elements. One is the situation, the causality of the at the risk of policy discontinuance in certain public movement and the deflnition that IDPs are those who are forced and obliged to leave their homes due to variety of reasons not only to avoid the effects of armed conflicts but also to get away from generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human made disasters. And thirdly they should not cross an internationally recognized state border, othenruise they will fall under the category of refugees under the 1951 refugee law. officials. Now, as I said the idea of IDP and its legal and political definition emanated from the United Nations Guiding Principle on lnternal Displacement that was adopted by the UN in 1998. To date it is considered as the most comprehensive legal protection for lDPs that serve as a guideline on humanitarian protection and assistance. We know that this is not a binding international treaty, having the characteristic of a soft law because it is only a guiding principle and not a convention, but stands firmly on the very tenets and principle of lHl- human rights law and other recent conventions. This is comprehensive in a sense that it protects and provides principles and provisions for the protection of lDPs in all phases of displacemenl prior to displacemenf during the time that they are displaced, up to the point that they have to return, resettle or to reintegrate in places where they wish to stay permanently. lt also covers a wide range of human rights provisions covering the civil-political aspect as well as economic, social and cultural aspects One thing we find very innovative under the lnternal Displacement Act is that it also recognizes the accountability and obligation of non-state actors under the lnternational Humanitarian Law. I think this is a very good breakthrough in legislating Human Riqhts and IHL in a sense that from the traditional notion of human rights being the domain of state parties it now broadens into an acknowledgement that non-state actors may also be liable for human rights violations or violations of Humanitarian Law under domestic legislation. There are two versions and several features of the lnternal Displacement Act One version is from the house and it was already approved early this year. The other version is now in the Senate, and we are hoping that it could be enacted soon before the Senate a the salient features of the Senate Bill 3317 is that it provides a broadened undergoes recess. One of definition in context of internal displacement lt does not only cover the displacement emanating from armed conflict situations but also intends'to cover displacement due to development aggression and natural and human made disasters. This is perhaps one of the main distinctions between the versions of the House and the Senate. At the House, the context and the scope particularly focused on displacement to give us the holistic coverage of human rights. due to armed conflict and HR violations and do not include displacement due to disasters. This is a soft law, but in the Philippines it is now nearing being a hard law in the sense that during The second important feature of the Senate Bill is that it identifies the rights of the lDPs in all phases the last 10 years, there's been an attempt to enact of displacement, and also prohibits and an lnternal Displacement Act And I see Chairperson acts of arbitrary displacement Pertaining to natural ofthe fi rst disasters it refers to the Disaster Risk Management Rosa les now; she was i n con g ress when one versions of the bill was filed. Many people would penalizes as( Law. lt is an affirmative law in the sense that it does why an lnternal Displacement Act? There have been many proponents of this bill and champions of this not only dwell on the punitive aspect but actually tries to reinforce mechanisms for protection and humanitarian response for civilians affected by disasters and conflict One of its salient features includes the setting out of responsibilities of state agencies including those in the local levels and promoting the accountabilities of non-state armed groups, and the provisions of sanctions for violations rr€asUle; we see that once enacted, this would serve as official recognition by the Philippine Covernment of the gravity of the problem. And second, it should be part of a paradigm shift that declares protection for lDPs or all civilians, all non-combatants for that matter. As a state policy, it also serues to coordinate government for humanitarian response encountered and compensation for victims. Itaguyod ang IHL: Sibilyan Pangalagaan