Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Republic of the Philippines signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 15 February 2000, becoming a State Party on 1 August 2000.

Implementation legislation has remained stalled in the Philippine House and Senate and no action appears to have been taken on either piece of legislation. In February 2011, the “Act Providing for a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Landmines, for Other Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Landmines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices, For The Creation of a Philippine Coordinating Committee on Landmines, and for Related Purposes” was re-filed in Congress as House Bill 04159 by Rep. Walden Bello of the Akbayan Party. The bill has been with the Committee on National Defense and Security since February 2011.[1] The bill was also filed in the Philippine Senate on 5 July 2010 by Gregorio B. Honasan II and by Manny B. Villar Jr. on 12 July 2010 as SBN 1244; it has been pending in committee since August 2010.[2]

In its September 2012 Article 7 report, the Philippines stated that it had no updated information on the status of congressional activity on an implementation law.[3]

As of 15 August 2013, the Philippines had not provided its Article 7 report, due 30 April 2013. It submitted its last report on 14 September 2012.[4] Its previous Article 7 report covered calendar year 2010. It has provided  nine previous reports.[5]

The Philippines attended the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2012 and intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2013. The Philippines also attended the Bangkok Symposium on Enhancing Cooperation & Assistance in June 2013 in Bangkok.

The Philippines is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and use

In September 2012, the Philippines reported that it had destroyed a further 271 M18A1 Claymore antipersonnel mines discovered during inspections at ammunition depots.[6] The Philippines reports that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. It destroyed its entire stockpile of antipersonnel mines—all Claymore-type mines—in 1998. It has not retained any live mines for training purposes. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has stated that it has never used antipersonnel mines to combat insurgency groups within the country.

Media reports regularly state that authorities have recovered “landmines” during operations against insurgents, almost all of which appear to be command-detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs).[7] In December 2009, the Philippines told States Parties that all landmines and IEDs recovered from non-state armed groups (NSAGs) are destroyed immediately.[8] In September 2012, the Philippines reported that it had recovered and destroyed 63 improvised antipersonnel mines during operations.[9] In April 2013, Brigadier General Noel Miano, Commander of the Munitions Control Center of the Armed Forces, clarified that this was comprised of 11 claymore mines, and 52 IEDs that did not have fuzes/detonators attached.[10]

Non-state armed groups

The Monitor could not identify any instances of use of antipersonnel mines (victim-activated explosive devices or booby-traps) by NSAGs during 2012 or the first half of 2013.

During 2012, the Munitions Control Center of the Armed Forces of the Philippines reported 29 incidents involving the deployment of “antipersonnel mines” by NSAGs. In these incidents, there were 43 dead and 153 injured.[11] However, when contacted, the Munitions Control Center stated that they follow ‘text book’ definitions, and because IEDs are not in their textbook they classify weapons according to those described in their textbook. He further stated the distinction between munitions which are victim-activated and those which are command-detonated is grey. They could not provide any information on the types and characteristics of explosive weapons in the incidents which they attributed to “antipersonnel mines” in their report.[12]

In the past, at least four NSAGs have used antipersonnel mines or victim-activated IEDs, including the New People’s Army (NPA), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). Five NSAGs, including the MILF, have formally pledged in writing not to use antipersonnel mines.[13]

 The peace talks between the government and MILF continued during 2012 and the first half of 2013, but talks stalled later in 2013.[14]

The NPA used command-detonated IEDs in 2012 and 2013.[15] Philippine authorities and the media continue to refer to these as “landmines.” The NPA (the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, CPP) signed a Comprehensive Agreement to Respect Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) with the Philippine government in 1998.[16] The CARHRIHL commits both parties to protect the civilian population by not violating the “right not to be subjected to...the use of landmines,” but does not define “landmine.”

Government and AFP officials accuse the NPA of violating CARHRIHL by using command-detonated mines.[17] The NPA has asserted that it manufactures and uses only command-detonated weapons allowed under the Mine Ban Treaty and, in its view, under the CARHRIHL.[18] In September 2012, it was reported that the MILF placed an order within their code of conduct to start actively fulfilling the obligations to ban possession, use, or production of antipersonnel mines or victim-activated explosive devices.[19] Also in September 2012, Geneva Call held a workshop on the Deed of Commitment at the Training Center of the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute.[20] This was followed by dissemination at 30 MILF bases to 3,184 combatants between October 2012 and March 2013 that was carried out by the General Staff of the MILF and the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, in cooperation with Geneva Call.[21]

Policy

The Republic of the Philippines signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.

The Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines has been engaged in consultations with various stakeholders on the matter of ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions since 2009. In April 2014, a Department of Foreign Affairs official informed the Philippine Campaign Against Cluster Munitions that it has “continued its advocacy and awareness-raising activities among other government agencies and concerned stakeholders with regard to the need for the ratification” of the ban convention.[1] Officials have acknowledged that the ratification process lacks urgency and momentum.[2]

The Philippines actively participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and sought the most comprehensive treaty possible.[3]

Despite not ratifying, the Philippines has participated in every annual Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. The Philippines has attended every intersessional meeting of the convention in Geneva, including those held in April 2014.

The Philippines is not known to have made a public statement condemning Syria’s use of cluster munitions.

The Philippine Campaign Against Cluster Munitions is working for ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and discussed the need for ratification with representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of National Defense, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Commission on Human Rights, and the National Committee on International Humanitarian Law during 2013 and the first half of 2014. The campaign participated in a “multi-stakeholder training” on international humanitarian law held by the DFA in Manila on 8–10 August 2013.[4]

The Philippines is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Interpretive issues

The Philippines has yet to provide its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions, and the need for retention of cluster munitions and submunitions for training and development purposes.

On the prohibition on assistance, the Philippines has stated that it “has no intention to assist, encourage or induce any state, group or individual to engage in any of the prohibited activities.”[5]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

The Philippines has stated several times that it has not used, produced, stockpiled, or supplied cluster munitions.[6] In September 2011, the Philippines said that its armed forces have a standing directive that cluster munitions cannot be included as operational requirements.[7]

In April 2013, the demining NGO Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (Fondation Suisse de Deminage) received an unexploded nine-kilogram M41A1 fragmentation bomb that the Philippine Army had cleared from a construction site at Lanang in Davao City.[8] The AN-M1A1 cluster adaptor enabled six M41A1 fragmentation bombs to be deployed at the same time, making the weapon similar in function to a modern-day cluster munition.

In March 2014, a Ministry of Defense official informed the Philippine campaign that the AFM-M3 cluster bomb unit was made in an experimental stage in the 1990s by the Philippine Air Force.[9]

Contamination and Impact

The Philippines is affected by explosive remnants of war (ERW), especially unexploded ordnance (UXO), as a result of long-running, low-level insurgencies by the New People’s Army (NPA) and other non-state armed groups, mainly in Mindanao. The extent to which it is also affected by mines is unclear.

Mines

The Philippines has consistently denied in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reports, the latest of which covers 2009, that it has any mined areas containing antipersonnel mines.[1] However, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continue to claim that the NPA uses antipersonnel mines.[2]

The NPA has denied using mines, but acknowledges that it continues to use “command-detonated explosives” in attacks on government security forces. A 2012 statement by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Central Committee urges the NPA to use landmines “to impede enemy troop movement or harass any encamped force” and encourages them to “produce explosives from unexploded munitions of the enemy.”[3] Many incidents attributed to the NPA, although often reported as landmine attacks, appear to involve IEDs.[4]

Explosive remnants of war

The Philippines has UXO contamination from recent conflicts between the government and non-state armed groups, mainly on the southern island of Mindanao, causing civilian and military casualties. It also contends with large amounts of UXO and abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO), including chemical weapons that date back to World War II.

The AFP says that 30% of total ordnance in Mindanao is UXO. Fighting between armed groups associated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Muslim Barangay, Guindulungan, Maguindanao, in December 2010 may have resulted in more UXO contamination in the area (see above).[5]

Some 4,000 World War II-era shells and other explosive items were collected for destruction in March (see Mine Action Program below). In other discoveries, at least 21 artillery shells were discovered in a warehouse in Binondo, Manila, in February 2012.[6] Other bombs were found in Muntinlupa City in Manila, in Calapan City in Mindoro, Kawit in Cebu City, and Surigao del Norte.[7]

Mine Action Program

The Philippines has no formal program for dealing with mines, IEDs, or ERW. Clearance has been conducted by a range of government actors, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the police.

