By Fel V. Maragay

The death of a women?s rights leader prompted the Senate to hasten the approval of a bill that aims to protect the Filipino women from all forms of gender discrimination and abuse.

The Senate Wednesday night approved on second reading Senate Bill 1701, known as the ?Magna Carta for Women,? which has been languishing in the chamber since the 12th Congress.

The landmark bill hurdled the legislative mill a week after Ester Tina, president of the national association of home-based workers, died in a vehicular accident while on her way to the Senate to lobby for its approval.

?Indeed the bill was fought with the blood of women,? said Senator Jamby Madrigal, chairman of the committee on youth, women and family relations shortly before the approval of the measure.

Madrigal said various groups, which she described as ?right-wing Catholic forces,? have blocked the passage of the bill in Congress for the past seven years.

?This is a very important bill because it guarantees the basic rights of women and provide them with necessary protection against discrimination and abuse,? she explained.

?This is a milestone legislation in defending the human rights of the poor women who have no access to proper health care, who are marginalized and victims of discrimination and abuse.?

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the bill revises the discriminatory provisions against women in various existing laws.

Enrile said these unwanted provisions are found in the Family Code pertaining to a husband?s decision prevailing over the wife?s disagreement involving conjugal property and in cases of parental authority and legal guardianship over the person and property of a common child.

?There are also provisions in the Labor Code and the Revised Penal Code that have been amended, such as the provision covering night work prohibition for women workers, and the Anti-Rape Law, which defines marital rape and its penalties,? the Senate president said.