Pacquiao presses bill for 180-day maternity leave

BOXING icon Manny Pacquiao has such a soft spot for expectant mothers that he wants Congress to grant them fully paid maternity leave of six months or three times the current standard.

The Sarangani representative has followed up on his House Bill No. 3590 which he filed two years ago but has not yet been referred to any committee.

Pacquiao noted that the Senate passed its bill, “Expanded Maternity Leave Law of 2015,” on Monday night which proposed a fully paid maternity leave of 100 days from the current 60 days.

In his explanatory note, Pacquiao said that under the 2000 International Labor Organization Maternity Protection Convention, a maternity leave should at least be 14 weeks.