3.2 HRCLD in the Philippines Since the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines in 2001, many hundreds of people had been victims of extra-judicial killings. Many more had been harassed, detained or had disappeared. The situation was attracting international scrutiny and condemnation. After talks between Arroyo and New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, the human rights commissions of both countries were invited, and agreed, to work together to strengthen human rights in the Philippines. In August 2007, the New Zealand Human Rights Commission undertook a scoping visit to the Philippines. This involved discussions with a wide range of civil society and government stakeholders and with international agencies. It was found that: • there was extensive legislation provided for human rights protections, but enforcement was weak • gaps existed between human rights policy, training and how this was practiced, particularly with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) • there were focused areas of insurgency and counterinsurgency, particularly in Mindanao and Northern Luzon, with indigenous peoples particularly vulnerable • there were inadequate resources and support available to the CHRP for the increasing expectations on it. A bilateral project was initiated between the Philippines and New Zealand human rights commissions, funded by the New Zealand Aid Programme (NZAID). It focused on indigenous peoples as one of the groups most vulnerable to human rights abuses and the agents of the State impacting on these rights. The project was to be implemented using a human rights community-led development approach. Now, I observe that the soldiers are disciplined and no longer abusive. Members of the Citizen Armed Forces no longer bear arms in public. (Higaonon, CHRP) It was anticipated that the project would result in: • indigenous communities being able to identify, investigate, verify, document and monitor local human rights violations and advocate more effectively for the realisation of the community’s human rights priorities. • the police, the military and other key State agencies in these communities integrating human rights into their operations • the CHRP developing, implementing and evaluating a human rights community-led development approach that could be extended to other communities. For the first six months of 2008, the CHRP identified its national and regional project teams and consulted with government and civil society agencies to establish a set of criteria that would help identify participants. APF HRCLD Guide 56