SENATORS on Wednesday afternoon passed on third reading a resolution that would allow the Senate to concur in the ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) which underscores “the need to prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in conventional arms and to prevent their diversion to the illicit market.”
Sixteen senators voted in favor, none voted against, while six abstained when the resolution, endorsed for plenary approval by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations last December 13, was brought to the floor for voting.
The Duterte administration on Dec. 29, 2016 ratified the treaty and “has accordingly submitted it to the Senate for concurrence in accordance to the 1987 Philippine Constitution.”
On Sept. 2, 2021, 11 government agencies endorsed the concurrence for ratification of the ATT during a hearing conducted by the Senate committee.
Committee chairman Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said the ATT, which was adopted at the United Nations Assembly on April 2, 2013, affirms the sovereign right of any state to regulate and control conventional arms exclusively within its territory, pursuant to its own legal or constitutional system.
“The ATT acknowledges that peace and security, development, and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, and are the pillars of the United Nations system and foundations for collective security,” Pimentel said in the resolution.
