A/HRC/ 8/28 Page 11 The “Magna Carta of women” is a bill that defines discrimination and that will translate CEDAW principles into the national legal system. It hopefully will be passed by the Philippines Congress before the current session ends in 2010. The task of monitoring this law, when passed, will be challenging and the Philippines will appreciate the support of the international community in this regard. The Philippines continued to make progress in women’s participation in public life including advancing towards the 30 per cent target of women in elective positions. Concerning the protection of migrant women, the Philippines have a set of services including social welfare services, and preventive measures are also undertaken through, for example, pre-departure seminars. The Philippines has passed a strong law against human trafficking, especially of women and children, that covers prevention, protection and reintegration of victims. Regarding poverty indicators, the Philippines have adopted a community-based monitoring system as an organized process of data collection, which encourages participation at grass-roots level in the collection of data. On the issue of indigenous peoples, the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) adopted in 1997 has created the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, which administrates programmes for indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural communities. Traditional legal system is culture sensitive, accessible, preserves the dynamics of indigenous knowledge systems and practices, promotes self-governance, expedites resolution of cases, encourages community participation, based on tradition and precedent, and respect for the elders, and provides premium on restitution not retribution. The Philippines committed to responding further in writing to the questions raised in due course. 40. Australia commended the Philippines on establishing the Melo Commission and inviting the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to visit the country, and asked for more information on the implementation of their recommendations. It also asked about the role of the national human rights institution in the promotion and protection of human rights. 41. Switzerland welcomed the recent abolition of the death penalty and the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to ICCPR, as well as measures taken to address extrajudicial killings in the country. Switzerland recommended that the Philippines intensify its efforts to carry out investigations and prosecutions on extrajudicial killings and punish those responsible. The witness protection programme should be strengthened. It also recommended that the Philippines address the root causes of this issue in the context of the appropriate reform of the judiciary and the security forces. 42. The United Kingdom, while noting that the Philippines has incorporated the majority of international human rights instruments into domestic law, mentioned that reporting obligations to treaty bodies are often delayed and implementation of treaty obligations remains a problem. It asked for additional information on how compliance with the treaty body recommendations is being ensured through the strengthening of institutional mechanisms. It also asked what measures are being taken to ensure that anti-corruption measures are implemented and that senior figures as well as low ranking officials are brought to justice. The United Kingdom welcomes the Philippines’ cooperation with the visits of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and of an EU Needs Assessment Mission, and asked the Government when it expected to see concrete results following these visits and the recommendations of the Melo Commission. On illegal child recruitment by insurgent groups taking place in the Philippines, the United Kingdom asked the Government to consider whether the international community can assist in addressing this issue. The United Kingdom recommended that the Philippines ratify the Optional Protocol to CAT. It also expressed its wish to see that progress will continue on the ongoing peace negotiations in Mindanao between the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Noting the involvement of civil society in the preparatory process of the national report, it recommended that civil society also be fully involved in the follow-up to the session.