COMMI

SSI
ONONHUMANRI
GHTSOFTHEPHI
LIPPI
NES
______________________________________________________________________
CALLFORINPUTSFORTHEI
SSUESFORCONSI DERATI
ONDURI
NGAHALF-DAY
GENERALDISCUSSI
ONINPREPARATI
ONFORAGENERALCOMMENTONARTI CLE21
(
RIGHTTOPEACEFULASSEMBLY)OFTHEINTERNATI
ONALCOVENANTONCI
VILAND
POLI
TICALRI
GHTS
1
8MARCH201
9
______________________________________________________________________

I
ntr
oduct
ion
1
. The Commi ssi
on on Human Ri ghts of the Phil
i
ppines (hereinaft
er t he
1
“Commi ssi
on”) submit
sitswr i
tt
eni nput
stotheHumanRi ght
sCommi t
teeas
contr
ibut
iontothegeneraldi
scussi
onf orageneralcommentonAr ti
cle21( r
ightto
peacefulassembly)ofthe Int
ernati
onalCovenanton Civiland Polit
icalRights
(I
CCPR) .

2.Thei nputsfrom theCommi ssi

ont ooki nt
o consi
der ati
onl ocaland inter
nat
ional
reportsf r
om gover nment, ci
vi
lsoci ety, t
he medi a, and int
ernationalnon-
governmentor ganizati
ons.Thissubmi ssi
onalsout i
l
izedt heCommi ssion’sown
document ati
onofi ndependentmoni tori
ngact i
vi
ti
esandst atements,whi chwere
subjectedtotheinter
nal del
i
berati
onsoft heCommi ssionEnBanc.

Legalandl
egi
slat
ivef
ramewor
ks
3.Ther i
ght
stof reedom ofpeacef
ulassembl
yandofassociati
onareenshrinedinthe
1987Phil
ippineConsti
tuti
onandhavebeenprotect
edsincetheearl
ierConstit
uti
ons
oft hePhil
ippi
nes.Itwasonl yinthe1973Consti
tut
ionthatthepr ovi
si
onont he
freedom t
of orm uni
ons,associ
ati
onsorsoci
eti
esforpurposesnotcontrarytolaw
2
wasr emoved.
4.The1 987Phi l
ippi
neConst itut
ion underAr t
icle3,Section4 oft heBillofRights
provides,“Nol awshallbepassedabr i
dgingt hef
reedom ofspeech,ofexpressi
on,
oroft hepress,orther i
ghtoft hepeoplepeaceabl ytoassembl eandpet i
ti
ont he
gover nmentf orredressofgr ievances”,whi l
eSecti
on8undert hesameAr ti
cle
statest hat
,“Ther i
ghtoft hepeopl e,i
ncludingthoseemployedi nthepublicand
privat
esect ors,toform uni
ons,associati
ons,orsocieti
esforpurposesnotcontrary
tolawshal lnotbeabr dged”.3
i
5.ThePhili
ppinesisast atepar
tytotheInternat
ionalCovenantonCi vi
landPol i
ti
cal
Right
s( I
CCPR)wher eitisboundtoimpl ementther i
ghtsenshri
nedi nthetreaty
i
ncludi
ng ar t
icl
es 1
9( r
ightt
o hol
d opinions withoutint
erf
erence),21( r
ightof
peacefulassembly)
,and22( ri
ghtt
ofreedom ofassociati
onwithothers)
.However ,

