Philippines

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of the Philippines signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 15 February 2000. The treaty entered into force on 1 August 2000. The Philippines has yet to enact domestic legislation to implement the treaty. None of four bills introduced in the Philippine Congress since 2001 have been called for public hearing, as they have been given low priority. The most recent legislation, House Bill Number 2675, was filed in the first quarter of calendar year 2006.^[1] It will have to be re-filed once a new Congress convenes in mid-2007, following elections in May 2007.

As of 31 July 2007 the Philippines had not submitted its annual updated Article 7 transparency report for calendar year 2006, due 30 April 2007. Its most recent report is dated 3 November 2006, for the period from 15 February 2005 to 15 February 2006. This report, obtained by the Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines (PCBL), had not been posted by the United Nations as of July 2007.^[2] It was supposed to be submitted to the UN by 30 April 2006, covering calendar year 2005. The government has submitted six previous reports.^[3]

The Philippines attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in May 2006 and April 2007, as well as the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in September 2006, in Geneva. In April 2007 the Philippines delegation stated that the Department of Foreign Affairs is committed to making a renewed effort to ensure that legislation to implement treaty obligations is enacted, and welcomed the efforts of civil society to ensure full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, including the involvement of non-state actors.^[4] The Philippines has not engaged in the discussions that States Parties have had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and 3. Thus, the Philippines has not made known its views on issues related to joint military operations with states not party to the treaty, foreign stockpiling and transit of antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training.

The Philippines states that it was not a producer or exporter of antipersonnel mines. It destroyed its entire stockpile of antipersonnel mines—all Claymore-type mines—in 1998. It has not retained any mines for training purposes. The Armed Forces of the Philippines states that it has never used antipersonnel mines to combat insurgency within the country.

The Philippines is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. It attended the Eighth Annual Conference of States Parties to the protocol on 6 November 2006, but did not submit an annual Article 13 national report. It is not party to CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

The decade-old Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines has been actively involved in monitoring the government’s implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, promoting adoption of the landmine bill by Congress, and engaging non-state armed groups in a landmine ban. The group issued several media advisories on specific landmine incidents and condemned the use of command-detonated antivehicle mines that killed or injured civilians.^[5] On 21 October 2006 the PCBL and the Philippine National Red Cross conducted a seminar on the mine ban and international humanitarian law.

Use, Production and Stockpiling by Non-State Armed Groups

There have been a small number of reports of use of victim-activated improvised antipersonnel mines by non-state armed groups in this reporting period, as well as numerous incidents where the armed forces captured or recovered different types of mines and other explosive devices in their operations against various rebel groups. There have been no reports of use or possession of factory-made antipersonnel mines. Incidents involving the use, seizure or recovery of mines and other explosive devices occurred in 18 provinces.^[6] The Philippines has not explicitly reported on captured mines, and their destruction, in its Article 7 reports or during meetings of States Parties.

After an encounter between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) in Gubat, Sorsogon in April 2007, an AFP commanding officer said they had difficulty retrieving the bodies of two soldiers because the rebels had laid four landmines around them.^[7] In September 2006, victim-activated improvised mines killed one soldier and injured three in two incidents on the island of Sulu in an area in which the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is known to be active.^[8] In June 2006 on the island of Tawi-Tawi a victim-activated improvised mine killed two Marines on patrol; either Abu Sayyaf or rival clans were thought to be responsible.^[9]

The AFP provides information annually to the PCBL for the Landmine Monitor report on the types of mines it has encountered or recovered, including antipersonnel, antivehicle, Claymore and improvised mines, as well as some details of explosives. The AFP has become more aware of the need to distinguish between command-detonated and victim-activated mines, between antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, and between mines and other types of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in their reports.^[10]

New People’s Army

The New People’s Army (NPA) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). NPA/CPP and the National Democratic Front (NDF) signed a Comprehensive Agreement to Respect Human Rights and International Human Law with the Philippine government in 1998. This specifies the right not to be subjected to any type of landmine.^[11]

