas;
(3) Person convictad of crimes involving moral turpitude; or
(4) Person suffering from mental alienation or incurablecontagious diseases.

Sec. 2. Repatriation shall be effected by taking the necessary oath of allegiance to the
Republic of the Philippines and registration in the proper civil registry and in the Bureau or
Immigration. The Bureau of Immigration shall thereupon cancel the pertinent alien
certificate of registration and issue the certificate of identification as Filipino citizen to the
repatriated citizen.

Sec. 3. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof inconsistent with
this Act are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

Sec. 4. This Act shall take effect thirty (30) days after its publication in a newspaper of
general circulation.

RA 9139

Section 12. Status of Alien Husband and Minor Children. - If the applicant is a married woman, the
approval of her petition for administrative naturalization will not benefit her alien husband but her
minor children may file a petition for cancellation of their alien certificates of registration with the BI
subject to the requirements of existing laws.
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Article 7

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the
political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms with men,
the right:
(a) To vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for election to all publicly elected
bodies;

(b) To participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold
public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government;

(c) To participate in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and
political life of the country.

Article 9
1. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality.
They shall ensure in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband
during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon
her the nationality of the husband.

2. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children.

General recommendation No. 21

9. Domicile is a concept in common law countries referring to the country in which a person intends to
reside and to whose jurisdiction she will submit. Domicile is originally acquired by a child through its
parents but, in adulthood, denotes the country in which a person normally resides and in which she
intends to reside permanently. As in the case of nationality, the examination of States parties reports
demonstrates that a woman will not always be permitted at law to choose her own domicile. Domicile,
like nationality, should be capable of change at will by an adult woman regardless of her marital status.
Any restrictions on a womans right to choose a domicile on the same basis as a man may limit her
access to the courts in the country in which she lives or prevent her from entering and leaving a country
freely and in her own right. 10. Migrant women who live and work temporarily in another country
should be permitted the same rights as men to have their spouses, partners and children join them.
CEDAW Article I

For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "discrimination against women" shall mean any
distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex 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.

Attorney General of Botswana v. Unity Dow (sometimes abbreviated Attorney General v. Dow)
was a High Court case in the Republic of Botswana. The plaintiff, Unity Dow, was a citizen of
Botswana, married to a non-citizen, whose children had been denied citizenship under a provision of
the Citizenship Act of 1984. This Act conferred citizenship on a child born in Botswana only if "a) his
father was a citizen of Botswana; or b) in the case of a person born out-of-wedlock, his mother was a
citizen of Botswana." The plaintiff claimed that this provision violated guarantees of the Constitution
of Botswana. The High Court agreed, holding that the provision infringed:

the right to liberty;

the right not to be expelled from Botswana;
the right not to be subjected to degrading treatment; and
the right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex.
The Court concluded that the right to liberty had been infringed because the provision hampered a
woman's free choice to marry a non-citizen and, in fact, undermined marriage. The Court also
decided that the right not to be expelled from Botswana was infringed because, if the plaintiff's
resident permit was not renewed, she would be forced to leave Botswana if she desired to stay with
her family. Finally, the Court stated that the right not to be subjected to degrading treatment was
infringed because any law discriminating against women constitutes an offense against human
dignity.
This decision was subsequently upheld by the Botswana Court of Appeal.