1
AstheNat i
onalHumanRi ghtsI
nsti
tuti
on( NHRI)ofthePhi l
ippines,theCommi ssi
ononHumanRi ghtsofhas
themandat evestedbyt he1 987Phi
li
ppineConst it
uti
onandt hePar i
sPrinciplest opromoteandprotectthefull
rangeofhumanr i
ghtsincl
udingcivi
landpol it
icalri
ghts,andeconomi c,soci alandcult
uralr
ight
s.Ithast he
responsibi
l
itytoregularl
yreportandmoni torhumanr i
ghtssituati
onsandvi olati
ons,andrecommendst epsin
advancingther eal
izati
onofhumanr ightsanddi gni
tyofal l
.TheCommi ssionhas“A”-st at
usaccreditati
on
from the Sub-Commi t
tee forAccreditat
ion oft he GlobalAlli
ance ofNat i
onalHuman Ri ghtsInsti
tuti
ons
(GANHRI ).
2
The Consti
tut
ions of t
he Republi
c of the Phi l
ippi
nes (Past & Pr esent), avai
labl
e at
http:
//www.chanrobl
es.
com/phi
l
supremelaw.ht
m#. W1fSSC-B0Wo.( Lastaccessed24Jul y2018)
.
3
1
987Constit
uti
onoftheRepubl
icofthePhil
i
ppines,(
Lastaccessed1 5July2018).
 t
hefif
thperi
odi
crepor
toft
hePhi
li
ppi
nest
hatshoul
dupdat
etheHumanRight
s
Committ
eeoftheStat
e’scompl
i
ancetot
hetreat
yhasbeenover
duesi
nce31
Oct
ober201
6.
Whatar etheuniquefeaturesoft
herighttopeacef ulassembly,whichdisti
nguishesit
fr
om otherr el
atedri
ghtssuchasfr
eedom ofexpr essionandpol i
ti
calpart
ici
pation?What
i
st hef uncti
on,added valueand r
ati
onalef orthisr i
ghtinasoci alsystem basedon
democr acyand human r i
ghts?Doest he scope oft he ri
ghtdiff
erdependi ng on t
he
context(forexample,i
sitthesameduri
ngpol i
ti
caltransit
ions)
?

6.InthecaseofPr imici
asv.Fugoso,t heSupr emeCour toft
hePhi l
i
ppinesr uledt hat
“[ t
]herighttof reedom ofspeech,andt opeacef ull
yassembleandpet i
ti
ont he
governmentf orr edressofgr i
evances,ar ef undament alpersonalrightsoft he
peoplerecogni zedandguar anteedbyt heconst ituti
onsofdemocr at
iccount r
ies.
Butitisasettl
edpr i
ncipl
egrowi ngoutoft henat ureofwel l
-orderedcivilsocieties
thattheexerciseoft hoserightsisnotabsol utef ori tmaybesor egulatedt hatit
shallnotbei njuri
oust otheequalenj oymentofot hershavi
ng equalr ights,nor
i
njuri
oustother i
ghtsofthecommuni t
yorsoci ety…”4

7.TheCour tli
kewi ser ul
edt hat,“[ f]
reedom ofassembl yconnot est her ightoft he
peopl et o meetpeaceabl yf orconsul t
ati
onand di scussionofmat tersofpubl i
c
concer n.I
tisent it
ledtobeaccor dedt heutmostdef erenceandr espect .Itisnotto
bel i
mi ted,muchl essdenied,exceptonashowi ng,asi st hecasewi thf r
eedom of
expr ession,ofacl earandpr esentdangerofasubst ant
iveevi lt
hatt hest atehasa
ri
ghtt opr event .Evenpr i
ort ot he1 935Const i
tution,Just iceMal col m hadoccasi on
to stresst hati tisanecessar yconsequence ofourr epubl i
can i nstit
utionsand
compl ement st he rightoff ree speech.To par aphr ase t he opi nion ofJust ice
Rutledge,speaki ngf orthemaj or
ityoft heAmer icanSupr emeCour ti nThomasv.
Colli
ns,i twasnotbyacci dentorcoi ncidencet hatt her i
ght st ofreedom ofspeech
andoft hepresswer ecoupledi nasi ngleguar ant eewi thther ightsoft hepeopl e
peaceabl ytoassembl eandt opet i
ti
ont hegover nmentf orr edressofgr ievances.
Alltheser ights,whi l
enotident ical,areinsepar
abl e.”5

How shoul dtheter m ‘peacef ulassembl y’ beunder st

ood? Wheni sonedeal i
ngwi th
an‘assembl y’?Doesi trequi r
et heexpr essi
onofani deat hroughagat heri
ng,andi f
so,whati sthehal l
mar kofsuchanexpr essionofani dea(e.g.doesi tnecessar i
l
yent ail
anappealt ot hepubl icopinion)?Doesi tcoverst r
ikes? Ordoal lgatheri
ngs( e.
g.,also
spor t
ing,reli
gious,culturalevents,or)qual i
fyas‘assembl ies’?Doesi tmatt
erwhet her
theor ganizerspur sueacommer ci
ali
nt erest?Inor dertoqual i
fyasanassembl y,are
therer equirement saboutwher eshouldt hegat heri
ngshoul dtakepl ace– i npubl ic,
private oron-l i
ne? Can one per son form an assembl y? When i s an assembl y not
‘peacef ul’,andf alloutsi
det hescopeoft hepr otecti
onoft hepar ticul
arri
ght?What
l
evelofvi ol
ence( ormer edi sr
upt i
on?)isr equirednott oconsi deritpeaceful?Towhat
extentcant hevi olentconductofcer t
aini ndividualspar t
icipati
ngi nt heassembl ybe
attri
butedt othegr oupasawhol eandr enderanassembl yasawhol enotpeacef ul?

