Senators seek 120-day maternity break for working mothers

A mother and newly born baby (AFP FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — Two senators are proposing to give working mothers a longer maternity break, saying this would give them enough time to recover and bond with their newborns, ultimately promoting the wellbeing of infants.

In separate bills, Senators Risa Hontiveros and Juan Edgardo Angara sought to lengthen the 60-day or two-month maternity leave to up to four months for working mothers in both the private and public sectors, citing international standards.

Hontiveros, who has put the maternity leave bill among her top legislative priorities this new year, is advocating a 120-day maternity leave plus an added 30 days for solo mothers through her Senate Bill No. 215.

The lawmaker, chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, said her committee has been drafting the committee report on the measure.

“This measure seeks to provide an additional 60-day maternity leave for working mothers in the government and in the private sector so that they may have an opportunity to spend time with and nurture their infants, and regain their full health before getting back to work,” Hontiveros said in her bill.

She said the allowable maternity break of two months “falls short” of the 98-day period prescribed under the International Labor Code. In Vietnam, for instance, working mothers may go on leave after birth for between 120 and 180 days.

Hontiveros, a mother of four, said a longer maternity break would be beneficial for babies, citing scientific proof that “an infant’s cognitive and physical development is affected by the amount of time spent with parents, and especially the mother.”

She said the measure would also support the government’s campaign for exclusive breastfeeding of babies during the first six months of life.

Angara’s parallel Senate Bill 1276, filed just last December, meanwhile, sought to add 38 days to the current allowed maternity break to bring the leave entitlement at par with international standards (98 days).

He also proposed an option for mothers to take an extra 30 days of unpaid leave on top of the extended period, if they would need another month.

Noting the country’s low breastfeeding rates and 30-percent malnutrition rate among children 5 years and below, Angara said increasing the maternity leave period was “an imperative.”

He noted a study by the McGill University and the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Fielding School of Public Health, which found that “longer paid maternity leaves reduce infant mortality as the extended period [represents] a potential instrument for facilitating early-life interventions.”

“This added time allows mothers not only to sustain the wellbeing of infants, but also to create a stronger bond with their child,” he said.

Angara said giving Filipino mothers a longer maternity breaks would “ultimately improve the wellbeing of all Filipinos.”  SFM