Resolution Concurring in the Ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

February 1, 2021

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 83

RESOLUTION CONCURRING IN THE RATIFICATION OF THE TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

WHEREAS, the Constitution, Article VII, Section 21 states: "No treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate";

WHEREAS, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted on 07 July 2017, during the conclusion of the United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Towards Their Total Elimination, and signed by the Philippines on 20 September 2017;

WHEREAS, the Treaty prohibits State Parties from (i) developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons; (ii) assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in said activities; and (iii) allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed, installed or deployed in their respective territories;

WHEREAS, the Treaty obligates States to provide assistance to individuals affected by the use or testing of nuclear weapons, and to take appropriate measures towards the environmental remediation of contaminated areas;

WHEREAS, consistent with the Treaty, the Philippines has a comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, through the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Weapons signed on 21 February 1973 and which entered into force on 16 October 1974, and the Additional Protocol thereto, signed on 30 September 1997, and which entered into force on 26 February 2010;

WHEREAS, Article 15 of the Treaty provides that it shall enter into force 90 days after the fiftieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession has been deposited. It likewise provides that for any State that deposits its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession after the date of the deposit of the fiftieth instrument, the Treaty shall enter into force 90 days after the date on which that State has deposited its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;

WHEREAS, Article 16 of the Treaty specifically states that the Articles of the Treaty shall not be subject to reservations;

WHEREAS, it is provided under Article 17, sub-paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Treaty that it shall be of unlimited duration, and that, Each State Party shall, in exercising its national sovereignty, have the right to withdraw from the Treaty if it decides that extraordinary events related to the subject matter of the Treaty have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country;

WHEREAS, the President of the Philippines ratified the Treaty on 18 November 2020 and has submitted it to the Senate for concurrence, in accordance with the Constitution;

WHEREAS, in the public hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on 14 January 2021, the following government agencies endorsed the concurrence to the ratification of the Treaty:

1. Department of Foreign Affairs;

2. Department of Justice;

3. Department of Science and Technology;

4. Department of National Defense;

5. Department of Trade and Industry;

6. Armed Forces of the Philippines;

7. Philippine National Police; and

8. Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crimes:

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Philippine Senate concur, as it hereby concurs, in the Philippine ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Adopted,

 

(SGD.) VICENTE C. SOTTO IIIPresident of the Senate

This Resolution was adopted by the Senate on February 1, 2021.

 

(SGD.) MYRA MARIE D. VILLARICASecretary of the Senate