Government and AFP officials have accused the NPA of violating the agreement by using landmines. In July 2006, Maj. Gen. Cardozo M. Luna, of the AFP’s 4th Infantry Division, which covers three regions in Mindanao, called for human rights groups and the UN to investigate the NPA’s continued use of landmines.^[12] In June 2006, government spokesperson Ignacio Bunye accused CPP leader Jose Ma Sison of using landmines.^[13] President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited a landmine survivor in hospital in June 2006 and was quoted as saying that NPA’s use of landmines is a violation of international law.^[14] Similarly, in Quezon province, posters in red paint line the highway proclaiming that NPA violates international human rights law by using landmines.^[15]

The NPA acknowledges that it manufactures and uses command-detonated improvised explosives to target military vehicles, but denies that it uses victim-activated antipersonnel devices. The NPA uses the term “command-detonated landmine” in its propaganda material.^[16] In response to government allegations, the CPP asserted that the NPA’s use of command-detonated antivehicle mines is “legitimate” and that they take care not to hit civilians, but the NPA would not stop using this “poor man’s weapon.”^[17] When five civilians were injured in an NPA explosive attack on 24 July 2006, Jorge Madlos, NDF spokesperson for Mindanao, apologized, stating that the NPA was targeting a military jeep but accidentally hit a passenger jeep instead. He said the NPA was willing to pay the hospital expenses of the injured.^[18]

There have been many instances of the AFP capturing or recovering mines and similar explosive devices from the NPA. In April 2007, rebels left behind improvised landmines after attacking a gold mining company in Masbate.^[19] Antivehicle explosive devices alleged to have been placed by the NPA were recovered in March 2007 in Sultan Kudarat.^[20] Also in March, a makeshift landmine was recovered after an encounter with rebels in Bukidnon.^[21] On 5, 8 and 20 February 2007, the AFP discovered 18 antipersonnel mines in separate incidents in Surigao del Sur.^[22] Also in February, two antivehicle mines were recovered in Agusan del Sur, six Claymore mines were recovered in Agusan del Sur, and two antipersonnel mines with electrical wires and firing devices were recovered in Bukidnon.^[23] In January 2007, six antipersonnel mines were recovered in two separate incidents in Buenavista, Bondoc Peninsula and in Pilar, Sorsogon.^[24] Also in January, 18 Claymore mines were recovered in Surigao and another eight Claymores were recovered in Quezon.^[25]

In December 2006, the AFP recovered material allegedly intended for construction of landmines in Sultan Kudarat.^[26] In November 2006, four improvised Claymore mines were recovered in Surigao del Sur.^[27] Also in November, army troops recovered two IEDs in Indanan, Sulu. The IEDs included a thermos bottle with four inch nails as shrapnel, and a small plastic lunch box with steel ball bearings as shrapnel; both contained TNT explosive and nitric acid and used a 9-volt battery.^[28] In October 2006, landmines of an unknown type were recovered in Surigao Del Norte.^[29] In August 2006, a number of improvised Claymore mines were recovered from the NPA in the Compostela Valley.^[30] Also in August, two Claymores were recovered after a firefight with the NPA in Davao del Sur,^[31] and one in Iloilo.^[32]

Among the explosives and other materials for possible use in landmines recovered by the AFP have been US-made HBX explosives, electric blasting caps, detonation cord, TNT and dynamite.^[33]

Abu Sayyaf Group

The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is a radical Islamic group based in Mindanao known to have used antipersonnel mines in the past. The ASG may have been responsible for several incidents involving victim-activated improvised antipersonnel mines in June and September 2006. It remains active although two top leaders were killed in 2006 and 2007.

