This webinar was held in commemoration of Human Rights Day and to raise awareness on the protection of humanity and environment, and to understand the need to enforce a new international law which is DPCW to end war, and recognize the impact of every individual in achieving sustainable peace. At the same time, to gather peace letters and DPCW signature support.
“We hope that one day, IHL will be considered nugatory or inapplicable because of the absence of war, that’s our dream, but right now we have war [and] armed conflicts, so at the very least, IHL limits the use or resort to weapons or the means and methods of warfare.”
-Atty. Ismael Sarangaya Jr.
Introduction Webinar
On December 5, 2022, HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light), in collaboration with PCU-College of Law (Philippine Christian University-College of Law) hosted the International Law Webinar: On War, Peace, and Human Rights, with the theme: “DPCW: The Answer to Peace”.
The webinar was held to raise awareness on the protection of humanity and environment, and to understand the need to enforce a new international law which is DPCW to end war, and recognize the impact of every individual in achieving sustainable peace. At the same time, to gather peace letters and DPCW signature support.
The two actors from PCU-College of Law, Atty. Ismael Sarangaya Jr. and Atty. Kristoffer James Purisima, gave a speech about “International Humanitarian Law: Rules Governing War” and “Negotiating Resilience: Climate Crisis and Human Rights”.
Background Information
Defending human rights and our environment and encouraging the participation of every individual especially the students of colleges of law can be a positive impulse to make the world a better place. As an agent of change and future law practitioners, they have the power to influence their immediate environment and change the global order to achieve more equal and peaceful societies. However, knowledge about humanitarian law and the urgency of saving ourselves and our environment is often overlooked and neglected.
Through this forum, the speakers talked about the international humanitarian law focusing on rules governing war and negotiating resilience focusing on climate crisis in relation to the human rights and peace process and the necessity to enforce a new international law which is DPCW to ensure and to achieve complete and sustainable peace.
Points of discussion
The first speaker is Atty. Ismael Sarangaya Jr., Associate Dean of PCU-College of Law, who presented “International Humanitarian Law: Rules Governing War”. According to him, the UN Charter prohibits use of force among state members but there is one exception–a state under attack has a right to self-defense. He discussed the IHL including the four Geneva Conventions that provide protection to the wounded and sick armed forces in the field and shipwrecked at sea, prisoners of war and civilian population in times of war. He emphasized that the IHL makes war “more compassionate than it ought to be.”
“We hope that one day, IHL will be considered nugatory or inapplicable because of the absence of war, that’s our dream, but right now we have war [and] armed conflicts, so at the very least, IHL limits the use or resort to weapons or the means and methods of warfare,” he added. Some of the weapons banned by treaties are bullets that expand or flatten in the human body, poison and poisoned weapons, chemical and biological weapons.
The second speaker is Atty. Kristoffer James Purisima, Professor at PCU-College of Law, who discussed the topic “Negotiating Resilience: Climate Crisis and Human Rights”. He presented statistics revealing that the Philippines is the fourth most affected country by climate change and the top 1 country with highest disaster risk according to the 2022 World Risk Index Report. This highlighted the importance of disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) and its institutionalization.
He enumerated the threats to human security brought by climate crisis including poverty, unemployment, famine, diseases, lack of access to basic care, pollution, violence and human rights abuses. He concluded by emphasizing the “urgency of how we must act and save ourselves and our environment from extinction”.
The last presentation was made by Mr. John Rommel Garces, HWPL Philippines Chief Branch Manager, on the topic “The Legislate Peace Project: Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW)”. The DPCW is a document with 10 articles and 38 clauses drafted by the HWPL International Law Peace Committee. It is being submitted to the United Nations to be implemented as a legally-binding document to strengthen the existing provisions on global peace.
At the end of the program, the participants were encouraged to sign their support for the DPCW as part of HWPL’s Legislate Peace Project. They also wrote peace letters addressed to heads of states particularly the Philippines, Russia, and Ukraine, to urge for cessation of war and campaign for the institutionalization of peace.
Highlight
Atty. Ismael Sarangaya Jr.: “We hope that one day, IHL will be considered nugatory or inapplicable because of the absence of war, that’s our dream, but right now we have war [and] armed conflicts, so at the very least, IHL limits the use or resort to weapons or the means and methods of warfare.”
Atty. Kristoffer James Purisima: He concluded by emphasizing the “urgency of how we must act and save ourselves and our environment from extinction”
Mr. John Rommel Garces: At the end of the program, the participants were encouraged to sign their support for the DPCW as part of HWPL’s Legislate Peace Project. They also wrote peace letters addressed to heads of states particularly the Philippines, Russia, and Ukraine, to urge for cessation of war and campaign for the institutionalization of peace.
Next step
Our next step is to conduct more human rights seminar and DPCW education involving other colleges of law and youth, integrate DPCW in the subjects of colleges of law, and collect more DPCW signature support to raise awareness by establishing partnerships through an MOA with Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS) and MOU with Philippine Christian University – College of Law (PCU College of Law).
https://www.hwpl.kr/language/en/
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