JUNE 19, 2011

NR # 2440C

Trade and human rights should get married: Belmonte

Citing injustice as the father of terrorism, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. expressed confidence that the family of nations would soon be able to craft a fused and cohesive human rights and trade program as an antidote to discrimination and inequalities, the social viruses that lead to injustice. As leaders, we can no longer commit the mistake of compartmentalizing our international obligations as either trade or human rights related. Development, after all, is not simply a trade goal. It is a human right as well, Belmonte declared. The House leader was keynote speaker during the 57th Congress of Liberal International under the theme: Human Rights and Trade, held at the Hotel Intercontinental, Makati City on June 18. We are therefore today presented with a rare opportunity to make trade more sensitive to the ends of human rights, Belmonte challenged dignitaries, officers and members of Liberal International led by its president, Hon. Hans van Vaalen, members of the Partido Liberal ng Pilipinas, the Council of Asian Liberal and Democrats, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, among others. Belmonte said that promotion of trade or economic development should not be at the expense of human rights, or vice versa. Political and legal channels remain relevant in the promotion and enforcement of human rights obligations. But new avenues must be explored to make human rights truly universal. We are all convinced that trade is one such avenue, he added. Subsequently, Belmonte noted Philippine legislative efforts that promote trade like the liberalization of banking, retail trade and other previously nationalized sectors of the economy. Likewise, certain avenues were opened for foreign investors to participate in mining and other extractive activities without unduly damaging the environment. He noted that congress is now reviewing the current BOT law, the EPIRA, the Tariff and Customs Code, as well as the Fiscal Incentives Law and Omnibus Investments Code in order to enhance and promote the flow of trade and investments. Belmonte also noted the current global negotiations on bilateral and international trade and agricultural agreements which do have tremendous human rights impact. While in some societies, the so-called rule of Law has been manipulated to propagate self-rule and defeat the sovereign will, the Philippines, like other countries, has

sought to protect the rights of peoples by enacting progressive legislation. He mentioned the following: the Free Legal Assistance Act; the Anti-Torture Act of 2009; the Magna Carta of Women; the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006; the AntiViolence Against Women and Their children Act of 2004; the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003; the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 and the Migrant Workers Act of 1995. Furthermore, Belmonte revealed efforts to push the frontiers of human rights protection in the country covered by proposed legislation, among them: - to improve rights promotion and protection by providing the necessary mechanisms for the prevention of the occurrence and the protection from the adverse effects of internal displacement; - to strengthen the Commission on Human Rights; - to reinforce Philippine Commitment to human rights promotion and protection by establishing human rights resource centers throughout the country; - prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity; and - strengthening the rights of the people to free expression, peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of their grievances. Through these legislative initiatives, we hope not only to comply with our international legal commitments in the realm of human rights protection; more importantly, we hope to fortify and make irreversible the gains of human rights advocacy in this part of the world, Belmonte concluded. (30) dpt