Moro National Liberation Front

There were no reports of use of victim-activated explosive devices by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 2006-2007. The MNLF acknowledges that it produces and uses improvised antivehicle mines, but states that it no longer produces nor maintains a stockpile of antipersonnel mines or IEDs.^[34]

Moro Islamic Liberation Front

In 2000 the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was one of the first rebel groups to sign the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment, which requires a group to forego use or possession of antipersonnel mines.^[35] According to the AFP, the MILF continued to use landmines and IEDs after 2000, but the AFP has not attributed any landmine incidents to the MILF since 2004.^[36] In January 2007 an IED made up of a 60mm high explosive cartridge “converted into a landmine with mechanical firing mechanism” was recovered in Maguindanao, an area where both the MILF and the Revolutionary Peoples’ Army of the Revolutionary Workers Party-Mindanao (RPMM-RPA) carry out operations.^[37]

In August 2006, 25 female members of the MILF attended a training on the landmine ban and other humanitarian issues co-organized by the Swiss-based NGO Geneva Call, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Southeast Asia Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, a local NGO based in Cotabato; the workshop was supported by Sweden.^[38]

Landmine and UXO Problem

The Philippines’ Article 7 reports have consistently denied that any area is mine-affected and that wherever mines or IEDs are found they are immediately removed.^[39] However, armed conflict continues at a low level and hazardous UXO continues to accumulate on the ground. The Armed Forces of the Philippines claim that the New People’s Army continues to use victim-activated antipersonnel mines.^[40]

Landmines have been planted in the mountains of Misamis Oriental, Surigao and Agusan, according to a local community leader in the area where the NPA is active.^[41] The NPA denies use of victim-activated landmines but acknowledges that it continues to use command-detonated IEDs in attacks on government security forces, asserting that these are legitimate weapons of war.^[42]

A small number of casualties occurred in 2006 on the southern island of Mindanao as a result of victim-activated antipersonnel mines reportedly planted either by the Abu Sayyaf Group or warring clans called rido.^[43]  The amount of UXO in Mindanao has also reportedly increased because of an escalation of hostilities between the rebel Muslim Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine government in the first quarter of 2007.^[44]

Mine Action

The Philippines has no formal program for dealing with landmines, IEDs or explosive remnants of war (ERW). The AFP has stated that it has 12 detachments of explosive experts,^[45] although the Philippines’ Article 7 report records only seven, which are described as being deployed nationwide to educate and protect civilians “from the threat of improvised explosive devices/mines.”^[46]

In addition, the army, navy, air force and the Philippine National Police each have explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) units, such as the army’s EOD Battalion and the air force’s 710 Wing, which are deployed in a defensive role to areas of armed conflict such as Jolo and Cotabato.  These units defuse IEDs and UXO in accordance with standing operating procedures after armed hostilities occur.^[47]

In early 2006 the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) provided general advice and assistance on mine action to the Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities on Mindanao island. FSD also reiterated an offer to create a joint clearance program for Muslim Mindanao using personnel from both sides of the conflict; the offer was under review by the Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities in 2007.^[48]

Mine Risk Education

The AFP reported two components of their mine awareness education program that provide warnings to the population on the danger of mines: 250 activities/courses were conducted on “Explosive Disposal Training and Bomb Threat Prevention Seminars to Military and Civilians,” alongside deployment of seven detachments of explosive experts nationwide “to educate and protect civilians” regarding the threat of IEDs and mines.^[49]

In 2006 training in mine/UXO safety and awareness was undertaken in Mindanao by the MINSED Foundation with the support of Geneva Call; participants then undertook MRE activities in Cotabato, Lanao Del Sur and Maguindanao in April and May 2007.^[50]

Landmine/UXO/IED Casualties

In 2006, six casualties of victim-activated devices were reported, with three killed and three injured; all were military personnel. Other explosive incidents, mostly remote-detonated IEDs, accounted for 54 casualties, of which 20 were killed and 34 injured (seven civilians). This is a decrease from the 145 casualties reported in 2005, when 65 were killed and 80 injured (18 civilians), and is possibly due to increasing pressure from the government’s counterinsurgency campaign.^[51]

Military, police and insurgents are the most likely to be killed or injured in explosive incidents, with the majority of casualties caused by command-detonated devices or IEDs.

