HOAX: Expanded Maternity Leave Law already signed

Claim: President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the proposed Expanded Maternity Leave Act.

Facebook user Adolfo Mortera posted the claim on July 18. The post garnered 430 reactions, 14 comments, and 2,573 shares as of this posting.

Two Facebook pages and a group shared the post accounting to a combined total of 2,326 interactions and 305,345 followers.

Rating: HOAX

The facts: The bill has not reached the President’s desk yet.

Senate Bill 1305 or the “Expanded Maternity Leave Law of 2017” has been only approved on third and final reading on March 6, 2017.

The House’s version of the bill or House Bill 4113 is still waiting for a 2nd reading approval. It proposes a 100-day leave, 20 days less than the Senate version. The House committee on women and gender equality approved it on October 28, 2016, and sent it to the plenary for consideration.

The Senate bill, authored by Senator Risa Hontiveros, is targeted to replace the current maternity leave law or Republic Act 7322. It only allows 60 days of paid maternity leave.

On December 29, 2016, Duterte said he agrees with extending the paid leave for working mothers.

If passed into law, the Philippines would make the country compliant with the International Labor Organization’s standards on maternity protection. The organization requires at least 98 days of maternity leave. — Miguel Imperial/Rappler.com

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