8.I
nSec.3( a)ofBatasPambansaNo.880,publ i
cassemblyi sdefinedas“anyr al
ly,
demonst rati
on,mar ch,par ade,processi
onoranyot herform ofmassorconcer t
ed
action heldin a publicpl ace f
ort he purpose ofpresenting a lawfulcause;or
expr essi
nganopi niontot hegener alpubl
iconanypar ti
cularissue;orprotest
ingor
i
nfluencinganyst ateofaf fair
swhet herpolit
ical
,economicorsoci al
;orpetit
ioni
ng
thegover nmentforr edressofgr i
evances.”

9.The Supreme Cour tstat

ed t
hat“[ n]
oteveryexpr
essi
on ofopinion i
sa publ
ic
assembly.Thelaw r ef
ersto"ral
ly,demonstr
ati
on,march,parade,processi
onor
anyotherform ofmassorconcer t
edacti
onheldinapubli
cplace."Soitdoesnot
coveranyandal l
kindsofgatheri
ngs.”6

1
0.TheSupr emeCour tal
soruledt
hat[t
]hepowert oregul
atetheexerci
seof[theri
ght
to peacefulassembly]and otherconsti
tut
ionalr i
ghtsistermed the sover
eign
"poli
cepower ,
"whichisthepowertoprescriber egul
ati
ons,t
opr omotethehealth,
mor al
s,peace,educati
on,goodorderorsafety,andgeneralwelf
areofthepeopl e.

4
Bayanv.Ermit
a,G.R.No.1 69838,25Apri2006ci
l t
ingPri
mici
asv.Fugoso,80Phi
l
.71(1
948)
,
avail
ableathtt
p://
sc.
judi
ciary.
gov.ph/
jur
ispr
udence/2006/
apri
l
2006/G.R.
%20No.%201
69838.
htm
(l
astaccessed1 5March201 9).
5
I
d.cit
ingReyesv.Bagatsing,G.R.No.L-65366,November9,1983,1
25SCRA553.
6
I
d.
 Thissovereignpol
icepowerisexerci
sedbyt hegovernmentthroughi t
slegisl
ati
ve
branchbyt heenactmentoflawsregul
ati
ngthoseandot herconsti
tut
ionalandcivil
ri
ghts,and i t may be delegat
ed to poli
ticalsubdi
visi
ons,such as t owns,
municipal
i
tiesandciti
esbyauthor
izi
ngtheirl
egisl
ati
vebodiescall
edmuni cipaland
7
ci
tycouncilstoenactordi
nancesf
orthepurpose.

1
1.Sec.11oft heBatasPambasaNo.880,orthe“Publi
cAssemblyAct” contai
ns
prohi
bit
ionsontheexer
ciseoft
her
ightt
opeaceabl
yassembl
e,whichst
ates:

Sec.1
3.Pr
ohi
bit
edact
s.– Thef
oll
owi
ngshal
lconst
it
utevi
olat
ionsoft
he
Act
:

(a)Thehol di
ngofanypubl i
cassembl yasdefinedint hi
sActbyanyl eader
ororgani zerwit
houthavingfi
rstsecuredthatwrit
tenper mitwhereapermit
i
sr equiredf r
om theoffi
ceconcer ned,ortheuseofsuchper mitforsuch
purposesi nanyplaceot herthanthosesetouti nsaidper mi
t:Provi
ded,
however ,Thatno per son can be punished orhel d cri
minal
lyli
ablefor
parti
cipatinginorat
tendi
nganot herwisepeacefulassembly;

(b)Ar
bitr
aryandunj
ust
if
ieddeni
alormodi
fi
cat
ionofapermitinvi
olat
ionof
theprovi
sionsoft
hisActbythemayororanyot herof
fi
cialact
inginhis
behal
f;

