Towards a Philippine National Action Plan
for the UN Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights
Policy Brief1
CONTEXT
Background
L
and has always been a source of conflict. While
the incidence of conflict may not be increasing,
the level of conflict continues to intensify as more
cases surface where violence has been employed
systematically. Land conflicts have often been caused
by overlapping land laws and policies that are further
complicated by the bias of governments to actively
encourage investments on land and the exploitation
of natural resources. As businesses pursue the
development of their enterprises, cases abound where
profits are realized at the expense of the human rights
and land rights of the rural poor.
On 16 June 2011, the United Nations Human Rights
Council endorsed the Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on
Business and Human Rights as part of implementing
the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework.
This was brought about by the realization that – at the
peak of globalization – delineation of clear roles and
responsibilities of business enterprises at the local,
national, and international level are very important to
ensuring human rights practice (OHCHR, 2011).
The UNGPs standards are applicable because the
business sector has a wide range of impacts – both
positive and negative – on human rights, including:
1) adequate standard of living; 2) just and favorable
conditions of work; 3) water and sanitation; 4)
education; 5) access to information; and 6) nondiscrimination (Gotzmann and O’Brien, 2013).
Overview of the UNGPs
In some instances, the impacts of business enterprises
may be positive, such as increasing access to
employment or improving public services. Or they
can be negative, such as polluting the environment,
underpaying workers, or forcibly evicting communities.
In 2008, the United Nations endorsed the ‘Protect,
Respect and Remedy Framework’ for business and
human rights,2 which recognizes unequivocally that
States have the duty under international human
rights law to protect everyone within their territory
and jurisdiction over human rights abuses committed
by business enterprises. This duty means that States
must have effective laws and regulations to prevent
and address business-related human rights abuses
This document has been prepared to provide an overview and relevance of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs BHR) in the context
of the Philippines. It also summarizes the major issues and recommendations from the National Dialogue on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human
Rights organized by ANGOC, Joint Action for Land Rights (JALR), KPA, and ILC last 10 January 2018 at University Hotel, UP, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. This national
dialogue is a follow-up to the Southeast Asia Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights jointly organized by ANGOC, KPA and ILC last 20 October 2017 in Verjandel
Hotel, Quezon City, Philippines.
2
This framework was developed by then-Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Professor John Ruggie, following three years of research and worldwide
consultations with businesses, civil society, governments and victims of corporate human rights abuses.
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