National Summit on International Humanitarian Lawinthe Philipppines 37 “Ifyou haven't heard aboutus before, ifyou don’t In that MOA,oneof the agreementspertains to the readus in the newspaper,it is becausethis is not mannerby which anyarrest shall be conducted by the arena where we wantto build our strength. the military of any suspected NPA sympathizer Ofcourse we wantthatthe public discourseto be among the Mangyan community. It stipulates that very, very high. Thatis also important as one of priorto thearrest, the local church will be informed ourstrategies, to generate that kind ofawareness first so that no harm can be doneto thosepersons. and discussions about what is IHL, what is This would prevent disappearances and/ortorture. CARHRIHL, who are violating, who has not exercised transparency and accountability. But Strengthening Capacities of Communities in thefinal analysis, the strength really is, on how Asearlier mentioned,Prof. Ferreris also interested strong the communities are in advancing and in generating a public discourse on HR and IHL making bothparties comply with the agreement.“ which shouldbe of a very, very high level. Sulong CARHRIHL seeks to strengthen community As explained further, the dialogical approach is capacities to directly seek redress for any of their important. Although at times there are specific grievances and work on modalities for CARHRIHL violations, then they do adopt the confrontational observance. Research and analysis are the two approach. But whatis in the dialogical approach major aspects of the work of Sulong CARHRIHL. that makes these changes possible? One is, their These are supplemented by their advocacies for belief or notion that influences the peace the legislative, peace process and otherissues. negotiations. That they should undertake peace negotiationsin orderto transform relationships- Pushingforthe Ratification and Enactment from a relationship of hostility and violence to a of HR-IHL Laws relationship of partnership and coming together The Sulong CARHRIHLis also one with various with a commonrealization that all of us (every other groups whoare pushingfortheratification and Filipino) have the samefuture. the passageofnationallegislations on HR and IHL andspecific intervention and sector based approach. TheSignificance of the Dialogical Approach In sector-based approach,they try to integrate the As stated by Prof. Ferrer, using the above- different operative framework, such asthatrelative mentioned framework, the communities have to children. For instance, they have the whole body been able to extract specific Memorandum of oflaws and codeswith regard to thechildren’s rights Agreement (MOA) with local commanders on the where many of these elements are in CARHRIHL groundwherethey do not need to sign complete and also in the Children’s Rights Convention, CARHRIHLaltogether but pick out elements of Indigenous People’s Rights Act and so on. CARHRIHLthatare specifically relevant to the conditionsthat they have. For instance, one MOA Presentation of Photo Documentation that was signed between the Federation of Before she ended her discussion, Prof. Ferrer Mangyan Leaders and the Local Commandin showed somephotographsof the Mangyans, who Mindanaowasused in Mindoro Occidental with were in a role-playing session. The Mangyans regard to certain brutalities before the arrest of acted out their own encounters with the suspected Mangyansorthe IPs in the community. government and the NPA and spontaneously