Through our research it has come to our attention that the Philippine government has been constantly delaying its decision on whether to make public the findings of a recent United Nations (UN) inquiry regarding the state of reproductive rights in the city of Manila. The deadline for its decision is March 6, and requests to the Office of the President for a definitive answer by women’s rights groups have apparently been ignored, leaving one to wonder if the government may be hoping the issue might simply blow over quietly.
An inquiry into women’s reproductive rights violations allegedly perpetrated by the Manila city government was conducted over the period of July to November in 2013 by members of the UN CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women) Committee. However, under the terms of the segment of that treaty termed the Optional Protocol, national governments are allowed to choose whether or not to publicly disclose the inquiry’s findings and recommendations for action.
According to the proceedings of the committee published in the website of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a member of the CEDAW Committee, one Pramila Patten, met with the Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the UN Office in July of 2014 in Geneva to discuss the Philippine government’s response to the inquiry findings. In the absence of a positive response from the government, the CEDAW Committee decided to defer the decision for publication of the report until the CEDAW committee’s current session this year, which runs from Feb 16 to March 6 2015.
Given this administration’s publicly stated commitment to transparency and woman’s rights, and the support such a report would provide for the speedy and effective implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (colloquially known as the RH Law), the Filipino Freethinkers wishes to join in the call for the government to make the CEDAW Committee’s findings public before March 6.
Sources:
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights CEDAW page, session reports
United Nations CEDAW Protocol On State Participation
Imposing Misery, original basis for request of inquiry
Original Philippine Commission on Human Rights statement on Manila City Gov’t
Philippine Star Piece reporting on initiation of original report
