Philippine experts recently briefed United Nations (UN) diplomats on how best practices in the Bangsamoro promote the humanitarian norms of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), a landmark treaty that seeks to limit warfare by balancing security considerations with humanitarian protection.
The CCW is an umbrella treaty composed of five protocols, each dealing with prohibition or regulation of speciaific weapons.
Two of these protocols -- the Amended Protocol II on mines, booby traps, and other explosive devices, and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war (ERW) -- provide for regular Group of Experts (GOE) meetings where state parties exchange views on how best to implement the agreements.
The Philippines announced it has ratified Protocol V in April during the Group of Experts (GOE) meeting held last July 20 to 22 in Geneva.
The ratification completed the country’s formal adherence to all CCW protocols.
The protocol is set to take effect in the country in November.
Spanish Ambassador Ignacio Sanchez de Lerin, President-designate of the Annual Conference of High Contracting Parties to CCW Protocol V joined other GOE delegations in welcoming the country’s ratification.
Sanchez said the Philippines has been implementing the norms of the said protocol even prior to joining the treaty this year. The “Community-Led Universalization of CCW Norms: Lessons from the Philippines’ Peace and Reconciliation Process” were also held on July 22 to brief GOE delegations on how the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2019 entailed the implementation of CCW provisions in the said region.
“Multilateral negotiations and entry into force of the CCW in the 1990s coincided with the development of laws and policies in the Philippines that promote peace and reconciliation in an inclusive and gender-sensitive manner,” Mitzi Austero, programs manager of Non-Violence International Southeast Asia (NISEA), said.
The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was established in 2014. This includes provisions that require former armed rebels and government forces to cooperate to rid communities of ERWs and unexplored ordnance (UXO).
Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines (PCBL) National Coordinator Alfredo Lubang also assured that efforts are underway to finalize the regulatory framework for coordination between the central and regional governments in ridding Bangsamoro communities of ERWs and UXOs.
Philippine military and law enforcement authorities retain the mandate to conduct ERW and UXO disposal, but the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been providing security for them during operations in volatile communities that were formerly controlled by rebel groups. Military and law enforcement units are required to coordinate with the new Bangsamoro Ministry for Public Order and Safety (MPOS) since the establishment of BARMM.
Former MILF rebels now assure local communities that Philippine military and law enforcement units conducting ERW and UXO disposal are not threats.
Lubang said this new arrangement sees formerly warring actors working together to safeguard local communities, a result of years of trust-building made possible by strong political will to promote humanitarian objectives on both sides.
“This political will was demonstrated for example when the MILF unilaterally renounced landmines because they are contrary to Islamic teachings, while then President Fidel V. Ramos ordered the unilateral destruction of all military mines after seeing their destructive effects during a state visit in Cambodia,” Lubang said.
“This political will was then cultivated by civil society, local community, and religious leaders to further build trust among all actors,” he added.
Ambassador Maria Teresa T. Almojuela, deputy permanent representative of the Philippines to the UN in Geneva, said the example of the Bangsamoro “demonstrates that the robustness of international humanitarian agreements like the CCW are best pursued at the grassroots.”
She noted that the universalization of CCW norms must be led by communities themselves, working with all stakeholders including civil society, and taking into account local nuances.