10.3. International Level a. In early 2016, the Office of Chairperson Jose Luis Martin C. Gascon participated in two regional events in Bangkok organized by the OHCHR in relation to the UNDRIP and its implementation in Asia. b. The CHRP actively participated in the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review and contributes substantially to the work of the special procedures and treaty bodies. In 2016, CHRP submitted parallel reports to the Committee Against Torture (CAT), Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). For the UPR, the CHRP submitted its parallel report on September 2016 and actively monitored the interactive dialogue on 8 May 2017, both in Geneva and through the live webcast. c. CHRP reports include specific reference to indigenous peoples. For instance, CHRP requested the CESCR to call on the Philippines to: c.1. Re-examine the power of the NCIP, or even the regular courts, to timely issue injunctive writs to prevent displacement, harassment, and any untoward incident between contending parties. c.2. Generate sufficient resources to fully implement the necessary programs and to protect indigenous peoples’ rights. c.3. Ensure that the NCIP will continue to render effective assistance to indigenous peoples, particularly in cases that involve indigenous peoples and non-indigenous peoples, despite the Supreme Court decision in Unduran vs. Aberasturi.7 Moreover, there should be a clear delineation of NCIP’s mandate in protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. d. On the other hand, CHRP pointed out to the CEDAW the following: d.1. The Committee may wish to urge the State Party to elaborate on its efforts of ensuring access to justice, particularly to protective services and adequate support systems, to women living in geographically inaccessible and isolated areas, including indigenous and Moro women, as well as efforts to make these available to women with diverse SOGIE. d.2. The Committee may wish to recommend that the State Party report on the measures in place to protect women and to address vulnerabilities in the context of displacement and humanitarian situations. Specifically, the State may be asked to report on specific interventions and how they effectively address the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination experienced by indigenous and Moro women in the context of displacement, armed conflict, and/or development aggression. d.3. The CHRP has also documented local government units that criminalize and penalize home births. These ordinances, although encouraging facility-based delivery, penalize birth attendants and women who give birth at home. The CHRP is concerned with the proliferation 7 The Supreme Court ruled pursuant to Section 66 of the Philippine Indigenous Peoples Rights Act that the NCIP shall have jurisdiction over claims and disputes involving rights of Indigenous Cultural Community/Indigenous Peoples (ICC/IPs) only when they arise between or among parties belonging to the same ICC/IP. When such claims and disputes arise between or among parties who do not belong to the same ICC/IP, i.e., parties belonging to different ICC/IPs or where one of the parties is a non-ICC/IP, the case shall fall under the jurisdiction of the proper Courts of Justice, instead of the NCIP. In this case, while most of the petitioners (i.e. Unduran, et al.) belong to Talaandig Tribe, respondents do not belong to the same ICC/IP. Thus, even if the real issue involves a dispute over land which appear to be located within the ancestral domain of the Talaandig Tribe, it is not the NCIP but the RTC which shall have the power to hear, try and decide this case. (Unduran vs. Aberasturi, G.R. No. 181284, October 20, 2015, http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=/jurisprudence/2015/october2015/181284.pdf ) Last Accessed: 15 September 2016