Human rights in the Philippines

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Human rights in the Philippines had its humble beginnings when, on 10 December 1948 it was one of the first countries that voted in favor of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted on the very same day in Paris, France. The Philippines' bold position to vote in favor of the UDHR took place merely two years after the Philippines gained independence from American rule on 4 July 1948. Also, the country was still then recovering from the devastating damages brought about by the Second World War in the Pacific which was concluded with the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945. The Philippines is also signatory to a number of United Nations human rights treaties, including the following:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified on 23 October 1986; United Nations Convention Against Torture, acceded to on 18 June 1986; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, ratified on 15 September 1967; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified on 7 June 1974; United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, ratified on 5 July 1995;

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, ratified on 5 August 1981; Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified on 21 August 1990; and, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified on 15 April 2008

Compliance and strict adherence of the government to obligations under international human rights instruments, including the timely submission of treaty implementation reports to the United Nations is one of the functions or duties of the Presidential Human Rights Committee (PHRC) under Administrative Order No. 29 dated January 27, 2002 and No. 163 dated December 8, 2006.[1] The Philippines is one of two countries in South East Asia, together with Thailand that has abolished the death penalty. Prior to the establishment of the Republic of the Philippines and the signing of the UDHR, the inhabitants have been victim to numerous historically documented human rights violations during the more the 300 years of Spanish colonization, 40 years of American colonization and three years of Japanese admistration. It should be noted that most of its celebrated national heroes and martyrs have themselves been victims of the culture of impunity imposed by oppressive Spanish, American and Japanese rule.

The Philippines has been a subject of concern and controversy. U.S. State Department reported in a 2006 Country Profile that Philippine security forces had been responsible for serious human rightsabuses despite the efforts of civilian authorities to control them.[2] The report found that although the government generally respected human rights, some security forces elementsparticularly thePhilippine National Police practiced extrajudicial killings, vigilantism, disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention in their battle against criminals and terrorists.[2] Prison conditions were harsh, and the slow judicial process as well as corrupt police, judges, and prosecutors impaired due process and the rule of law.[2] Besides criminals and terrorists, atheists, agnostics, human rights activists, left-wing political activists, and Muslims were sometimes the victims of improper police conduct.[2] Violence against women and abuse of children remained serious problems, and some children were pressed into slave labor and prostitution.[2] On December 7, 2006 International Labor Rights Fund's Brian Campbell tried to enter the Philippines to continue investigations of recent human rights violations and murders in the Philippines. Mr. Campbell had previously visited the Philippines in early 2006 to investigate various deaths of trade unionists including Diosdado Fortuna.[3] On Dec 7, Mr. Campbell was informed he was on a blacklist by the Filipino immigration authorities and was barred from entering the country. Mr. Campbell then was immediately forced to leave the country.[4] On 22 November 2012, President Benigno S. C. Aquino signed Administrative Order No. 35 creating the InterAgency Committee on Extra-Legal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture and other Grave Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty and Property without due process of law. At its helm as Chairperson is no less than the Secretary of Justice, Leila M. De Lima, herself a well-known respected staunch human rights advocate who was formerly the Chairperson of the country's independent human rights institution (IHRI), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). Other members of this committee are the heads of the following offices, the Chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Committee (PHRC), the Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND), the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (PAPP), Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs (PAPA), the Director General of Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).