LEILA M. DE LIMA Chairperson, Commission on Human Rightsof the Philippines MESSAGE A little over eight months ago, the IHL National Summit took place in QuezonCity. It was the activity which marked the culminationof a whole host of IHL-related eventsearlier that year. These included a kite flying event in the U.P. Sunken Garden, where dozensof kites were launchedinto the skies, and remained aloft as symbols of the aspiration, for higher goals in terms of making IHLreal in the Philippines. Thesealso included set of regional summits,held all over the nation, which sought to gather the concerns, comments and recommendations, ofindividuals and organizations throughout the country, in order to bring as complete a pictureas possible,to the attentionof ourleaders, at the National Summit. And at that summit, more than 160 participants from sectors as diverse as the diplomatic community,civil society, and the media,as well as governmentoffices, andespecially representatives of the uniformedservices, were in attendance and participated in full. Gapsand challenges were identified. Corresponding recommendations were issued. And some very constructive statements were made, and commitments undertaken by the parties. But as wefast forwardto today,it only becomes abundantlyclear that while some progress has been madesince August 2009,theoverall health of IHL in the Philippines is unfortunately quite poor. til