Philippines
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary
The Philippines ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 January 2019. It has participated in every meeting of the convention, most recently in May 2022. The Philippines voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution in December 2021 urging full implementation of the convention.
The Philippines provided its initial Article 7 transparency report in October 2019, which formally confirmed that it has never produced cluster munitions and does not stockpile them, including for research or training purposes. According to the report, the Philippines destroyed a stockpile of 114 cluster munitions in May 2011.
Policy
The Republic of the Philippinessigned the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified it on 3 January 2019. The convention entered into force for the country on 1 July 2019.
The Philippines reported in October 2019 that its armed forces had issued a directive in 2017 prohibiting cluster munitions from being included in “operational planning requirements.”[1] The Philippines has not indicated if it will enact specific implementation legislation for the convention.
The Philippines submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention on 11 October 2019.[2] It last provided an updated annual report on 17 April 2020, which showed no change from the first report.[3]
The Philippines actively participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and sought the most comprehensive treaty possible.[4]
The Philippines has participated in every meeting of the convention, including the Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021, and the intersessional meetings in May 2022.[5] The Philippines has promoted universalization of the convention, holding a virtual meeting in July 2020 for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) military officials.[6]
The Philippines has served alongside Chile as the convention’s co-coordinator on universalization since 2020.[7]
In December 2021, the Philippines voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution which urged full implementation of the convention.[8]
The Philippines has elaborated its views on certain important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention. In 2017, the Philippines told States Parties that it “continues to defend its position to prohibit the use, local and foreign stockpiling, investment, production, and transit of cluster munitions in the country.”[9] 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.”[10]
Previously, in December 2020, the Philippines voted in favor of a UNGA resolution condemning use of cluster munitions in Syria.[11]
The Philippines is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Use, production, and transfer
The initial Article 7 transparency report provided in October 2019 formally confirmed that the Philippines has never produced cluster munitions and does not stockpile them, including for research or training purposes.[12] In the past, the Philippines reiterated several times that it has never used or produced cluster munitions.[13]
Stockpiling
The Philippines reported destroying a total of 114 “81mm cluster bombs” by open detonation in Cebu on 7 May 2011, after it adopted and signed the convention.[14] The specific type of cluster munition referred to by the Philippines is unclear, and no additional information has been provided in its Article 7 transparency reports.[15]
In 2014, a Department of National Defense official said that the Philippine Air Force had developed an experimental AFM-M3 cluster bomb unit in the 1990s, but the weapon was never pursued beyond the research phase and never used.[16]
An old 9kg M41A1 fragmentation bomb was cleared and destroyed from a construction site at Lanang in Davao City in 2013 by the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (Fondation Suisse de Déminage, FSD).[17] The AN-M1A1 cluster adapter enabled six M41A1 fragmentation bombs to be deployed at the same time, making the weapon similar in function to a modern-day cluster munition.
[1] Memorandum to the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), on the Prohibition of Cluster Munitions in the AFP Operational Requirements by the Department of National Defense, 13 December 2017. Philippines Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 11 October 2019. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database. Previously, the Philippines stated in 2011 and 2016 that the prohibition on use of cluster munitions is part of the operational policy of the AFP. Statement of the Philippines, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011; and Letter from Bernadette Therese C. Fernandez, Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, to Mary Wareham, Arms Division, Human Rights Watch (HRW), 25 April 2016
[2] The initial Article 7 report covered the period 1 January–31 December 2018.
[3] The updated Article 7 report, submitted in April 2020, covered the calendar year 2019.
[4] For details on the Philippines’ policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see HRW and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 144–145.
[5] The Philippines has participated in every Meeting of States Parties. It attended the first part of the convention’s Second Review Conference held virtually in November 2020, as well as the First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015, intersessional meetings in 2011–2015, and the Preparatory meetings for the Second Review Conference held virtually in June and September 2020.
[6] “Asia-Pacific Workshop on CCM Universalization,” Convention on Cluster Munitions Quarterly Newsletter, April 2019.
[7] Chile and the Philippines, “Ways Forward on Universalization,” Convention on Cluster Munitions Working Paper, CCM/CONF/2020/12, 28 September 2020.
[8] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 76/47, 6 December 2021. The Philippines has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.
[9] Statement of the Philippines, Convention on Cluster Munitions Seventh Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 4 September 2017.
[10] 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 in Bali, Indonesia, 17 November 2009. Notes by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).
[11] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 75/193, 16 December 2020.
[12] The relevant forms are marked “N/A” (not applicable). Philippines Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms B, C, D and E, 11 October 2019.
[13] Letter from Leslie B. Gatan, Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the UN in New York, 2 March 2009.
[14] Philippines Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, Part II (2 and 4), 11 October 2019.
[15] These weapons were not referenced in the updated annual report provided on 30 April 2020.
[16] To date, this is the only such bomb to have been found in the Philippines, and no adaptor has been recovered. Philippines Campaign Against Cluster Munitions (PCCM) meeting with Col. Gerry Amante, Commander of the AFP Munitions Control Center, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, 25 March 2014. The AFM-M3 is a copy of the United States (US) AN-M1A1 cluster adapter design. The use of an AN-M1A1 cluster adapter enabled six M41A1 fragmentation bombs to be deployed at the same time, making the weapon similar in function to a cluster munition.
[17] Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines (PCBL), “PCBL Monitor April 2013,” 30 April 2013.