(Eagle News) — The “Buntis” simulation challenge.
This was what these Filipino men tried recently so they could experience what a typical pregnant woman – on her full term — feels.
They tried on a 15-kilogram pregnancy belly simulators to know first-hand the challenges faced by pregnant women on her full-term.
The men tried on a 15-kilo “pregnancy” suit and did such ordinary tasks such as walking, doing the marketing, climbing and going down the stairs, doing household and office chores, and even riding public transportation like the tricycle.
The “buntis simulation social experiment’ was part of an activity to push the passage of the Expanded Maternity Leave Bill, authored by Senator Rissa Hontiveros, which is still pending in Congress
It seeks to grant 120 days of paid maternity leave to expectant mothers.
The current law only allows 60 days of paid leave for mothers and only seven days of paid leave for fathers.
It was approved on third and final reading in the Senate March last year, but Congress has yet to pass it into law.
Supporters of the bill hope that this will get passed this March, in time for the celebration of National Women’s Month.
(With a video report by Gerald Rañez, Eagle News Service)
