PABLO HR Midterms 2C1
PABLO HR Midterms 2C1
PABLO HR Midterms 2C1
Pablo, Warly G.
Human Rights – Midterms Exam
LLB-2-LLB-2C1
There are 9 core international human rights instruments and these are as follows:
realizing equality between women and men through ensuring women's equal
access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life -- including the right
to vote and to stand for election -- as well as education, health and employment.
States parties agree to take all appropriate measures, including legislation and
temporary special measures, so that women can enjoy all their human rights and
fundamental freedoms.
The Convention is the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive
rights of women and targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping
gender roles and family relations. It affirms women's rights to acquire, change or
retain their nationality and the nationality of their children. States parties also agree
to take appropriate measures against all forms of traffic in women and exploitation
of women.
The state’s duty to combat and prevent torture and ill-treatment extends to
private settings, too. This could include, for example, domestic violence or ill-
treatment of patients in private care homes, where it occurs with the consent or
knowledge of a public official. If a state knows, or has reasonable grounds to
believe, that torture or ill-treatment is being committed in private settings, it must
prevent and investigate these acts, provide the victims with adequate protection
and prosecute and punish the perpetrators.
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Sixth core instrument is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child. This convention is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political,
economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. The Convention defines a
child as any human being under the age of eighteen, unless the age of majority is
attained earlier under a state’s own domestic legislation. Contained in this treaty
is a profound idea: that children are not just objects who belong to their parents
and for whom decisions are made, or adults in training. Rather, they are human
beings and individuals with their own rights. The Convention says childhood is
separate from adulthood, and lasts until 18; it is a special, protected time, in which
children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity.
The Convention went on to become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in
history and has helped transform children’s lives. Under the terms of the
convention, governments are required to meet children’s basic needs and help
them reach their full potential. Central to this is the acknowledgment that every
child has basic fundamental rights.
inclusive education system and ensuring disabled people are protected from all
forms of exploitation, violence and abuse
1.2 Is the Philippines a state party to these instruments? If yes, what has
the Philippines done to fulfill its human rights obligations under the
said instrument/s? If not, what may seem to be the reason for not
being a state party (just yet)?
Yes, the Philippines is a state party to the instruments above. Our country
also did a lot to comply with the treaties mention. These principles are of course
equally enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. There
also have been a number of key legislative enactments since 2012, including the
Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, the Human Rights
Victims and Reparation and Recognition Act and the Domestic Workers Act. the
Government of the Philippines take steps towards the accession to the 1961
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and sought its realization to
contribute to the global campaign to end statelessness by 2024.
total of 162 allegations of grave violations against children. The data represents
an increase compared to 2013 that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
worked with UNICEF and the wider UN that implemented a strategy that
protected the children, to name a few.
2. Choose any three (3) of the nine (9) HRIs and discuss one case (domestic
or international) pertaining to the said HR instrument.
R.P.B v. Philippines
In this case R.P.B., a Filipina national born in 1989 who is both deaf and mute,
was raped by her 19-year-old neighbor in 2006. The case remained at the trial court
level for five years before the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City acquitted the
defendant in 2011. Similar to a previous case from the Philippines heard by the
CEDAW Committee in 2008, Karen Tayag Vetrido v. The Philippines, the Court again
declined to apply Filipino Supreme Court precedent. Instead, the Court relied on
gender-based myths and stereotypes about rape and rape victims, finding that the
victim should have used every opportunity to escape or resist her attacker. In
addition, State authorities did not provide any interpretation for R.P.B. In her
complaint to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women,
R.P.B. argued that the Court’s actions violated article 1, and article 2(c), (d), and (f)
of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women. In addition to relying on gender based myths and stereotypes, R.P.B. also
argued that the Court failed to provided her with accessibility, on an equal basis
with other victims, to the court, as a woman who is also deaf and mute. The
Committee held that the provision of sign language interpretation was essential to
ensure R.P.B’s full and equal participation in the proceedings, in compliance with
article 2(c) and 2(d) of the Convention. Further, the Committee held that the State
party erred in relying on gender-based stereotyping, which resulted in sex and
gender-based discrimination and disregard for the individual circumstances of the
case, such as R.P.B’s disability and age.
