Feminism and the Women's Movement in the Philippines: Struggles, Advances, and Challenges women in development processes. The single statement in the MTPDP('Women, who constitute half of the nation's population, shall be effectively mobilized.') provided the base upon which the PDPW could spring (National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, n.d.: 19). The National Economic and Development Authority(NEDA) provided crucial support not only in integrating portions of the PDPW into the 1990-1992 update of the MTPDP, but also in including the NCRFW in various development planning sub-committees as well as in mainstreaming the Country Program for Women through various mechanisms that expanded access to resources(National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, n.d.: 30). The formulation and subsequent adoption of the PDPW as well as the broader effort to mainstream gender in government were championed by several feminist officials inside the Aquino administration: Remedios Rikken(NRCFW Executive Director), Solita Monsod (NEDA Director-General and Economic Planning Secretary), Jurgette Honculada(NCRFW Commissioner for Labor) and Patricia Licuanan(NCRFW chair who succeeded Leticia Ramos-Shahani 6 after the latter's election to the Senate in 1987). The growing concern to improve the conditions of women during the first Aquino administration resulted in the enactment of important laws, shown in Table 1: Table 1. Legislative Victories, 1989-June 1992 Year Republic Act(RA) Number Description 1989 6725 An Act Strengthening the Prohibition on Discrimination Against Women with Respect to Terms and Conditions of Employment 6949 An Act To Declare March Eight of Every Year as A Working Special Holiday To Be Known As National Women's Day 1990 6955 Anti-Mail Order Bride Law that outlaws the practice of matching Filipino women for marriage to foreign nationals on a mail-order basis 6972 Barangay-Level Total Development and Protection of Children Act that mandates the establishment of day care centers in every barangay 1991 7160 Local Government Code of 1991 which introduced a mechanism for women's participation at the local government level 6 Senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani authored landmark laws(otherwise known as the“Shahani Laws”) such as'Strengthening the Prohibition of Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace', the'Anti-Rape Law of 1997', and the'Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998', among others. She also introduced the mandatory five(5%) percent allocation for gender and development(better known as the 'GAD budget') in the budget of every government department and agency. Her advocacy began much earlier in her career, when she joined the Philippine Mission to the United Nations(UN) in 1964, and later the UN Secretariat. She was the first co-author of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW), in her capacity as a member of the Philippine Mission. Shahani held various positions at the UN, including Assistant Secretary General for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs, and chair of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. 6