(
c)Theunjust
if
iedandarbit
rar
yref
usalt
oacceptoracknowledgerecei
ptof
t
heappl
icati
onforapermitbythemayororanyof
fi
cial
acti
nginhisbehalf
;

(
d)Obstr
ucti
ng,impeding,di
srupt
ingorot
her
wisedenyi
ngt
heexer
ciseof
t
heri
ghttopeaceful
assembly;

(e)Theunnecessaryfi
ri
ngoffi
rear
msbyamemberofanyl
aw enf
orcement
agencyoranyper sontodi
sper
sethepubl
i
cassembl
y;

(
f)Act
sinvi
olat
ionofSect
ion1
0her
eof
;

(
g)Actsdescr
ibedhereunderi
fcommi
ttedwi
thi
nonehundred(100)meters
f
rom t
heareaofacti
vi
tyofthepubl
i
cassembl
yorontheoccasi
ont her
eof:

1.thecarr
yingofadeadlyorof
fensi
veweaponordevi
cesuchasf
ir
ear
m,
pil
l
box,bomb,andthel
ike;

2.t
hecar
ryi
ngofabl
adedweaponandt
hel
i
ke;

3.t
hemal
i
ciousbur
ningofanyobj
ecti
nthest
reet
sort
hor
oughf
ares;

4.t
hecar
ryi
ngoff
ir
ear
msbymember
soft
hel
aw enf
orcementuni
t;

5.the i
nter
feri
ng wi
th ori
ntent
ional
l
ydi st
urbi
ng t
he holdi
ng ofa publ
i
c
assembl
ybyt heuseofamotorvehicl
e,i
tshornsandloudsoundsyst
ems.

I
sf r
eedom ofassembl yanindivi
dualoracol l
ecti
ver i
ght,orboth?Whoi st
hebearerof
theright?Theparti
cipants– individual
lyorcol
lect
ivel
y?Theor gani
zers?Doestheri
ght
coverplanning/
publicati
on/
adver t
isementoftheevent ,andifsowhendoest hi
sstart-
beforenotif
icat
ionorot hersi
mi l
arr equir
ementshavebeenmet ?Doestheri
ghtcover
protecti
onofparti
cipantsontheirwayt oandfrom anassembl y?

1
2.Freedom ofassemblyisbot hani ndivi
dualandcol lect
iveri
ght,assuchr ightmay
beexer ci
sedbyani ndivi
dual ,seeki
ngt oassembl ewi thothersforthepur poses
st
ated in paragr
aph 8.Iti salso a coll
ecti
ve rightbecause once peopl e have
gathered,theyareal
lcoll
ect i
velyexerci
singtheirri
ghttopeaceabl yassembl y.An
organi
zedgr oupmayexer cisethesameaswel l
,wher ecasesfil
edintheSupr eme
Courthaveshown t hator ganized l
aborgr oupshavebeenf ound to havel egal
8
st
andingt oquesti
onthecur t
ail
mentoft heirr
ight
st opeaceablyassemble.

7
I
d.ci
ti
ngPri
miciasv.Fugoso,80Phil
.71(
1948)
.
8
SeeBayanvs.Ermit
a,G.R.No.169838
Art
icl
e2( 1)oft heI CCPR requiresStatesto‘r espectandensur e’ t her i
ghtsint he
I
CCPR.Ar t
icl
e21pr ovidesthattherightofpeacef ulassembl y‘shal lber ecognised’.
Doest hi
si n gener altermsmean t hatthereisa dut yon t he Statet o ‘facil
it
ate’
peacefulassembl y,andwhatdoessuchadut yto‘f acil
it
ate’ entail
?Doesi tmeant hat,
whil
e peopl e exercise thi
sr i
ght,the focus oflaw enf orcementof f
ici
als shoul
d be
pri
maril
yonpr otecti
ngt herightsofallconcernedr atherthanuphol dinglaw andor der?
(Ar
eSt atesthusr equiredtoshow acer tai
nleveloft oler
ancet oconductwhenengaged
i
naspar tofpeacef ulassembly,andnotmeeti twi t
ht hesamef orceoft hel aw asi t
wouldotherwisedo?)How shoul dtheobl i
gati
ontoal low assembliestot akeplacewi thi
n
‘sightandsound’ ofi t
stargetaudiencebeinterpreted?

