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UNIO EX 1

24 August 2016 — Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo led the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) celebrations of the 2016 International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Day through an exhibit of images depicting how IHL is applied in the Philippines.

Around 20 photos are on display until September 15 in the Passport Enrollment Center at the 2nd floor of the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs in its ASEANA Building in Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City to mark the occasion. Undersecretary Manalo was accompanied by representatives from the IHL Ad Hoc Committee, notably, the Presidential Human Rights Committee-Secretariat (PHRC), Department of National Defense (DND); the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP); Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and other offices in the DFA.

In his keynote speech, Undersecretary Manalo highlighted the new administration’s continuing commitment to its international obligations, specifically, the Geneva Conventions outlining IHL’s core principles, while recalling the effects of the Philippines’ own long-drawn out armed conflict on its people. He further underscored the government’s Peace and Development Roadmap, actively pursued through the recent talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and forthcoming discussions with the CPP-NPA-NDF. Undersecretary Manalo ended his remarks with a quote from the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA): “Enduring peace can only be attained if we meet these fundamental needs of every man, woman and child….All of us want peace; not the peace of the dead, but the peace of the living.”

Also featured in the IHL exhibit were the permanent IHL logo and IHL promotional video clips. Executive Order (E.O.) 134 mandates the DFA and DND to co-chair an ad-hoc committee to formulate and implement the annual celebration of IHL month, in collaboration with the ICRC, PRC and other concerned NGOs and people’s organizations in the country. 

The E.O. also officially declares every 12th day of August as IHL Day to raise people’s consciousness and promote greater awareness of the principles of IHL. DFA’s Assistant Secretary for United Nations and International Organizations (UNIO) Bayani Mercado serves as co-chair of the IHL Ad Hoc Committee for 2016. END

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