Human Rights Council in Geneva Adopts the Philippines’ Report of its Universal Periodic Review

Ambassador Evan P. Garcia, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations and Other International Organizations during the adoption of the report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Philippines during the ongoing 36th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council

25 September 2017, GENEVA – The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) unanimously adopted the report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Philippines at ongoing 36th Regular HRC session in the United Nations in Geneva on September 22.  

The Philippine Delegation was led by Ambassador Evan P. Garcia, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva.

Ambassador Garcia pointed out that after a careful review and extensive domestic consultations, the Philippines committed to fully accept 103 out of the 257 recommendations it had received.

“The accepted recommendations mirrored the recommending States’ understanding of the current human rights situation in the Philippines, recognized and respected the State as currently implementing or having implemented them, and were supportive of the Philippines’ pursuit of human rights aimed at uplifting human dignity,” said Ambassador Garcia.  

The recommendations accepted pertained, among others, to the sustainable protection of family and society in general, such as the preservation of the sanctity of family life, effective advocacy of economic and social rights through development, mitigation of the adverse effects of climate change, eradication of poverty, and improvements in access to health care and public education.

He added that the Philippines also accepted those recommendations aimed at enhancing the current capacities of the country to protect the right to life, liberty and property through the rule of law and accessibility of victims to justice in pursuit of anti-abortion initiatives, eradication of all forms of slavery, counter-terrorism efforts, and the anti-illegal drugs campaign. 

In addition, recommendations accepted included those that strengthen international cooperation with human rights mechanisms for the protection of vulnerable sectors and for the formulation of a national human rights action plan.

Ambassador Evan P. Garcia and Ambassador Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli, President of the Human Rights Council, after the successful adoption of the report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Philippines

Ambassador Garcia explained that Philippines could only note 154 of the recommendations, because the State could not guarantee their full fruition at this time, given that their adoption would require processes beyond the sole control of any single branch of government.

 “This is specifically true for recommendations that pertain to legislative action, which would require consultative processes with stakeholders,” he said

He clarified, however, that out of the 154 noted recommendations, there are 99 recommendations perceived to insinuate, advertently or inadvertently, that the Philippines has not taken any action whatsoever on the concerns raised despite having substantially reported on the same, both in the country’s UPR National Report and during the interactive dialogue on 8 May 2017.

“Full acceptance of these recommendations would denigrate the Philippines’ current serious efforts that already address the issues raised, and weaken the value of the interactive dialogue process.” he explained

He added, “the Philippine Government, nonetheless, commits to strive to implement the aforementioned recommendations according to its national, cultural, and historical circumstances, and despite constraints.”

Due to lack of material time, only fourteen (14) of thirty-one (31) countries who had inscribed to speak were able to do so. They supported the adoption of the Philippine UPR Report and wished the Philippines success in the implementation of the recommendations it had accepted. 

In his conclusion, Ambassador Garcia affirmed that “The Philippines’ full participation in the UPR, now on its third cycle, reflects our sustained support for this process as an effective peer review, and underlines our desire to further strengthen the process as a responsive monitoring and review mechanism.”  

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra with the Office of the President co-headed the Philippine delegation during the presentation of the Philippine National Report to the UPR Working Group on 08 May 2017 in Geneva. It was the first time that the executive and legislative branches of the Philippine Government were represented at the UPR.

The UPR is a state-driven voluntary process that reviews every 3-4 years the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States.

This is the third Philippine UPR Report to be adopted since the HRC was founded in 2006. The two previous Reports were adopted in 2008 and 2012. The Philippines was one of the first 47 members of the newly created HRC. The Philippines is currently serving its fourth term on the Council.

The complete Philippine Reports to the HRC UPR (first to third cycles) is found in the following link: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/PHIndex.aspx. END

For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/genevapcg.