This Act shall cover all women be they adult or girl-child engaged in agricultural production, manufacturing and service sectors located in rural areas and still participate in agricultural works and/or food production, and/or women and girl-child in indigenous communities, and to the extent herein provided, the departments, offices, agencies, subdivisions or instrumentaliti es of the national government. Rationale: There are existing laws that give attention to issues encompassing rural communities. However, these are not enough to address the concerns of rural women in particular. It does not take into account that women should be treated as a separate entity with particular needs and concerns. Therefore, policies and programs are encourraged to specifically concentrate on the problems of rural women. Their contribution to rural development should be properly recognized just as we put value to the efforts of men in rural areas. Thus, a bill that caters to the needs of rural women,