In 2006, three incidents in Mindanao involved the use of victim-activated antipersonnel landmines or IEDs. A victim-activated IED killed two marines on reconnaissance patrol in Sapa-Sapa (Tawi-Tawi province) on 6 June.^[52] In Patikul (Sulu province) on 8 September 2006, one soldier was killed and two injured when they encountered an antipersonnel mine.^[53] Two days later, one officer was injured in Patikul (Sulu province) by a victim-activated IED.^[54]

Incidents with command-detonated devices included: two police officers and a civilian killed, and three other policemen injured, when ambushed with a remote-detonated landmine in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro province in March 2006.^[55] On 24 July, five civilians aboard a jeep were injured by shrapnel when NPA rebels detonated two landmines in Tago, Surigao del Sur province.^[56] On 25 August 2006, two combatants were killed, and one civilian and four combatants were injured, when NPA rebels detonated an improvised landmine under a truck carrying troops in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur province.^[57]

Casualties continued to be reported in 2007, with two civilian males (a man and teenage boy) injured in early March by UXO in separate incidents in Pikit, North Cotabato province and in Barangay Kalakakan. Similar incidents were reported but not confirmed in Midsayap, North Cotabato province after skirmishes between the security forces and MILF rebels.^[58]

In Iraq, a Filipino expatriate worker from Polomolok, Southern Cotabato province, was killed in a landmine blast on 11 May 2007 when the convoy truck he was driving detonated a landmine in Baghdad.^[59]

The Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines (PCBL) collects and analyzes data on mine/IED incidents from information provided by the AFP, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Philippine National Red Cross, NGOs, private citizens, media and the internet.^[60]

Despite the decrease in 2006, the longer term casualties, due mainly to command-activated mines, have been steadily increasing since 1991. Between 2000 and 2006, at least 146 people were killed and 228 injured, and at least 19 killed and 50 injured between 1991 and 1995.^[61]

Survivor Assistance

Military and civilian casualties are taken to the nearest military or government hospital for immediate treatment. The Department of Social Welfare and Development has no specific programs for landmine survivors, but provides services to individuals and groups in crisis who seek assistance in cooperation with local government units, who provide rehabilitation services for people with disabilities. The Department of Health supports prosthetics and physiotherapy services. The social welfare sector provides services, including psychosocial support to people with disabilities, but it is not provided routinely.^[62]

Government, domestic NGOs and UN agencies network formally and informally to meet survivors’ needs. However, landmine casualties are treated in the same way as other conflict casualties and many civilians, especially in conflict areas, cannot afford care.^[63] Directories of government and private agencies that can assist indigent survivors are available.

Soldiers who have survived landmine incidents receive some financial assistance from the government for their everyday needs. Families of dead soldiers can also access educational programs for direct dependents.^[64]

The 1992 Magna Carta for Disabled Persons protects the rights of people with disabilities in the areas of rehabilitation, education, employment, and integration in society, and prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Implementing regulations are reportedly weak.^[65] In 2006, a series of regional media fora on disability were held to discuss a bill which calls for the creation of a Persons with Disability Affairs Office in local government units nationwide to implement the services provided for under the law.^[66]

As of June 2007, the Philippines was not a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or its optional protocol.

Handicap International (HI) continued to provide services to the disabled, including mine survivors, through several activities in 2006: the orthopedic workshop at Notre Dame Hospital, the Hilwai disability outreach project and Wheelchairs for Mindanao Project, and community-based rehabilitation (CBR). Aside from material support, HI projects assisted 528 people with disabilities with assistive and mobility devices; trained 288 rural health, humanitarian, emergency and reconstruction workers on disability identification, primary intervention and CBR therapy; and, 313 people received CBR.^[67]

The ICRC continued to provide both medical supplies and financial support to health facilities and civilians in Mindanao, which has the highest incidence of poverty in the country, and where at least three armed groups (NPA, MNLF, ASG) continue to operate. In 2006, ICRC supported surgical treatment for 157 conflict casualties, and distributed 20 prostheses, 23 crutches and one wheelchair.^[68]

In the private sector, the Alay sa Kawal Foundation (ASK) continued to assist relatives of soldiers killed in action.^[69]