THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the University of the Philippines Law Center (UPLC) recently launched online the book Philippine Treaties in Force 2020—an index of some 3,367 subsisting agreements entered into by the Philippines since 1946.
The 392-page book was edited by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary J. Eduardo Malaya and Atty. Crystal Gale Dampil-Mandigma of the DFAs Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs (OTLA).
In his foreword to the book, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. described the publication as “a valuable chronicle to the country’s international relations” and “manifests our dynamic relations with other countries and international organizations near and far.”
For his part, Senator Aquilino Martin L. Pimentel III, who is the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, cited the book as “most useful listing and index,” which makes “treaties more accessible to the Filipino people.”
OTLA Assistant Secretary Igor G. Bailen welcomed online participants, who referred to the book as “an index, a time capsule, a journey of the last 75 years, of a thousand and one stories, of our country and our relationship with the world, through the treaties and agreements we have with all other countries.”
The UPLC-Institute of International Legal Studies collaborated with the DFA in the preparation and publication of the book. Its director, Professor Rommel J. Casis, said that “by providing a roadmap of our international commitments, this reference book can serve as a useful tool which can assist our leaders, foreign-service officers, lawyers, and researchers alike in navigating our increasingly intricate relations with our allies in the international community.”
The last update of the treaties index was undertaken in 2010 by a three-person team, which was also led by Malaya, who was then assistant secretary for treaties and legal affairs. The 2020 edition is more precise, yet comprehensive, as it contains agreements in force and excludes those which have expired. It also contains links to online treaties databases where the full text of most of the agreements can be found, primarily the Philippine Supreme Court e-Library (elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph), the Asean Legal Instruments database (agreement.asean.org), and the United Nations Treaty Series Online (un.treaties.org).
In his talk on “Reflections on Philippine Treaty Practice: A Practitioner’s Perspective,” Malaya—also the coauthor with Professor Casis of the book Treaties: Guidance to Practice and Procedure (UPLC, 2018)—underscored the importance of good database management of treaties, as “[they] are the embodiment of the country’s commitments and legal obligations, or its flipside, the county’s rights and entitlements vis-à-vis the international community.”
“For policy makers, we need to know what [our rights and obligations are,] where the gaps are with respect to our development and other priorities, and what we need to work on,” Malaya averred. “We also owe the public transparency and allow them the right of access to treaties and related documents in a timely and organized manner.”
Members of the diplomatic corps, DFA officials—including those based overseas, officials from other government agencies, the nongovernment organizations community, members of the academe, law students, and other interested parties attended the event, which was broadcast via Zoom and live-streamed via Facebook (https://fb.watch/45rr2OkMCK/). The DFA-OTLA, the UPLC–Institute of International Legal Studies, and the Foreign Service Institute jointly hosted the gathering.
Malaya was the Philippines’s ambassador to Malaysia from 2011 to 2017, and currently the ambassador-designate to The Netherlands. This is his ninth book, having earlier authored or edited books and articles on diplomacy, presidential history, and law. Copies of the book are available for P450 at the UPLC. For further information about the book as well as pre-ordering procedures, interested persons can e-mail iils_law.upd@up.edu.ph.
Image credits: DFA-OPCD