A post shared by Maria Mika Maxine Medina (@maxine_medina) on Jan 30, 2017 at 11:05pm PST

MANILA -- Miss Universe Philippines 2016 Maxine Medina was honored by Congress during the plenary session marking International Women's Day.

Medina was presented with Resolution 816 which commended the beauty queen for her performance in the last Miss Universe pageant, where she finished in the Top 6.

Just like in previous years, the House of Representatives is celebrating International Women's Day by having the lady legislators manage the session.

Gabriela Party List Rep. Arlene Brosas talked about the deteriorating plight of Filipino women in her privilege speech.

"One of four Filipinos is considered poor. Nine of 10 Filipino farmer families do not till their own land and are subjected to steep land rents, unfair agricultural trading prices and usury. Almost three million Filipinos are unemployed. Those statistically considered as employed are mostly contractuals with slave-level wages and hazardous work conditions. The fire that left five workers dead and more than 1,300 still unaccounted for at the HTI factory in Cavite more than underscores this fact. Many have been forced to leave their families to risk their lives in jobs overseas," she said.

Brosas added: "Itinulak ng kalagayang ito ang maraming manggagawa na lumabas ng bansa at makipagsapalaran kaya't ngayon, tinatayang anim sa bawat sampung migranteng lumalabas ng bansa ay pawang mga kababaihan. Kabilang sa mga nakipagsapalaran ang mga tulad ni Mary Jane Veloso at ni Jennifer Dalquez na nahatulang maparuhasan ng kamatayan sa Indonesia at sa United Arab Emirates."

Brosas also used the opportunity to rally support for the resumption of peace talks between government and the communist rebels.

"Madam Speaker, fellow colleagues, on behalf of the women from the poorest and marginalized sections of society, let me reiterate once more our call for the resumption of peace negotiations between the National Democratic Front and the Philippine government," she said.

Brosas also made a pitch for pro-women bills: "Each of us must be compelled to support and pass legislation such as the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill, the Regular Employment Bill, the Workers' Shield Bill and the People's Mining Bill. Every woman violated is compelling reason to support amendments to strengthen the anti-rape law and the anti-violence against women and children act."