From 1968 to 2008, four rice-producing provinces were sampled to study the link of farming and out-migration. Ms. Joyce Luis, Associate Scientist of the International Rice Research Institute, discussed that farming is the primary occupation of most households in the sampled rice-producing provinces. But some family members work off-farms abroad. The temporary migration of the male household-head transfers the responsibility on farm management to his wife. Consequently, the wife gains decision-making authority in the family and in the farm. Temporary migrant workers are more prevalent in rainfed farms than those in irrigated farms. Also, a higher proportion of females than males was observed to migrate. Ms. Jemelle Milanes, Planning Officer of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), spoke about the Magna Carta on Women. She discussed the provisions in the constitution that protect the rights and welfare of women. She stated that the Magna Carta guarantees the civil, political and economic rights of women, particularly in marginalized sectors. PCW is responsible for the overall monitoring and implementation of this law and is the primary policy-making and coordinating body to ensure women empowerment and gender equality in the country.

On the progress report of the indicators for MDG #3 (Gender Equality and Women Empowerment), Ms. Marites Lagarto, chief of the Social Development Staff Division of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), presented the different indicators used for monitoring the progress. The target in eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education used the following indicators: (1) ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary, and tertiary education, (2) share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector, (3) proportion of seats held by women in national parliament, and (4) ratio of literate females to males from 15–24 years old.

An open forum was conducted after the presentations. Suggestions were made regarding the disaggregation of women according to socio-economic status and age. A comment was also raised concerning the misleading statistics on the number of women taking the role of men in terms of financing the needs of the family. It was mentioned that gender equality should not be a concern in the Philippines since most women are already assuming positions in national institutions.

The RTD came up with these recommendations: (1) Gender dimensions should be mainstreamed in all the MDG progress monitoring reports; (2) MDGs should be linked to other international commitments such as CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA); (3) Age and socio-economic-disaggregated data should be used in the MDG assessment; and (4) Recommended indicators should be adopted by WAGI’s policy brief and recent data on women from the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey should be used.

The Roundtable Discussion on Millennium Development Goal #3: Gender Equality and Women Empowerment was organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology. The focal person for this RTD was National Scientist Mercedes B. Concepcion.