1
3.InBP 880,theSt ateisrequi
redtotakeacti
ononanapplicati
onforapermitto
exerci
setherighttopeaceabl
yassemble.Undert
hesai
dlaw,thefol
lowi
ngar
et he
specif
icact
ionsthatmustbetaken:

(a)I
tshallbethedutyofthemayororanyof f
ici
alacti
nginhi sbehal
ft o
i
ssueorgr antapermi
tunlessthereisclearandconvincingevidencethat
thepubl
icassemblywil
lcr
eateacl earandpresentdangert opubli
corder,
publ
icsaf
ety,publ
i
cconvenience,publ
icmoralsorpubl
ichealth.

(b)Themayororanyof f
ici
alacti
nginhisbehal
fshal
lactontheappl i
cat
ion
withi
ntwo( 2)workingdaysf rom thedatetheappli
cati
onwasf i
led,fai
l
ing
which,the permitshallbe deemed gr ant
ed.Shouldf oranyreason the
mayororanyof fi
cialacti
nginhisbehalfref
usetoaccepttheappli
cati
onfor
aper mi
t,saidappli
cationshallbepostedbytheapplicantonthepremises
oftheoffi
ceofthemayorandshal lbedeemedtohavebeenf il
ed.

(c)I
fthemayorisoftheview t
hattherei
simminentandgravedangerofa
subst
anti
veevilwar
rant
ingthedenialormodi
fi
cati
onofthepermit
,heshal
l
i
mmedi at
elyi
nformtheappli
cantwhomustbeheardont hematt
er.

(
d)Theacti
ononthepermitshal
lbei
nwr
it
ingandser
vedont
heappl
i
cat
ion
wit
hint
wenty-f
ourhour
s.

(e)I
fthemayororanyof f
ici
alacti
nginhi
sbehalfdeniest
heappl
i
cationor
modifi
esthe t
ermsthereofin hi
sper mi
t,t
he appl
icantmaycontestthe
deci
sioni
nanappropri
atecourtoflaw.

(f)Incasesui ti
sbroughtbef oret heMetropoli
tanTr i
alCourt
,theMunicipal
TrialCourt,theMunicipalCircui
tTr i
alCourt,t
heRegi onalTr
ialCourt
,orthe
Intermediate Appell
ate Cour t,its deci
sions may be appeal ed t
ot he
appr opr
iatecourtwit
hinforty-eight(48)hoursafterrecei
ptofthesame.No
appealbondandr ecordonappealshal lber equired.A decisi
ongranti
ng
suchper mi tormodifyingitint ermssatisf
actorytot heappli
cantshall
,be
i
mmedi atel
yexecutory.

(g)Al
lcasesf i
l
edincourtunderthi
sSect i
onshallbedecidedwithi
ntwenty-
four (
24) hour sfrom date of fi
li
ng.Cases f iled her
eunder shal
lbe
i
mmedi atel
y endorsed t
ot he executi
ve judge fordisposi
ti
on or,in hi
s
absence,tothenextinr
ank.

(
h)I
nal
lcases,anydeci
si
onmaybeappeal
edt
otheSupr
emeCour
t.

(
i)Tel
egr
aphi
cappeal
stobef
oll
owedbyf
ormal
appeal
sar
eher
ebyal
l
owed.

1
4.Thesamel aw al
sostatesinSec.9t hat“[l]
aw enforcementagenciesshallnot
i
nterferewiththeholdi
ngofapubl i
cassembl y.However ,toadequatelyensure
publi
csafety,alaw enf
orcementconti
ngentunderthecommandofar esponsi
ble
poli
ceof f
icermaybedet ai
ledandstati
onedinaplaceatl eastonehundred(100)
meterawayf r
om thear eaofacti
vit
yr eadyto maint
ainpeaceand or deratall
ti
mes. ”

1
5.I
nSec.1 0,itisstatedthat“Itshal
lbeimper at
iveforlaw enforcementagenci es,
whent hei
rassist
ancei srequest
edbyt heleadersoror gani
zers,toperf
or mt heir
duti
esalwaysmi ndfult
hatthei
rresponsi
bil
i
tytoprovideproperpr ot
ect
iontot hose
exerci
si
ng theirri
ghtpeaceablyto assemble and t
he freedom ofexpr essi
on i s
pri
mordial
.Towar ds t
his end,law enforcementagenci es shallobser ve the
 f
oll
owi
nggui
del
i
nes:

