Philippines

Present in Lucens.

2015: Attended the state consultations on the SSD in Geneva – led by Norway. Initially engaged in the safe schools process in Geneva but then disengaged. Attended Oslo but didn’t endorse. Engagement with contacts in capital (HRW, Norway) and in Oslo embassy – still no result. Follow-up with GVA mission and MoFA in Manila done by Norway – no success. Unclear what the concern is.

March 2017: Attended Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools. Asked questions about the Philippines involvement in the drafting process.

April 2017: GCPEA issued a letter to the Philippines Minister for Foreign Affairs.

May 2017: The UN Special Representative on CAAC issued a press release on the Philippines in which she urged all parties to the conflict to end attacks or threats of attacks on schools, teachers and students, and stated that using schools for military purposes is unacceptable.

June 2017: HRW wrote to a number of senators and congress people associated as authors or co-authors of a bill about protecting children during armed conflict. The letter calls on them to also urge the government to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration. Human Rights Watch published a dispatch on attacks on schools in the Philippines, calling for endorsement. The Education Secretary has himself appealed to the military and other groups involved in the ongoing clashes in Marawi City to treat schools as neutral ground or zones of peace, as reported here, here, and here.

July 2017: Human Rights Watch issued a dispatch following the President’s threat to bomb schools for indigenous children. The dispatch called on the President to withdraw his remarks and to endorse the Declaration. An Associated Press article highlighting the dispatch was picked up by ABC, the Colombian, the Guardian, the Indian Express, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and the Philippine Star. Save the Children Philippines sent letters and held meetings with the government of the Philippines to discuss endorsement of the Declaration. They were advised in a meeting with the Deputy Education Director that the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office had prepared an endorsement letter, which was awaiting signature by the Undersecretary, before it will be forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

August 2017: Contacted by the Save our Schools Network in the Philippines. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Office of the United Nations and International Organizations, Philippines has initiated a meeting with concerned government agencies regarding assessment and commitment to the implementation of the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, as well as to make the DFA recommendation to relevant authorities to sign the Safe Schools Declaration. The concerned agencies who received this memo from the DFA are: Department of Education, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Council for the Welfare of Children, Philippine National Police, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of National Defense and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process. SOS Network recommended that GCPEA issue a letter to the DFA encouraging endorsement.

August 2017: DFA held an inter-agency meeting in July to discuss their position on the Declaration. The meeting was attended by the Department of Education, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Council for the Welfare of Children, Philippine National Police, Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of National Defense and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process. All agencies expressed verbal support for endorsement. The DFA issued a memo requesting written positions. Save our Schools Network Philippines wrote to GCPEA to ask us a letter to the DFA to provide further encouragement. The Ministry of Education of Philippines issued a public statement encouraging the government to endorse the Safe School Declaration. This was shared on Twitter and can be retweeted here. Save the Children Philippines released a briefing on the crisis in Marawi, which included a call for the Philippines to sign the Declaration. GCPEA issued letters to the Ministers of Education and Foreign Affairs of the Philippines to encourage endorsement.

October 2017: Despite the public support of the Minister of Education, as reported in the August update, we have received no further update on endorsement. GCPEA wrote to the expert in Geneva to request an update and share the Open Debate letter. He responded pledging to share the information with capital.

February 2018: In advance of the End Violence Solutions Summit in Stockholm on 14-15 February, GCPEA issued letter, highlighting the Declaration and calling for endorsement.

August 2018: Education Secretary, Leonor Briones, outlined in an article some of the important work the Philippines is doing to strengthen the curriculum to focus on peace and global citizenship. In the article, it mentions that “DepEd, the Department of National Defense (DND), and other national government agencies fully support and are signatories of the Safe Schools Declaration”. Gisela followed up with the Permanent Mission of Geneva to confirm if the information is correct.

October 2018: UN WPS open debate advocacy in New York: Gisela met with a Foreign Service Officer who advised that all line Ministries had been poised to endorse the Declaration, following the 2017 consultation in capital led by the Secretary of Education . However, the publication of Education Under Attack 2018 had halted the endorsement. She said the government wanted to prevent attacks on schools and improve protection of children. Respect for safe education is enshrined in the constitution, she said. The Philippines’ big fear concerning endorsement is that they will be “named and shamed” if they fail to fulfil the commitments. She was interested by Philippines’ engagement in the Lucens process and attendance at the Buenos Aires conference and asked me to share details. She was interested by Plan International’s membership of GCPEA and said they work closely together. She also highlighted the close working relationship between the Department of Defence and UNICEF. Follow-up: Letter for Foreign Minister and gender recommendations sent by email.