In March 2011, the Philippines and the US conducted a “Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal Exercise” in which some 4,000 World War II-era artillery shells and other ageing ordnance, including aircraft bombs, land and sea mines, and depth charges, were collected from Caballo Island in Manila Bay and shipped to a military gunnery range in Tarlac. These were destroyed by a series of detonations, the last of them initiated by President Benigno Aquino himself. The Philippine Navy said ordnance with a total explosive weight of 364,348 lb (nearly 163 tons) had been destroyed in the exercise, which involved explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Philippine National Police and the Coast Guard. President Aquino reportedly said the threat posed by the ordnance on Caballo Island had represented one of the major problems facing his administration.[8]

Safety of demining personnel

At least three EOD personnel from the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force were killed in Taguig City after a mortar shell they had taken to a welding shop to be defused reportedly exploded. Another EOD team member and eight others were reported injured.[9]

Casualties Overview

In 2013, in the Republic of the Philippines no casualties from mines or explosive remnants of war (ERW) were identified from media scanning for the year. This marked the first year since 2009 that no ERW casualties were recorded. There were also no reported casualties of victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or casualties of IEDs that were clearly determined to not have been command detonated. Media monitoring identified at least 14 casualties from IEDs that were likely command detonated but for which media reports lacked sufficient detail to confirm the means of activation.[1] Several other casualties from IEDs were identified, all of which were clearly caused by command-detonated IEDs.

The lack of victim-activated explosive casualties in 2013 represents a significant decrease from the 59 casualties in 2012 and 34 casualties in 2011.[2] Clearer reporting of device types and improved efforts to differentiate incidents caused by victim-activated and command-activated devices may account for the decrease in casualties as incidents involving a large number of military casualties in 2013 appear to have been caused by remotely activated devices.

Between 1999 and the end of 2013, the Monitor identified a total of 573 casualties from mines, ERW, and victim-activated IEDs (185 killed; 387 injured; one of unknown status).[3]

Victim Assistance

At least 387 mine/ERW survivors have been identified through the end of 2013.[4]

Created in 2008, the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) is the national government agency mandated to formulate policies and to coordinate the activities of all agencies, both public and private, concerning disability issues and concerns. It is also tasked to strengthen the database on disability for both policy formulation and program development and to conduct policy review and consultation dialogues with different stakeholders.[5] According to the NCDA, there was “no specific program or even database for mine casualties, victims or survivors, because mine warfare is not common in the Philippines.”[6]

During 2013, the ICRC continued to provide support to the Davao Jubilee Rehabilitation Center. To further strengthen the service capacity and quality, the ICRC provided financial support for the construction of two new buildings; a new prosthetics and orthotics department was completed in 2012 and a new physiotherapy building was erected and equipped in 2013. During the year, 408 people benefited from various physical rehabilitation services at the ICRC-assisted center, representing an increase of close to 200% compared to 2012. Since the beginning of the ICRC assistance, the number of persons receiving services at the centers increased significantly (from 45 in 2008 to 408 in 2013). Children represented 49% and women 10% of the beneficiaries.[7]

The law prohibited discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment; education; air travel and other transportation; access to healthcare; and other social services; it also provided for equal access for persons with disabilities to all public buildings, but implementation was ineffective and many physical barriers remained.[8]

The Philippines ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 15 April 2008.

The Republic of the Philippines is affected by explosive remnants of war, especially unexploded ordnance, as a result of long-running, low-level insurgencies by the New People’s Army and other non-state armed groups, mainly in Mindanao. The extent to which the Philippines is also affected by mines is unclear.[1]

Since 2009, the Philippines has received a small amount of international support. In 2009, the United States (US) contributed US$313,375 towards victim assistance activities.[2] There was no international support in 2010, while in 2011 Belgium contributed €8,250 ($11,493) to Geneva Call for work in the Philippines.[3] In 2012, the European Union (EU) provided €552,098 ($709,943) to the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action, and Belgium provided €40,000 ($51,436) to Geneva Call, for a total of €592,098 ($761,379).[4]