Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants After one and half year: The impact of COVID-19 on the human rights of migrants Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP) Submission of Inputs 25 June 2021 1. The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (the “Commission”)1 hereby submits the following information concerning the impact of COVID-19 on the human rights of migrants more than a year since the onset of the pandemic. 2. For this submission, the Commission took into consideration local and international reports from government, civil society, the media, and international non-government organizations. The Commission also utilized its own documentation of independent monitoring activities and statements which have undergone the internal deliberations of the Commission En Banc. On the health care responses taken by the Philippine government to counter the pandemic, providing migrants and their families’ access to adequate health care 3. The Philippine government implements measures to respond to the pandemic primarily through the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), which serves as the lead advisory body to the President on the management and implementation of necessary actions related to COVID-19. The Department of Health (DOH), which chairs the IATF-EID, implements a National Contingency Plan for COVID-19 that details the roles and responsibilities of relevant agencies in both the public and private sectors. 4. On 9 March 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte formally declared a nationwide public health emergency by issuing Proclamation No. 22.2 Subsequently, enhanced community quarantine (ECQ)3 and stringent social distancing measures were imposed all throughout the country, including the prohibition of mass gatherings, restrictions on land, air, and sea travel, and imposition of curfews. On 24 March 2020, the President signed into law Republic Act No. 11469, otherwise known as the “Bayanihan to Heal as One” Act,4 which provided him with emergency powers. 5. In April 2020, the Philippine government imposed mandatory COVID-19 testing and 14-day facility-based quarantine for all returning migrant workers.5 6. On 11 September 2020, the President signed into law RA 11494, known as the “Bayanihan to Recover as One” Act,6 which aimed, among others, to expedite and streamline the accreditation of testing kits, facilitate prompt testing and compulsory and immediate isolation and treatment of COVID-19 patients, adopt a protocol on the conduct of viral testing and other COVID-19 testing kits recommended by the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC), ensure the availability of essential goods, such as health care equipment and supplies, and direct the operation of any privately-owned hospitals and medical and health facilities, passenger vessels, and other establishments to house health workers or serve as quarantine areas, medical relief and aid distribution centers, or other temporary medical facilities. RA 11494 also includes migrant-inclusive emergency response measures, such As the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) of the Philippines, the Commission on Human Rights is mandated by the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Paris Principles to promote and protect human rights including civil and political rights, and economic, social, and cultural rights. The Commission has the following responsibilities: regularly report and monitor human rights situations and violations and recommend steps for the promotion and protection of human rights. It has been accredited an “A” Status by the Sub-Committee for Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (“GANHRI”). 2 See the full text of Proclamation No. 22, “Declaring a state of public health emergency throughout the Philippines” here: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2020/03mar/20200308-PROC-922-RRD.pdf 3 The four (4) main levels of community quarantine measures are the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), the general community quarantine (GCQ), and the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ). The strictest of these measures is the ECQ; See: JC Gotinga, “ECQ, MECQ, GCQ, MGCQ: Who can go where?”, Rappler, 19 May 2020, available at https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/explainer-movement-areas-under-communityquarantine-coronavirus (Last accessed: 21 June 2021). 4 See the full text of RA 11469 here: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2020/03mar/20200324-RA-11469-RRD.pdf 5 Gaea Katreena Cabico, “Returning OFWs now required to take COVID-19 rapid tests,” The Philippine Star, 21 April 2020, available at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/04/21/2008758/returning-ofws-now-required-take-covid-19-rapid-tests (Last accessed: 19 June 2021). 6 See the full text of RA 11494 here: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2020/09sep/20200911-RA-11494-RRD.pdf 1