13 April 2016 - Brigadier General Gerry P. Amante, Commander of the Munitions Control Center of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, briefed the States Parties of Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), on the work done by the Philippines in addressing the proliferation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) during the Meeting of Experts of the CCW Protocol V on April 08.

BGen. Amante emphasized that “The Philippine Government has taken steps to address the threat posed by IEDs through a joint, inter-agency response, which resides within the “whole of governmentframework.”

The framework refers to the establishment of an Inter-Agency Task Force on Counter IEDs and the enactment into law of the Strategic Trade Management Act of 2015.

The Philippines likewise informed the States Parties of Protocol V of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons on the progress of the Philippines in dealing with Explosive Remnants of War, during the Meeting of Experts of CCW Protocol V on April 06.

The Meeting of Experts of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and its Related Protocol is scheduled from April 06 to 16. It is composed of three important Meetings of Experts, i.e., Protocol V, Amended Protocol II and Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.

The Philippines supports and continues to meaningfully engage in the CCW as it contributes to the safety and security of the country. For instance with the implementation of the CCW, the country is made safer since it makes it harder for non-state actors to get their hands on IEDs, which are used by armed insurgents against our Police and Military personnel.

The CCW and its Related Protocols aims to ban or restrict the use of specific types of weapons that are considered to cause unnecessary or unjustifiable suffering to combatants or to affect civilians indiscriminately, such as explosive remnants of war, incendiary weapons, blinding lasers, mines, traps and other explosive devices. END