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Pablo, Warly G.
Human Rights – Midterms Exam
LLB-2-LLB-2C1

1. Briefly discuss the nine core human rights instruments (HRIs).

There are 9 core international human rights instruments and these are as follows:

First is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial

Discrimination. The United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) builds upon the 1963 Declaration on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Declaration makes four
principal points; it states that any doctrine of racial differentiation or superiority is
scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous and has no
justification in theory or practice; Racial discrimination and more so, government
policies based on racial superiority or hatred violates fundamental human rights,
endanger friendly relations among peoples, co-operation among nations, and
international peace and security; Racial discrimination harms not only those who
are its objects but also those who practice it and the fundament aim of the United
Nations is a world society free of racial segregation and discrimination .

Second core instrument is the International Covenant of Civil and Political

Rights. This attempts to ensure the protection of civil and political rights.
It recognizes the inherent dignity of each individual and undertakes to promote
conditions within states to allow the enjoyment of civil and political rights.
Countries that have ratified the Covenant are obligated to protect and preserve
basic human rights and compelled to take administrative, judicial, and legislative
measures in order to protect the rights enshrined in the treaty and to provide an
effective remedy.

Third is the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights .

In accordance with the Universal Declaration, the Covenant recognize that the ideal
of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear
and want can be achieved only if conditions are created whereby everyone may
enjoy his civil and political rights, as well as his economic, social and cultural rights.
The ICSESCR obliges states parties to undertake steps using the maximum of their
available resources and by all appropriate means to realize economic, social and
cultural human rights. This is called the principle of progressive realization.

Fourth core human right instrument is the Convention on elimination of all

forms of discrimination against Women. The Convention provides the basis for
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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.

Appropriate measures may include amending existing laws, regulations, customs

and practices which discriminate against women, and adopting gender-sensitive
laws and policies. Under CEDAW, governments are also responsible for ensuring
that individual citizens and private organizations do not discriminate against
women.

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.

Fifth is the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or

Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It requires signatory parties to take measures
to end torture within their territorial jurisdictions. For purposes of the Convention,
torture is defined as an extreme form of cruel and inhuman punishment committed
under the color of law. The Convention allows for no circumstances or emergencies
where torture could be permitted. Additionally, CAT Article 3 requires that no state
party expel, return, or extradite a person to another country where there are
substantial grounds to believe he would be subjected to torture. CAT defines
torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental,
is intentionally inflicted on a person by or at the instigation of or with the consent
or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official
capacity.”This definition does not include “pain or suffering arising only from,
inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.”

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.

Seventh is the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of

All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families . This is a comprehensive
international human rights mechanism adopted by the United Nations in 1990
with the purpose of protecting the migrant workers and members of their
families. It is designed to ensure that migrant workers benefit from the protection
afforded by human rights, including civil, political, economic, social, and cultural
rights. In so doing, the ICMW hinges mainly on already-existing international
human rights treaties, whose application to migrant workers had not been
explicitly delineated. It does also provide a number of new rights targeting
migrant workers, such as the right to transfer remittances or to have access to
information on the migration process.

Next is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities . This is an

international human rights convention which sets out the fundamental human
rights of people with disability.

It is made up of two documents, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities, which contains the main human rights provisions expressed as a series
of Articles and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, which is a more limited document that sets up an individual
complaints procedure. The aims of this convention is to protect and promote the
human rights of disabled people, including: eliminating disability discrimination,
enabling disabled people to live independently in the community, ensuring an
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inclusive education system and ensuring disabled people are protected from all
forms of exploitation, violence and abuse

Lastly, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from

Enforced Disappearance. This Convention is a crucial instrument in the fight against
enforced disappearance. The Convention establishes a legal definition of enforced
disappearance, which is binding on State Parties, qualifies the widespread or
systematized practice of enforced disappearances as "crimes against humanity”,
prohibits secret detention locations and reinforces procedural guarantees
surrounding detention and provides families and relatives with a right to know the
truth about a victim’s fate. This is the first universal treaty that states the right of
any person not to be subjected to enforced disappearance. The system of
protection is based on four key elements: prohibition, prevention, monitoring and
punishment.

The most significant aspect of the Convention is prohibition of individual acts of

enforced disappearance which do not amount to crimes against humanity or crime
of torture. More than that, the Convention establishes absolute prohibition of
enforced disappearance ratione personae and ratione materiae: No one shall be
subjected to enforced disappearances. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever,
whether a state of war or a threat to war, internal political instability or any other
public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance.”

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.

In addressing the needs of children in situations of armed conflict is a global

protection priority, mandated by the UN Security Council.  In 2014, The
Philippine Country Taskforce for Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) recorded a
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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

Silverio’s case is probably the first in the Philippines that involves a

transgender woman who sought to change the entries for first name and sex in her
birth certificate after undergoing gender reassignment surgery. The Regional Trial
Court of Manila, citing justice and equity, granted her petition. The Republic
appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the trial court. The
Supreme Court sustained the Court of Appeals decision.

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.

I am hoping that Philippine Congress will be as receptive to advances in human

rights as our world continues to evolve, our laws must also adapt to these changes.

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.