Madam President,

The Philippines congratulates Malaysia on its assumption of the Presidency of the Council for the month of June.  We appreciate your initiative in organizing today’s open debate on Children and Armed Conflict. 

The Philippines aligns itself with the ASEAN statement delivered by the distinguished Permanent Representative of Vietnam.

Madam President,

As a manifestation of the Philippines’ steadfast commitment to the protection of children, especially in situations of armed conflict, the Philippine government continues to take steps along this direction with the cooperation and support of various agencies of government, civil society and our partners in the UN system.

  Last year, after 40 years of bloody conflict and 16 years of a difficult peace process,  the government concluded peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or the MILF and signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.  A draft law which will be the legal framework and governing law of the new Bangsamoro entity is now under consideration by the Philippine Congress.  Last Tuesday, the first phase of the decommissioning of MILF combatants and their firearms was implemented. With these confidence-building developments, we have within our grasp lasting peace in Southern Philippines with our children waking up each day and ending each day in a safe and peaceful environment whether they be at home, at play, or at school.   

The members of the Council will recall that in 2009, the MILF signed the UN-MILF Action Plan to address the issue of recruitment and the use of child soldiers by the MILF Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.  This agreement was renewed in 2013 and the  UNICEF’s Child Protection Specialist based in southern Philippines remains confident that the MILF will continue to cooperate in order to secure its delisting from groups perpetrating the use of children in armed conflict. 

UNICEF has also completed its orientation and training on child rights across 31 MILF base commands and seven front commands in Mindanao for Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces commanders and troops.  The second phase of the UN-MILF Action Plan of implementing a communication campaign will hopefully get underway soon.    Activities under the UN-MILF Action Plan such as unhindered access by the UN for verification purposes and separation of MILF former combatants found to be under 18 years of age will also continue. 

Madam President,

The Secretary General’s report has noted a decline in cases of child soldier recruitment in the Philippines from 20 in 2013 to seven cases in 2014.  The Philippine government continues to work hard to bring this number to zero.

On the part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, it has submitted its Strategic Plan on the Prevention and Response to Grave Child Rights Violations in Situations of Armed Conflict, as well as its draft circular on Child Protection during Armed Conflict Situations. It also issued Guidelines in the Conduct of Armed Forces of the Philippines activities inside or within the premises of a school or hospital.

The Philippine Department of Education on the other hand implements its Guidelines on the Protection of Children during Armed Conflict by requiring school heads, teaching and non-teaching personnel to report within 24 hours any information or incident of grave child rights violations to the Council for the Welfare of Children.  They are to provide information on the date, time and location of the incident;   the name, number, gender and age of the children affected; and the armed groups involved. 

The Philippines has also established the Inter-Agency Committee on Children in Armed Conflict (IAC-CIAC), which also serves as the Monitoring, Reporting and Response System (MRRS) on Grave Child Rights Violations in Situations of Armed Conflict (GCRVSAC) team.  The team sits with the UN Development Program (UNDP) as part of the Technical Working Group on the UN Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (TWG-CTFMR) of Grave Child Rights Violations in Armed Conflicts (GCRV-AC).

Mr. President,

            The Philippines remains committed to keep our children safe and will continue to engage and cooperate with all stakeholders in the prevention of grave child rights violations,   as well as in monitoring, reporting and responding to these violations committed in the context of armed conflicts.

            Thank you.