The Committee recommended that the State provide R.P.B. with the appropriate
compensation and free-of-charge counseling, review the existing law and remove
any requirement that sexual assault be committed by force or violence, guarantee
the free and adequate assistance of interpreters, ensure that all criminal
proceedings involving rape and other sexual offences are conducted in an impartial
and fair manner, free from prejudices or stereotypical notions regarding the
victim’s gender, age and disability, and provide adequate and regular training on
the Convention, the Optional Protocol and the Committee’s general
recommendation.
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The CEDAW Committee noted the delay of five years in bringing the case to a
decision, and the failure to provide effective interpretation.
The CEDAW Committee affirmed that stereotyping affects women’s right to a fair
trial and urged the state party to ensure that all criminal proceedings involving rape
and other sexual offences are conducted free from prejudices or stereotypical
notions regarding the victim’s gender, age and disability. The Committee also
called on the Philippines to institute effective training of the judiciary and legal
professionals to eradicate gender bias from court proceedings and decision-
making. The CEDAW Committee also emphasised that “rape… constitutes a
violation of women’s right to personal security, autonomy and bodily integrity.”
3. Give a brief legal critique (not more than 2 pages) of the Supreme Court’s
ruling in the case of Silverio v Republic
In the case, the denial of the petition, the Court anchored its ratio on both
procedural and substantive law. The initial petition filed with the trial court was
held to have been the wrong remedy. According to the Court, the applicable
procedure was that found in Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9048, 7 which authorizes civil
registrars or consul generals to summarily and administratively change first names
in the civil registry and infinitely more damning to the cause, the Court held that
Silverio’s plea could not validly be granted in any case. According to the Court,
the reasons advanced for a change of name did not fulfill either the grounds that
R.A. No. 9084 prescribed therefore, or those accepted by jurisprudence. As for the
change of entry regarding sex, the Court based its denial on the fact that no law
explicitly allowed such a change, though no law explicitly allowed the correction of
the entry of sex, this should not prevent the courts from ruling on the same since
Silverio’s prayer did indeed involve a substantial change that could be
adjudicated under the general equity jurisdiction.
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A reading of the decision, however, reveals that the Court never truly intended to
deny the petition solely on the basis of procedural concerns. As he himself
mentions, R.A. No. 9048 only bestows primary jurisdiction on the civil registrar to
adjudicate upon a remedy that is merely primarily administrative. In other words,
while the civil registrar may indeed have had jurisdiction to change the first name, it
nevertheless did not have the exclusive jurisdiction to do so. Thus, without making
explicit reference to the same, the Court was in fact adverting to the doctrine of
primary jurisdiction.
Further, the Court’s decision should have limited itself to the silence of statutory
law on changing entries in birth certificates as a result of sex reassignment. But
Justice Corona’s ponencia goes on to argue that granting Silverio’s petition will
wreak havoc on “marriage, one of the most sacred social institutions.” The issue
is simply whether a person who has undergone sex reassignment surgery may
petition the courts for a change of name and sex in her birth certificate.
4. Discuss the human rights implications of the plight of Reina Nasino and
the recent death of her three-month old baby River. What does this case
say about the current state of human rights in the country?
The human rights implication of the plight of Nasino is related to the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which a human rights treaty to
which the Philippines is a State Party.
Under article 3 of the convention states: "The baby’s best interest shall be the
primary consideration in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by
public or private social welfare institutions, administrative authorities, legislative
bodies, or courts of law.”
Additionally, under the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women
Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women which states that women
prisoners should be allowed to breastfeed their children. Unfortunately, Baby River
was separated from her detained mother when she was only a month old and later
on died because of pneumonia. If the court and the authorities had an ounce of
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human decency and allowed the mother to breastfeed her baby, River might still be
alive today.
This issue only woke the public that human rights are mere privilege, selective
accommodation and the blatant disregard for the principle of justice. Yet just a
month ago, a convicted US serviceman who had beat and strangled a Filipino
transgender was allowed to walk free after serving only five years and 10 months of
his 10-year sentence, his flight to freedom eased by a presidential pardon, no less.
If a convicted killer could be shown some compassion and human kindness, why
were Reina Mae and her infant denied the same. The Philippines must adhere to
the treaties we actually participated in and even just strict compliance to our
human rights related articles under our Constitution.