January 2019: Save the Children Philippines say they are “aggressively following up [on endorsement] here in the Philippines. They are tracing the different signatories among the government agencies and see where it is sitting at the moment. It is now with the Commission on Human Rights and will then be transmitted to the Office of the President.

March 2019: Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the SRSG Ms. Virginia Gamba, HRC Geneva: reffered to child exploitation in schools.

April 2019: GCPEA (Zama) met with the Second Secretary in New York. She advised that the process of endorsement has been held up in the Ministry of Defense. They mentioned the Secretary of Education’s support for the Safe Schools Declaration and supported the idea of showcasing their policies at the Spain conference. The Ambassador of Spain demarched the Philippines’ Education Secretary to discuss the Safe Schools Declaration and the upcoming international conference. During the meeting, the Education Secretary underlined that the Department of Education continues to support efforts that will ensure the safety of students and teachers.

May 2019: Participated in the Third International Conference in Palma.

May 2019: Following an advocacy meeting with GCPEA, the Permanent Mission in New York advised that their capital was giving serious consideration to the Safe Schools Declaration, and that their Ministry of Education would attend the Third International Conference to learn more about the experiences of other states on this topic. The Philippines signed an Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Law to protect Children in Situations of Armed Conflict. The bill explicitly prohibits the military use of schools. Following the signing of the IRR, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict encouraged the authorities to adopt the Safe Schools Declaration.

July 2019: in his annual report 2018, SG calls on the Philippines to endorse the Declaration.

August 2019: Lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc (leftist) have filed House Resolution No. 223 on August 12 resolution urging the Duterte administration to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration.The resolution also mentioned that Education Secretary Leonor Briones stated her department’s “strong support” for the declaration in April 2019.
The House resolution was brought up by Brigadier General Antonio Parlade during the Senate hearing on the alleged recruitment of minors by leftist groups on Wednesday, August 14.

March 2020: It was reported The House of Representatives is seeking an investigation into lectures and seminars held by the Philippine National Police in various high schools nationwide. The PNP program violates DepEd’s National Policy Framework on Learners and Schools as Zones of Peace, and its Child Protection Policy that reiterates the declaration of schools as “zones of peace.”“This means police and military are not allowed to enter the premises of the schools”.

May 2020: HRW (Zama) met with the Mission in New York. The relevant Ministries are supportive but cannot give indication when endorsement will happen. It seems that this is not a current priority for the government, however they encouraged GCPEA to reach out again in September.

February 2022: Norway Geneva (Christian) shared with us following info – I spoke with a friend the other day who knows the Philippines well. He indicated that the prospective new government might be more favourably inclined to the SSD than the current one. It was just a supposition, so take it with a pinch of salt, but worth noting nonetheless.

March 2022: GCPEA was invited to an informal technical briefing on the SSD organised by Spain, in collaboration with Norway, Nigeria and Argentina with the Philippines. GCPEA provided an overview of the SSD and highlighted the legal and policy protections for schools that the Philippines already have and can serve as examples of good practice for other countries to follow and emulate. Norway briefed on the UN SC Resolution 2601 and the Implementation Network, Nigeria shared their experience in endorsing and implementing the SSD, and Spain reiterated the main messages for endorsement. The Secretary took carefully notes and explained that endorsement should be discussed with all relevant Ministries in capital. She said that timing was not good as elections will be held on 9 May 2022. Next steps: the champion states sent a letter to encourage endorsement.

August 2022: UN SG report on children and armed conflict in the Philippines includes the following good practices: 1) In two separate incidents, the armed forces vacated the schools, following dialogues with school administrators and leaders of the indigenous community school, as well as with key member agencies of the Inter-Agency Committee on Children in Situations of Armed Conflict, including the Council for the Welfare of Children and the Committee on Human Rights; 2) Armed security forces were present at the reopening of a school in Pangasinan Province. In response, the Council referred the incident to the Philippines National Police Women and Children Protection Center and the Regional Sub-Committee on the Welfare of Children and provided relevant materials on policies relating to children in situations of armed conflict, to be disseminated among police personnel on the ground, in order to prevent military presence in schools. In addition, the Department of Education issued a statement on the need for field officials and school administrators to comply with the National Policy Framework on Learners and Schools as Zones of Peace; 3) The SG urged the Government to fully implement its National Policy Framework on Learners and Schools as Zones of Peace of November 2019 and called upon the Government to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration;

September 2022 Transforming Education Summit: Philippines: In context of Covid-19 recovery – “We once again pledge to take on the task of transforming schools into safe, secure, and empowering environments for learning, as no learner can return safely if their schools are unable to look after their physical and mental health. […] We must also reinforce the policies that keep our learning institutions free of violence, stigma, discrimination, and exclusion.”

