US on Human Rights in Philippines: Unsolved Cases, Unpunished Perpetrators

The teaching of religious classes in public schools is permitted with the written consent of parents, provided that it is conducted at no cost to the government.

Societal Abuses and Discrimination

Historically, the Christian majority has marginalized Muslims. The national culture, with its emphasis on familial, tribal, and regional loyalties, created informal barriers whereby access to jobs or resources is provided first to those of one’s own family or group network. Muslims reported difficulty renting rooms or being hired for retail work if they used their real names or wore distinctive Muslim dress. As a result, some Muslims used Christian pseudonyms and did not wear distinctive dress when applying for housing or jobs.

An estimated 400 to 1,000 Jews lived in the country. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

For a more detailed discussion, see the 2007 International Religious Freedom Report.

d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of Refugees, and Stateless Persons

The constitution provides for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, statelesss persons, and other persons of concern.

Foreign travel was limited only in rare circumstances, such as when a citizen has a pending court case. Government authorities discouraged travel by vulnerable workers to areas in which they face personal risk.

The government retained its formal albeit ineffective ban on travel to Iraq to work. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) sought to limit departures for work abroad to persons the POEA certified as qualified for the jobs. Millions of citizens worked overseas and remitted money home. Such remittances accounted for approximately 11 percent of the gross national product.

Forced exile is illegal, and the government did not use it.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

Clashes between the AFP and elements of the MILF, the ASG, and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Mindanao resulted in thousands of IDPs. At year’s end according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the total number of IDPs was 62,728 persons, including newly displaced IDPs in Sulu and Basilan. Other agencies, including UNDP, the Mindanao Emergency Relief Network, and the Red Cross provided food and essential items such as medicine, blankets, mosquito nets, and soap to IDPs.

From April to May, hostilities between government troops and a faction of MNLF rebels led by Habier Malik displaced thousands of persons in Sulu. Following the July 10 killing and beheading of 14 marines in Basilan, government forces launched limited offensive attacks against the ASG in July and August. Thousands of villagers were evacuated from Basilan as a result of the clashes.

Protection of Refugees

The country is a party to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol; however, there is no comprehensive legislation that provides for granting refugee status or asylum. In practice the government provided protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country where there is reason to believe they feared persecution. The refugee unit in the DOJ determined which asylum seekers qualify as refugees; such determinations in practice implemented many of the basic provisions of the 1951 convention. The government also provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention or its 1967 protocol. This was the case for some 2,000 Vietnamese who were found not to be refugees under the UNHCR-administered Comprehensive Plan of Action in the 1990s. Subsequently the government allowed processing for resettlement of this group, approximately 1,500 of whom were resettled in the United States. An estimated 176 persons, most of whom married Philippine citizens, remained in legal limbo: ineligible for resettlement in other countries and not granted permanent asylum.

The government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. The UNHCR recorded an estimated 100 refugees in 2006.

The UNHCR reported two stateless persons in the country, neither of whom had acquired Philippine nationality by year’s end.

Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government

The law provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through periodic elections that largely were free and fair and held on the basis of universal suffrage.