By Erma Edera The implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the newly enacted Expanded Maternity Leave (EML) will be issued during the celebration of Labor Day next week. Labor Undersecretary Ana Dione said that aside from the EML, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello is also expected to sign the interagency agreement harmonizing policies for foreign workers permits application on May 1. “We are in the final stage of consultation and we will present it to the Tripartite Industrial Council (TIPC) for approval,” Dione said in an interview. “There will no longer be any contentious because they both passed through Tripartite Executive Committee before being elevated to the TIPC, so it is now approved in principle but there are possible revisions in the documents,” she said. On February 20, President Duterte signed into law the Expanded Maternity Leave measure. It provides 105 days of paid maternity leave to all working mothers and an additional 15 days to solo mothers. Mothers will also have the option to extend for an additional 30 days of unpaid leave. The maternity benefits will apply to every instance of pregnancy, miscarriage, or emergency termination of pregnancy regardless of frequency. The law also includes a provision allowing the allocation of seven maternity leave days to fathers, raising the paternity leave to 14 days from the current seven days. Prior to the enactment of the law, women are allowed only 60 days of paid maternity leave.