New Senate bill creates refugee protection board
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has put up a crisis command center in Iligan City through which relief goods and medical services will reach families affected by the armed conflict in Marawi City and other parts of Mindanao. JOHN UNSON/File
MANILA, Philippines — A new bill filed at the Senate seeks to create a refugee and stateless persons protection board under the Department of Justice that will institutionalize the country's protection mechanisms for refugees or stateless persons.
Filed by Sen. Robinhood Padilla, Senate Bill 2548 creates an attached body under the justice department that will primarily decide on the application for protection status of refugees — going a step further to enhance the country’s current refugee policy, which is based on temporary asylum on humanitarian grounds.
Padilla said that such a measure would strengthen the Philippines’ compliance with international treaties such as the 1951 UN Convention related to the Status of Refugees and the 1954 UN Convention related to the Status of Stateless Persons.
Senate Bill 2548 gives the protection board the power to receive, examine and decide applications for status as refugee or stateless persons and resolve requests for provisional protective measures related to pending applications.
Moreover, the bill prohibits the government from removing or expelling a refugee, except for grounds of national security or public order, from the Philippines to a country where he/she would be at risk of persecution. It also disallows penalties on refugees who enter Philippine territory when they come from a territory where their lives or freedoms are threatened.
The protection board will be mandated to render a written decision on applications within 60 days from submission of the report and recommendation concerning an application. Additionally, the applicant may request reconsideration of a disapproval to be acted upon by the board within 30 days.
The protection board will also coordinate and cooperate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
According to the UNHCR, the Philippines is one of the few countries in the Asia-Pacific region to have acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The country is also the first in Southeast Asia to sign the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in 2011
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