MANILA, Philippines?The Magna Carta of Women, signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday prohibits discrimination against pregnant single women?whether students or faculty members.

Sen. Pia S. Cayetano said in a statement on Saturday that under the magna carta, or Republic Act No. 9710, schools can?t expel or refuse admission to female students for being unwed mothers.

The landmark law also bans the firing of women teachers who get pregnant outside of marriage, she said.

?For years, women?s groups have been asking why it is that when an unmarried female teacher or student gets pregnant, the school immediately expels her.?

?And how come the same penalty is not applied when an unmarried male teacher or student impregnates a female partner? Doesn?t that constitute an obvious act of discrimination against women?? Cayetano said.

Cayetano is president of the Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

A principal sponsor of RA 9710, Cayetano cited Section 13 on ?Equal Access and Elimination of Discrimination in Education, Scholarships and Training,? which reads:

?Expulsion and non-readmission of women faculty due to pregnancy outside of marriage shall be outlawed. No school shall turn out or refuse admission to a female student solely on the account of her having contracted pregnancy outside of marriage during her term in school.?

Cayetano said it was time Congress ?rectifies the wrongs? committed against Filipino women.

?We cannot allow the vestiges of our chauvinist past to continue to rule over us. We hope to specifically address these issues with the passage of the Magna Carta of Women,? she said.

While several laws have been passed to address different women?s issues like the Anti-Trafficking Law (RA 9208) and Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act (RA 9262), the Magna Carta of Women is the first national law to define the human rights of women and the various acts of discrimination against them as enshrined in the Cedaw (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women).

?This law is long overdue actually because it has been almost three decades since our country ratified Cedaw,? she said, noting that the Cedaw was signed by the Philippines on July 17, 1980, while the Senate ratified it on July 19, 1981.

The magna carta recognizes the right of women to health, including access to maternal care and comprehensive health services, and information on breastfeeding and family planning methods.

The law also grants a special leave benefit of two months with pay for women employees following surgery due to gynecological disorders on top of the two-month maternity leave.