(a)Member s of the law enf

orcementcontingentwho dealwi t
ht he
demonstrat
orsshallbeincompl
eteunifor
m wit
htheirnameplatesanduni t
s
towhichtheybelongdispl
ayedprominent
lyonthefrontanddor salpart
sof
thei
runi
form andmustobservethepoli
cyof"maximum tol
erance"asher ei
n
defi
ned;

(b)Themembersofthel
aw enfor
cementconti
ngentshal
lnotcar
ryanyki nd
offir
earmsbutmaybeequi ppedwithbatonorr i
otsti
cks,shi
elds,crash
helmetswi
thvi
sor
,gasmasks,bootsorankl
ehighshoeswithshi
nguar ds;

(c)Teargas,smoke gr enades,wat ercannons,orany simil

aranti-r
iot
devi
ceshall
notbeusedunl essthepublicassemblyisattendedbyactualviol
enceor
seri
oust
hreatsofvi
olence,ordel
iber
atedestr
uctionofpr
opert
y.

Mor especif
ical
ly,whatar ethe( negat i
veandposi t
ive)obl igati
onspl acedbyt her i
ghtof
peacef ulassembl yont heSt ate?How shoul dther ightber espect edbyt heSt ate( e.g.
throught headopt ionoflawspr ovidi
ngf orandr egulatingi tsexerciseinaccor dancewi th
i
nt ernati
onallaw) ?How shoul di tbepr otected?Towhatext entdoest heSt atehavean
obl i
gati
ont opr otectthoseengagedi npeacef ulassembl yf r
om i nt
erferencebyot her
member soft hepubl i
c?Andshoul dcount er-demonst rationsbepr otectedt ot hesame
extent?How shoul dtheobligationonSt atestotakepr ecautionarymeasur estopr event
violati
ons ofr ights be underst ood int his context( f
orexampl eint he cont extof
prevent i
ngandr educi
ngviolence) ?Isther eanobligationont hepar toftheaut hori
tiest o
attemptt oengagewi thassembl yorganisersandpar t
icipant spriortothehol dingoft he
assembl y?Ar eor gani
sersrequiredt oengagewi t
ht heaut horit
ies?Isthereaspeci alr ole
forNHRI sint hi
sr egard?Andot herst akeholders(suchasl ocalgover nment s)?

1
6.Pleaseref
ertotheanswersintheprevi
ouspar
agr
aphsr
egar
dinghow t
heSt
ate
shouldr
espectt
heri
ghttopeaceful
assembl
y.

1
7.Asf orthespeci
alroleoftheNHRIs,t
heCommi ssi
ononHumanRi ght
softhe
Phil
i
ppineshasthefol
lowingpower
sandfunct
ionsunderSec.1
8,Ar
ti
cle13oft
he
1987Phil
ippi
neConsti
tut
ion:

(1
)Invest
igate,onit
sownoroncompl ai
ntbyanypar
ty,al
lfor
msofhumanr
ight
s
vi
olat
ionsinvol
vingci
vi
landpol
i
tical
right
s;

(
2)Adoptitsoperat
ionalgui
deli
nesandrul
esofprocedur
e,andci
tef
orcont
empt
f
orvi
olat
ionsther
eofinaccordancewit
htheRul
esofCourt
;

(3)Provideappropri
atel egalmeasuresf ortheprotect
ionofhumanr i
ghtsofall
personswithi
nthePhilippines,aswellasFil
ipi
nosresidi
ngabroad,andpr
ovidef
or
prevent
ivemeasur esandl egalai
dser vi
cestotheunder pr
ivi
l
egedwhosehuman
ri
ghtshavebeenviolatedorneedpr ot
ecti
on;

(
4)Exer
cisevi
si
tor
ial
power
soverj
ail
s,pr
isons,ordet
ent
ionf
aci
l
iti
es;

(5)Establ
i
sh a cont
inui
ng pr
ogr
am ofresear
ch,educat
ion,and i
nfor
mat
ion t
o
enhancerespectf
orthepri
macyofhumanri
ght
s;

