Executive Order Institutionalizing Refugee Protection

Constitutional, treaty, and legal basis

The State affirms obligations under the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (Section 1).
The order anchors on the President’s constitutional authority to control executive departments and ensure faithful execution of laws (Section 17, Article VII of the Constitution).
Commonwealth Act (CA) No. 613, the “Philippine Immigration Act of 1940,” is cited for recognizing admission without nationality and for presidential authority to admit aliens who are refugees for humanitarian reasons and when not opposed to public interest.
Department Circular No. 058 (s. 2012) under the Department of Justice is cited for establishing procedures in determining status of refugees and stateless persons and for creating the Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit.
The 2017 Inter-Agency Agreement on the Protection of Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Stateless Persons in the Philippines (dated 12 October 2017) is cited for outlining agency roles in documentation, legal assistance, health and welfare assistance, education and skills training, practice of profession, employment and livelihood, and local integration.

Policy and minimum protection standards

The State recognizes the enduring relevance of the key refugee and statelessness conventions and commits to strengthen the legal framework and mechanisms protecting refugees, stateless persons, and asylum seekers (Section 1).
The State requires close monitoring to ensure protection of the rights of persons of concerns (“POCs”) to liberty and security and freedom of movement (Section 1).
The order directs that, subject to applicable laws and issuances, the minimum standards for treatment of refugees must be assured (Section 1).
The minimum standards include access to socioeconomic services, social security benefits, gainful employment and human working conditions, education, participation in judicial and administrative citizenship proceedings, legal assistance and access to courts, and freedom of religion (Section 1).
POCs must comply with laws and regulations of the country and must observe measures relating to protection of public health, maintenance of public order, and national security (Section 1).
The policy explicitly addresses protection needs especially in time of public emergencies (Section 1).

Defined terms for refugee protection

“Asylum Seeker or Applicant” means a person who submitted an application or formal written claim to refugee or stateless status, including a minor or incapacitated person where the person on whose behalf the application was submitted seeks a decision and none has been finally decided on by a prospective country of refuge (Section 2(a)).
“Conventions” refers to the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 Convention, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (Section 2(b)).
“Non-refoulement” is a customary law principle prohibiting any state from expelling or returning (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to frontiers where life or freedom would be threatened on specified grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion (Section 2(c)).
“Protection” means activities ensuring full respect for rights in accordance with human rights law, humanitarian law, and refugee law (Section 2(d)).
“Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit (RSPPU)” is the DOJ unit with the primary task of examining and processing claims to refugee or stateless status (Section 2(e)).
“Refugee” covers persons with well-founded fear of persecution for the specified grounds, who are outside their nationality and unable or unwilling to avail themselves of that country’s protection, or stateless persons outside former habitual residence due to such fear and unable or unwilling to return (Section 2(f)).
“Stateless Person” is one who is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its domestic law (Section 2(g)).

Inter-Agency Committee structure and secretariat

Section 3 institutionalizes the Inter-Agency Committee on the Protection of Refugees, Stateless Persons and Asylum Seekers (“Committee”) as the mechanism with a central role in assuring relevant services and assistance to POCs under the 2017 Inter-Agency Agreement.
The Chairperson is the Secretary, Department of Justice; the Vice-Chairperson is the Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Development (Section 3).
Committee members include the Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs; Secretary, Department of Education; Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment; Secretary, Department of Health; Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Secretary, Department of the Interior and Local Government; Secretary, Department of Transportation; the National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, Philippine Statistics Authority (Section 3).
Additional members include: Chairperson, Commission on Higher Education; Director-General, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; Director-General, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines; General Manager, Manila International Airport Authority; General Manager, National Housing Authority; Commissioner, Bureau of Immigration; Chief Attorney, Public Attorney’s Office; Chairperson, Professional Regulation Commission; Chairperson, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office; President and Chief Executive Officer, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Section 3).
Each member may designate an alternate authorized to decide for and on behalf of the respective office and perform the functions under the order (Section 3).
The DOJ, through the RSPPU, serves as the Committee Secretariat and provides technical and administrative support (Section 3).

Committee duties and implementation mechanisms

The Committee must ensure that policies on protection and services for POCs are consistent with relevant laws, rules, and regulations, and must fully implement them (Section 4(a)).
The Committee must improve POCs’ access to courts, documentation, health and welfare assistance, primary education, skills training, and livelihood programs (Section 4(b)).
The Committee must issue guidelines, including rules on data sharing and confidentiality of information, and direct relevant agencies to issue corresponding regulations, policies, and programs to implement the order effectively (Section 4(c)).
The Committee must establish an integrated coordination and referral system of requests for protection services and assistance to POCs and must enhance an existing POC database for efficient monitoring, consistent with rules and regulations on data protection and security (Section 4(d)).
The Committee must work closely with concerned agencies to coordinate and monitor implementation, including identification of focal units/divisions/offices within each agency (Section 4(e)).
The Committee must cooperate with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees or any other relevant international body to effectively implement the conventions and provide protection for refugees (Section 4(f)).
The Committee must conduct trainings, information and awareness campaigns, and capability-building activities (Section 4(g)).
The Committee must create committees or technical working groups of relevant national government agencies to address specific concerns on protection and services and on implementation (Section 4(h)).
The Committee must perform other tasks that the President may direct (Section 4(i)).

Judicial access, local integration, and partnerships

The Committee must continue to coordinate with the Judiciary to ensure POCs have access to courts and swift administration of justice, in accordance with relevant international laws (Section 5).
LGUs are encouraged to support local integration by conducting information and awareness campaigns and making available necessary programs and services within local development frameworks, including development programming and emergency response and recovery frameworks (Section 6).
The Committee may engage civil society organizations, non-government organizations, the private sector, the academe, communities of POCs, faith-based organizations, and relevant people’s organizations to support collaborative implementation and to widen the support network available to POCs (Section 7).

Confidentiality, funding, and safeguards

The Committee must ensure that information acquired in fulfillment of its mandate remains confidential (Section 8).
The confidentiality obligations include respect at all stages of the procedure in the determination of status of refugees and stateless persons and the asylum procedure, including respect for the confidentiality of requests or claims and the fact that the request or claim was made, subject to rules to be issued under Section 4(c) or where national security interests are at stake (Section 8).
Initial funding for implementation must be charged against the respective budgets of concerned agencies; funding for succeeding years must be incorporated into their regular appropriations, subject to the usual budget process (Section 9).
The Department of Budget and Management must ensure that the proposed annual National Expenditure Program includes initiatives for the protection of POCs consistent with the country’s obligations under the conventions (Section 9).

Separability, repeal, and effectivity

Separability: Section 10 provides that if any section or part is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining sections or provisions not affected remain in full force and effect.
Repeal: Section 11 repeals, modifies, or amends all orders, rules, regulations, issuances, or parts thereof inconsistent with the order.
Effectivity: Section 12 requires immediate effect upon publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.