The Right to Food around the Globe

  Philippines

The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines explicitly guarantees the right to adequate food.

The Republic of the Philippines has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1974 by way of ratification.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

Explicit protection of the right to adequate food

Article XV:
Section 3. The State shall defend:
(2) The right of children to assistance, including proper care and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development.”

Other pertinent provisions for the realization of the right to adequate food

Article II: 
Section 9. The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all.

Section 11. The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights.”

Article XIII: 
Section 3. It shall guarantee the rights of all workers […] shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage.

Article XV: 
Section 3. The State shall defend: 
(3) The right of the family to a family living wage and income.”

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – 1966

Status: Ratification (1974)

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – 1979

Status: Ratification (1981)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – 1989

Status: Ratification (1990)

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – 2006

Status: Ratification (2008)

Legislation and policies recognizing the right to adequate food

Guidance on how to progressively realise the human right to adequate food in contexts of national food security has been provided by the Right to Food Guidelines, adopted by the FAO Council and endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security.

Considering that the human right to adequate food can be implemented through a variety of legal and policy actions, we invite you to visit the FAOLEX Country Profile database for a wide-ranging collection of measures that have been taken at national level. Some of the documents you may find are legislation and policies that touch on a number of relevant Guidelines, such as those on Access to resources and assets (Guideline 8), Food safety and consumer protection (Guideline 9), Support for vulnerable groups (Guideline 13) and Natural and human-made disasters (Guideline 16).

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