(6)Recommendt oCongresseff
ect
ivemeasurestopromot
ehumanr i
ghtsandto
provi
deforcompensat
iontovi
cti
msofvi
olat
ionsofhumanri
ght
s,ort
heirf
amili
es;

(7)Monitorthe Phi
l
ippi
ne Gover
nment
’s compl
i
ance wi
thi
nter
nat
ionalt
reat
y
obli
gat
ionsonhumanr i
ghts;

(8)Grantimmuni
tyfr
om prosecut
iontoanypersonwhoset esti
monyorwhose
possessi
on ofdocument
s orot herevi
dence i
s necessary orconvenientt
o
deter
minethet
rut
hinanyi
nvesti
gati
onconduct
edbyitorunderit
saut
horit
y;

(9)Requestt
heassi
stanceofanydepar
tment
,bur
eau,of
fi
ce,oragencyi
nthe
perf
ormanceofi
tsf
uncti
ons;
 (
10)Appoi
nti
tsof
fi
cer
sandempl
oyeesi
naccor
dancewi
thl
aw;and

(
11)Per
for
m suchot
herdut
iesandf
unct
ionsasmaybepr
ovi
dedbyl
aw.

1
8.TheCommi ssi
onhas,i
nthepast,senti
tsst
affuponit
sownmot i
ontomonit
orthe
exerciseoft heri
ghtt
opeaceablyassemblebyindi
vi
dualsandgroups.Theai
m of
theCommi ssioni
stoprot
ectthosewhoareexerci
si
ngt hei
rri
ghtf
rom t
heState’s
possibleabuseofauthori
ty.

1
9.Thefol
lowingar
erecentst
atementsandpaper sfr
om theCommissi
onrel
evantt
o
i
tsmandat ei
nmonit
ori
ngcivilandpol
i
ticalr
ight
s,par
ti
cular
lyt
heri
ghtt
opeaceful
assembly:

StatementofCHRspoker sper
son,AttyJacquel
ineAnnC.deGuia,ontheviol
ent
di
spersalofwor ker
satt heNutri
Asiafactor
y
July31,2018
htt
p://
chr.gov.
ph/chr-spox-on-the-vi
olent
-di
spersal
-of
-wor
ker
s-at
-the-nut
ri
asi
a
-f
act
ory/

Posit
ion Paperon House Bil
lNo.3023 and House Bi llNo.
3789 on Peacef
ul
Assembl
y
Jul
y31 ,2017
htt
p:/
/chr.gov.
ph/
posi
ti
on-paper-on-house-bi
l
l-no-3023/

CHRcondemnsvi ol
entdi
spersal
,wi
llconductowninvesti
gati
on
October20,2016
htt
p://
chr
.gov.ph/
chr-condemns-vi
olent
-disper
sal
-will
-conduct
-own-
i
nvest
igat
ion/

CHRreleasesKidapawanRepor t
May30,201 6
ht
tp:
//chr
.gov.ph/
chr-r
eleases-ki
dapawan-r
epor
t/

I
ni nt
erpret
ing ar
ti
cle 21oft he ICCPR,shoul
d any wei
ghtbe att
ached to possi
ble
di
ff
erences between t he rightofpeacef ulassembl
y( dr
oitde réunion)
;peaceful
demonstrat
ion(orpeacef ulprotest)(
droi
tdemani f
est
ati
on)andther i
ghtofpeaceful
gat
hering(droi
tderassembl ement)?

20.
InthePhi l
i
ppinecont ext
,thesethreehavealwaysbeenassoci atedwitheachot her.
Theexer ciseoft her i
ghtsofindivi
dualsandgroupshavebeendonei nvolvi
nga
publi
cassembl y,whereprotestsaremadef ort
hereasonsst atedinparagraph8of
thi
ssubmi ssi
on.I ti
spossi bl
e,however ,toat
tachwei ghttot hedif
fer
ences,as
whent here ar
especi alcircumstances,aswhent he Phili
ppineswasundert he
Mar t
ialLaw dur i
ngtheMar cosr ul
e.Inthi
speri
od,evengat heringinmeetingswas
9
consideredanof f
ense,regardl
essofwhatwasbei ngdiscussedi nthemeet i
ngs.

