About Us
Our Research Products
Philippines
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
|
Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
Signatory |
|
Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2012 |
|
Key developments |
Ratification process underway |
Policy
The Republic of the Philippines signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.
The Philippines government is still consulting with stakeholders on the ratification package and there is no timetable available for when it will formally be considered by Congress. According to the Philippine Campaign Against Cluster Munitions, the Department of Foreign Affairs has initiated an inter-agency review of the convention, but government officials acknowledge the ratification process is lacking in urgency and momentum.[1]
During 2010 and 2011, the Philippines informed States Parties of its intent to ratify the convention, but provided no details on the status of the process.[2]
The Philippines actively participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and sought the most comprehensive treaty possible.[3] The Philippines has continued to engage in the work of the convention. It participated in the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011, where it made a statement. The Philippines attended the intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in April 2012, but did not make any statements.
The Philippine Campaign Against Cluster Munitions is encouraging swift ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[4]
The Philippines is a party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Interpretive issues
The Philippines has not yet stated 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]
Convention on Conventional Weapons
The Philippines is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and has engaged in CCW work on cluster munitions.[6]
At the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference in November 2011, the Philippines did not make any statements in its national capacity on the chair’s draft text of the proposed CCW protocol on cluster munitions. On the final day of the conference, the Philippines did not join a group of 50 countries in endorsing a joint statement declaring that the chair’s draft text does not fully address fundamental concerns and is unacceptable from a humanitarian standpoint, and therefore does not command consensus.[7]
The Review Conference ended without agreement on a draft protocol, thus marking the conclusion of the CCW’s work on cluster munitions.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
The Philippines has stated several times that it has not used, produced, stockpiled, or supplied cluster munitions.[8] In September 2011, the Philippines said that its armed forces have a standing directive that cluster munitions cannot be included as operational requirements.[9]
[1] Email from Jaymelyn Nikkie Uy, Co-Coordinator, Philippine Campaign Against Cluster Munitions, 23 June 2012.
[2] In September 2011, the Philippines informed States Parties that the government is “currently working on securing the ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.” Statement of the Philippines, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011, http://bit.ly/MDcinG. See also Statement of the Philippines, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[3] For detail on the Philippines’ policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 144–145.
[4] The Philippine Campaign Against Cluster Munitions has been promoting swift ratification with the Senate and meeting regularly with government officials, including from the Department of National Defense.
[5] Letter from Leslie B. Gatan, Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the UN in New York, 2 March 2009. The Philippines reiterated this during the Regional Conference on the Promotion and Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Bali, 17 November 2009. Notes by AOAV.
[6] Jesus Ricardo S. “Gary” Domingo of the Philippines chaired the CCW Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on cluster munitions in 2010 and 2011.
[7] Joint Statement read by Costa Rica, on behalf of Afghanistan, Angola, Austria, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Iceland, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe. CCW Fourth Review Conference, Geneva, 25 November 2011. List confirmed in email from Bantan Nugroho, Head of the CCW Implementation Support Unit, UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, 1 June 2012.
[8] Letter from Gatan, Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the UN in New York, 2 March 2009. The Philippines reiterated this during the Regional Conference on the Promotion and Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Bali, 17 November 2009. Notes by AOAV.
[9] Statement of the Philippines, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011, http://bit.ly/MDcinG.
Send us your feedback on this profile
Send the Monitor your feedback by filling out this form. Responses will be channeled to editors, but will not be available online. Click if you would like to send an attachment. If you are using webmail, send attachments to .