As state party to the Women’s Convention and all other core international human rights conventions, the Philippines is often commended as being well ahead of its Asian neighbors when it comes to the realm of women’s human rights. This view has strengthened over the years with the country’s adoption of other international commitments, such as the Millennium Development Goals. The ultimate bar of success though, lies in how these pledges play out domestically. Some steps in harmonization have certainly contributed in improving Filipino women’s lives, such as increased participation in basic education and in formal labor. Gender inequalities, however, stubbornly persist, challenging the gains women may have won from realizing these targets. Large gaps endure in productive and social reproductive labors. Women’s presence is insigni? cant in spheres of political decision-making. Violence against women, manifesting entrenched discriminations against them, persists.