Philippines

The Philippines has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons meetings on autonomous weapons systems since 2016. The Philippines has said that ethical concerns are ‘infinitely more pronounced in autonomous weapons systems’; that autonomous weapons systems risk transforming ‘the nature of warfare itself’, as well as having ‘implications on human agency and human dignity’; and that autonomous weapon systems threaten ‘to reduce humans into mere data sets.’^[1]Statement by the Philippines, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 30 September 2021: http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-30-09-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to … Continue reading

The Philippines supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems. At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in October 2022, the Philippines noted that ‘The development of advanced technologies is rapidly transforming human life and experience. We still barely understand how these transformations are unfolding and where they are leading. This behooves us to update our global governance structures, particularly in the context of artificial intelligence. This technology could solve many of our old problems while also presenting us with new humanitarian, moral, and ethical dilemmas. We therefore echo the urgent call of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. for the international community to form legal rules that will prevent the weaponization of artificial intelligence.'^[2]Statement by the Philippines, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 20 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/20Oct_Philippines.pdf

In July 2021, the Philippines called for a legally-binding instrument ‘to address the threat of lethal autonomous weapons systems.’^[3]Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva (2021), ‘Philippines calls for treaty on autonomous weapon systems’, 19 … Continue reading At the August 2021 meeting of the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, the Philippines called for ‘positive obligations that will ensure the perpetual retention of meaningful human control over the use of force’,^[4]Statement by the Philippines, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 04 August 2021: http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-04-08-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the … Continue reading and stated that ‘we need a normative and operational framework where unpredictable autonomous weapons systems, or weapons systems that subject human life to the prerogatives of machines, should be prohibited, and those that are below that threshold should be examined and regulated through positive obligations’.^[5]Statement by the Philippines, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 05 August 2021: http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-05-08-2021-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the … Continue reading At the 2021 United Nations General Assembly First Committee meeting, the Philippines said that the CCW ‘must address the risks posed by autonomous weapons systems. We join calls for a legally binding instrument in this regard.’^[6]Statement by the Philippines, UN General Assembly First Committee, 27 October 2021, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com21/statements/1Nov_Philippines.pdf

The Philippines is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and has aligned itself with NAM statements calling for a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.^[7]See, for example, Statement on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Other States Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons by the Delegation of the Bolivarian Republic of … Continue reading It has also aligned itself with a number of GGE small group statements calling for a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.^[8]See, for example: Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Sierra Leone, State of Palestine, Uruguay, ‘Proposal: Roadmap Towards New Protocol on Autonomous … Continue reading