I
nal loftheabovepleasekeepi nmi ndtheroleofgenderi nassembl i
esandt her ol
eof
new technol
ogies:t
heuseofsoci almediatoor ganiseandadvert
iseassembl i
es;theuse
ofmobi l
ephonesandot herdevices( CCTVcamer as,sat
ell
it
es)t orecordassembl i
es;
theuseofbody-wor ncamer as;etc.Moreover,towhatextentdoest her i
ghtofpeaceful
assemblyapplyi nthedigi
talspace?Can‘gat heri
ng’ onli
neimposeobl i
gati
onson
Statesandotheractorst
of acil
it
ateit?Mayunmannedweaponorsur vei
ll
ancesystems
(remoteorautonomous)beusedbyl aw enf
orcementof fi
cial
sduringdemonst r
ati
ons?

21
.Thi shasnotyetbeenconsi deredi nPhili
ppinejurispr
udencenorst atelaws.Inthe
presentcontextoft her i
ghtt opeaceabl yassembl e,thereisaneedf orphysical
presence,andapubl icgather i
ngf orther i
ghttoappl y.Intermsoft heuseoft he
digit
alspace,t he “gat hering” onl i
ne doesnoti mpose obligat
ionson St ates
becauset herecanbenophysi calviolence,ori nter
ferenceinonl i
negat her
ings,
thattheStateseekst oprevent .TheCommi ssion,however ,r
eleasedastatementi n
November201 8,on t he proposalt o empowerDepar tmentofI nfor
mat i
on and
Communi cationsTechnol ogy ( DICT)to shut down socialmedi a pagest hatar e
“i ni
micaltonationali
nterest” orar eli
nkedt err
orism:

9
SeeInTheIssuanceOfTheWr i
tOfHabeasCor pusForDr
.Aur
oraPar
ong,etal
.v.Mi
nist
erJuan
PonceEnri
l
e,etal.,G.
R.No.L-61388,20Apr
il1
983.
 The Commi ssi
on recogni zesthatthe State mustexer cise itspolice
powert opreventt er
rorism anduphol dnationalsecurity.However ,the
State must acknowl edge t hat the pr oposal necessar i
ly ent ail
s
survei
ll
ance power , which impi nges on t he r i
ght t o pr ivacy of
communi cation and cor r
espondence aswel last he sacred r ightto
pri
vatelif
e. I tcan al so adverselyimpactt he ri
ghtt of r
eedom of
expressi
on.Hence,saf eguardsar e needed t o guarantee t hatsuch
measur ewi l
lnotbeut il
izedt orepresslegiti
mat esocialpr otestnort o
si
lencecrit
icisms.

Toensur eprotect
ionofbasi cfr
eedomsandr i
ghts,thepr ovisi
onsmust
be ver y precise in ordert o guarant
ee ut mostdue pr ocess.The
pr oposed measur e shoul d provide thatsuch powercan onl y be
act i
vatedint hepursuitofal egiti
mateaim,mustbeut i
li
zedonl ywhen
necessar y,and theexer ciseofwhi chmustbepr opor t
ionatetot he
threat.Further,t
hepr ovisionsmusti ndi
cat ethattheSt ateneedst obe
transparentaboutt he met hods,nat ure,and ext entofi ts onl
ine
sur vei
ll
ance.Suchpowermustal sorequiresuffi
cientjustif
icat
ionand
speci f
icanddet ai
ledbenef i
tstothepeopl e.

Thethreatoft err
orism mustbeexpedi
ti
ouslyaddr essedbutwemust
bescrupulousi nensuringthatl
awsmeantt oprotectthepeoplefr
om
suchhorrors,wil
lnotcompr omiset
hei
rpersonalsafety,basi
cfr
eedom,
1
0
andhumandi gnit
y.

1
0
Stat
ementoft heCommi ssiononHumanRi ghtsont hepr oposal t
oempowerDI CTt oshut
down
socialmediapagest hatare“i nimicalt
onationali
nterest” orar elinkedter
rori
sm,November29,
2018,avail
abl
eatht tp:
//chr.
gov.ph/stat
ement -of
-the-commi ssion-on-human-r i
ght
s-on-the-
proposal-t
o-empower -di
ct-to-shutdown-social
-medi a-pages-t hat-are-i
nimi
cal-t
o-nati
onal
-
i
nterest-or
-are-l
inked-terr
orism/(Lastaccessed:15Mar ch201 9).