2020 Annual Report on the Human Rights Situation in the Philippines 7 1 The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR), as the country’s national human rights institution (NHRI) mandated by the 1987 Philippine Constitution to monitor the Philippine government’s compliance with human rights obligations, submits this 2020 annual report on the human rights situation on the Philippines entitled, Rights During a Pandemic. 2 This human rights national situation report discusses the Philippine Human Rights National Situation 2020 by (1) providing the Economic, Social, Cultural Rights situations, which primarily tackles the right to health, right to education, right to social security, labor and migrant rights, and rights of indigenous people; (2) presenting the Collective and Sectoral Rights statuses, which concentrates on the rights of women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, human rights defenders, and LGBTQIA+; and (3) laying down the Civil and Political Rights (CPRs) conditions, which focuses on the freedom against discrimination, rights of persons deprived of liberty, EJKs, Anti-Terrorism Law, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, right to security, and right to information. This report highlights the impact of the measures to address and prevent the spread of COVID-19 and cites the human rights issues, concerns, and violations that have been exacerbated by the current health and economic condition. Some rights are cross-cutting and therefore do not fit to a particular categorization, but this report still puts specific rights to a category in which its issues and concerns primarily revolves. The order of presentation does not prescribe any priority over the other categories or impose that one category is superior to the other. The State, as the duty-bearer, shall simultaneously promote and implement measures to progressively realize all these rights. Lastly, this report offers recommendations to the government in addressing the various human rights and issues and concerns to improve the country’s human rights situation. 3 This report utilizes the CHR’s documentation of independent monitoring activities and statements, and refers to reports and studies from the government, civil society, media, and academe. General Context 4 On 31 December 2019, Wuhan Municipal Health Commission in China announced cases of pneumonia with unknown source in Wuhan, Hubei Province. This was identified as the Novel Coronavirus and eventually called COVID-19.11 On 30 January 2020, the DOH of the Philippines identified a 38-year-old female Chinese national as the first case of COVID-19 in the country. As of 07 March 2020, the DOH announced the first local transmission of COVID-19.12 As of 16 December 2020, the Health Department recorded 452,988 confirmed cases with 24,873 active cases, 419,282 recoveries, and 8,833 deaths.13 The Philippines ranked 30 out of 182 countries in terms of the number of recorded deaths by COVID-19. 5 The table next page shows the disaggregated data of confirmed cases by age group as of 17 December 2020.14 11 World Health Organization, Archived: WHO Timeline – COVID-19, available at https://www.who.int/news/item/27 – 04-2020-who-timeline—-COVID-19, accessed 4 November 2020. 12 World Health Organization, COVID-19 in the Philippines, available at https://www.who.int/philippines/ emergencies/COVID-19-response-in-the-philippines#:~:text=On%2030%20January%202020%2C%20the,of%20 COVID%2D19%20was%20confirmed. 13 See https://ncovtracker.doh.gov.ph/?f bclid=IwAR3lLg74J8FNrP21ITFN9AQXlP6zovetrA_BxrV95oJtgkiwoSeiL— sbac 14 See https://covid19stats.ph/stats/by-demographics