September 2022: Endorsed the Call to Action on Education in crisis situations (refers to EuA22 data) at the Transforming Education Summit

September 2022: The Committee on the Rights of the Child has released its new concluding observations on the Philippines: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/PHL/CRC_C_PHL_CO_5-6_50281_E.pdf It contains a number of findings and conclusions related to our submission and priorities, including:“The Committee recommends that the State party:… Adopt a policy to mitigate the impacts of disasters, emergencies and armed conflict on schooling and ensure that schools are not used for military purposes, including by thoroughly implementing the Law for the Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict and the DepEd Order No. 32, s. 2019 or the National Policy Framework on Learners and Schools as Zones of Peace…“The Committee remains extremely concerned about: (a) Grave violations against children, such as killing and maiming, recruitment and use of children by armed forces and armed groups, sexual violence and detention of children and attacks on schools and hospitals in conflict areas, particularly Mindanao”

November 2022: Endorsed the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA) on 18 November during an International Conference hosted by Ireland, the leader and penholder behind the Declaration.

February 2023: On 08 February, Nevena met the Operations Officer at the Geneva Mission. He was well aware of the Declaration, however, it seemed to me that the latest information he had on his government position on the SSD was from 2019. She highlighted that the Philippines has the strongest standards for protecting schools from military use, therefore endorsement will be fully in line with their national legislation. She also said that if they endorse this year, they can present these good practices at the Malaysia conference and be recognized. He promised to discuss endorsement with his Ambassador and his capital.

March 2023: Series of meetings were conducted with Minister of the Parliament, Abdullah Macapaar of BARMM and Congresswoman Aminah Q. Dimaporo of the 2nd District of Lanao del Norte and to the Director Generals and Legal Chief Division of MBHTE to present the Safe Schools Declaration. The stakeholders expressed support in the advocacy and provided guidance on how to proceed. A consultation with 26 stakeholders (8 girls, 5 boys, 10 female, 3 male) composed of teachers/asatidz, parents, barangay representatives and learners on keeping safe schools safe. They were appreciative of the presence of the military camps in their community but also fearful to be caught in the crossfire if there are sudden armed conflict happen. These communities were affected with armed conflict before and currently experiencing bouts of clan feu.

May 2023: On 31 May, Apolline met with Maria Roseny Fangco, First Secretary at the NY mission. She explained that there have been extensive discussions between the MoE, MoD and MFA on the SSD and that an inter-agency working group was working on this. The MoD says that they are using the SSD as the standard for their operations already, but they are still very reluctant to join because they fear rebel groups might use this against them. I mentioned the idea of having the ICRC do a legal reading of the Guidelines for the MoD as well as having an endorsing country’s military speak with the Philippines’ MOD. She said these were good ideas and she would transmit to capital. We also discussed the upcoming UNSC open debate on CAAC as well as the Int. Day to protect education from attack.

May 2024:

• On 9 May, Apolline met with Ms. Andrea Leycano, First Secretary and Consul at the Geneva PM (one of priority countries in our 2024 strategy). 
• The delegate was well briefed on the SSD and had some questions around the Guidelines (non-binding nature + possibility to use in event of natural disasters) as well as potential financial costs or monitoring duties for joining the Declaration.  
• I emphasized the existing good practice in the Philippines and how endorsement would be in line with their policies (law to protect children in armed conflict which prohibits military use + schools as zones of peace policy). Encouraged endorsement now to be recognized at the 2025 Conference and opportunity to share good practice through the network.  
• She requested a follow up email with our upcoming events for them to join, recent developments around SSD, and the Fifth Conference. 
• She agreed that a joint letter from GCPEA members to the President would be a good idea to help restart the discussions in capital. She recommended that we copy the Secretary of Foreign Affairs as well as the PM in Geneva so that they must follow-up and add extra push. 
• Overall, a positive meeting. The mission really sees the value in endorsing the SSD and will make this recommendation to capital.