natural or human-made disasters. The obligation to fulfill (provide) human rights requires
government to spend public money on disaster relief and climate change adaptation, relief and
rehabilitation efforts in times of internal armed conflict, etc.
Human rights role and responsibilities of the private sector
The private sector plays a crucial role in realizing human rights: "Business is the major source
of investment and job creation, and markets can be highly efficient means for allocating scarce
resources. They constitute powerful forces capable of generating economic growth, reducing
poverty, and increasing demand for the rule of law, thereby contributing to the realization of a
broad spectrum of human rights. But markets work optimally only if they are embedded within
rules, customs and institutions. Markets themselves require these to survive and thrive, while
society needs them to manage the adverse effects of market dynamics and produce the public
goods that markets undersupply. lndeed, history teaches us that markets pose the greatest
risks - to society and business itself - when their scope and power far exceed the reach of the
institutional underpinnings that allow them to function smoothly and ensure their political
sustainability." (Ruggie, 2008)
ln the Philippines, the private sector has become one source of financial resources
for
infrastructure and development projects, through the public-private partnership (PPP). To
stimulate private resources to finance the construction, operation and maintenance of
infrastructure and development projects normally undertaken by government, government
provides incentives and protects domestic and foreign investors "from certain regulatory risk
events such as court orders or decisions by regulatory agencies which prevent investors from
adjusting tariffs to contractually agreed levels. Such regulatory risk insurance could take the
form of make-up payments from the government to PPP investors, other guaranteed payments,
and adjustments to contract terms. The specifics of the type of protection to be offered by the
government, and the mechanisms through which such protection will be offered will be part of
the contract terms for each project. Such protection will only be offered for solicited projects
which undergo a competitive bidding process." (PPPC website)
Public-private partnerships have been criticized from a human rights perspective:
"However, in general, private companies face higher rates of interest than the
governments, so the costs of the investment are higher. ln addition, it is difficult to
hold the private companies to account for the fulfillment of complex contracts.
Typically the contracts transfer risks to the government, so that if the enterprise is
mismanaged or delivery is poorly implemented, the public sector is forced to
assume the burden of correcting the problem. The private companies frequently
hire workers with fewer social protections than public sector employees, entailing
retrogression with regard to labor rights. Bearing all this in mind, a balanced
analysis would consider whether PPPs actually bring in extra resources, explore
who is really paying the full set of costs, assess the sustainability of the
arrangement over time, and determine what actually is gained with PPPs."
(Balakrishnan et al, 2011)
The private sector assists government to comply with its obligation to mobilize and devote the
maximum available resources to realize human rights when it exercises its human rights
32