BACKGROUNDERONRA 9851, THE “IHL LAW” By Atty. Soliman M. Santos, Jr.” Co-Founder/Convenor,Civil Society Initiatives for International Humanitarian Law (CSI-IHL) This is a backgrounderreally on the new Republic Act No. 9851 signed into law on 11 December 2009, rather than on international humanitarian law (IHL), which is anyway taken up in the academe,esp. law school, whetheras part of public international law or subjects on human rights. R.A. No. 9851 is a breakthrough nationallaw for the enforcement not only ofIHL but also of human rights -- even though, during its bill stage, it was popularly referred to as the “IHL Bill,” and so now mightbereferred to as the “IHL Law.” These short namestell us a bit about the historical background of this new law, including the issues surrounding its passage. I will be taking that upfirst in this backgrounder, and then proceeding to the general significance and potential of R.A. No. 9851, and then mainly presenting someofits key features. In theprocess,I will touch on the unusual nature of this new law,i.e. unusual to Philippine criminal law. I cannot but touch bit on what could be emerging issues on R.A. No. 9851, the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and a Mindanaoperspective, but of course you would get a fuller discussion of that from the next speakers andalso the open forum. Brief Historical Background and Issues R.A. No. 9851 hasits direct originsin a legislative initiative of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) IHL National Committee in the year 2002. At that time, after a broad survey of the national legal landscape on IHL, the Committee assessed that while a good numberof significant post-World WarII IHL treaties had been ratified by the Philippines, not much national implementinglegislation had been passed. Theratified IHL treaties included, amongothers, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, its 1977 Additional Protocol II, and the 1980 Weapons Convention. On the other hand, the national implementinglegislation consisted basically of just R.A. No. 95 (the PNRC Charter) and R.A. No. 7160 (Special Child Protection Act), Article X on Children in Situations of Armed Conflict. In the ensuinglegislative initiative of the PNRC IHL National Committee, backed by the ICRC,to draft a major legislative measure to implement IHL, its task force for this purpose eventually produced a draft bill for a “Philippine Statute on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law”on the occasion of IHL Day (August 12) 2002. This is what has since been popularly referred to as the “IHLBill.” It was then heavily modeled on the 1998 RomeStatute of the International Criminal Court, which was at that point andstill is considered the highest developmentof international criminal law. The RomeStatute conveniently embodiedthelatest international legal definition of war crimes, the proper concern of IHL,butit also had definitions for genocide and crimes against humanity — which wereall treated as “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.” So, the “IHL Bill” took the bargain of “buy one, take two,” as it were. Strictly speaking though, genocide and crimes against humanity are seen mainlyin the prism of humanrights rather than IHLin international law. These two crimes have no nexus with armedconflict, unlike war crimes which have that context. Crimes against humanity and genocide,as with terrorism, can be committed during peace time,as well as during wartime. The “IHL Bill” was actually first filed as House Bill No. 6298 by Representative J. Apolinario L. Lozada, Jr. (“Jun Lozada”the senatorial candidate) on IHL Day (August 12) 2003 during the 12% Congress. Subsequent authors of several draft versions were Reps. Roseller L. Barinaga, Jr., Antonio V. Cuenco, Mario “Mayong” Joyo Aguja, Loretta Ann P. Rosales, Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel, and Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago in the 13Congress; andfinally Reps. Roilo S. Golez, Simeon A. Datumanong, Rufus B. Rodriguez, and Sens. Jinggoy * Delivered at the Public Briefing on Republic Act No. 9851: Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, 3 March 2010, Benito Soliven Room, First Floor, Malcolm Hall, University of the Philippines College of Law, Diliman, Quezon City. * Atty. Soliman M. Santos, Jr. is a Bicolano/Filipino humanrights and THL lawyer, legislative consultant and legal scholar whoprepared all three drafts (2002, 2003, & 2006) of the “THL Bill” which became R.A. No. 9851. Heis a co-founder/convenor of the Civil Society Initiatives for International Humanitarian-Law (CSI-IHL), and Coordinator of the Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines (PCBL). He has an A.B. History cum laude from U.P., a LL.B. from the University of Nueva Caceres (UNC) in his hometown Naga City, and a LL.M. from the University of Melbourne. Contact details: Telefax (+632)7252153, Mob. (+63920)2903602, Email: gavroche23@gmail.com.