As part of the “100 Days of Speaking Out!”, a countdown to the treaty negotiations, Control Arms will regularly feature stories and profiles of different people who support a bulletproof ATT.
On April 23, the Philippine Action Network to Control Arms (PhilANCA) met with Philippine government agencies including the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of National Defense, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for a consultation on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The meeting was an opportunity for civil society organizations in the Philippines to discuss suggestions for the ATT with the government leaders that will help to establish the official country position in advance of the July negotiations.
Several members of the PhilANCA group, which works in coordination with the Control Arms coalition, voiced the opinions of civil society to the government organizations. Wilnor Papa of Amnesty-International-Pilipinas shared a background on the importance of incorporating the “golden rule” in the criteria and of ammunition in the treaty’s scope. Jasmin Nario-Galace of Center for Peace Education and Women Engaged in Action on 1325 spoke about the importance of seizing the opportunity to make the ATT gender-responsive and including ammunition into the scope of the ATT. Jennifer Santiago-Oreta of the Ateneo de Manila University shared some aspects of her research on the causes and effects of uncontrolled trade in arms and the reasons why a strong ATT is an imperative. Cesar Villanueva of Pax Christi-Pilipinas discussed interfaith perspectives on why a humanitarian ATT is a must and showed photographs and signatures of interfaith leaders in the country who support the adoption of a strong ATT. Nikki Delfin of GZO Peace Institute spoke about the effects on the youth of the uncontrolled arms proliferation and clarified what the ATT is not.
The government representatives shared that they have no problem supporting the criteria proposed in the Chair’s Paper and supporting a treaty that is gender-responsive. They also claimed that the inclusion of ammunition is still being discussed as a potential part of the Philippine position. They said that they will take all suggestions of the CSOs in consideration and then later were asked to submit their proposals in writing.
