National Consultant – Engaging with the Philippine National Police to Adopt the Gender-Sensitive Framework for Community Policing in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)

UN Women forged partnership with the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to implement the project, “Supporting the Normalization Process Towards Peace and Security in the BARMM.” This project is expected to be implemented from July 2020 to March 2021, aimed at achieving the following:

• Women are empowered to promote peace, security and resilience in their communities – through the development of training modules on gender- and culture-sensitive community policing 
• Security sector actors in BARMM have increased access to evidence and knowledge to advance gender responsive law enforcement processes – through the development of a policy guidance on gender-sensitive recruitment, retention and promotion in the Philippine National Police, to be adopted in the context of BARMM.

Republic Act No. 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women promotes equity in the security sector through the revision or abolition of policies and practices that restrict women’s ability to work across the same functions as men[1]. It also calls for the incremental increase in the recruitment of women in government agencies, including the police, until it accounts for 50% of its personnel. It also calls for the elimination of discrimination against women in security forces including revising or abolishing policies and practices that restrict women from availing of both combat and noncombat training that are open to men, or from taking on functions other than administrative tasks, such as engaging in combat, security-related, or field operations.

Prior to this law, Republic Act No. 8551 or the Philippine National Police Reform and Reorganization Act, otherwise known as the Republic Act 8551, the PNP must reserve 10 per cent of its annual recruitment, training, and education quota for women. However, there are calls from some parliamentarians, the Commission on Human Rights, and the police to change the legislation to increase the minimum reserved to 20 per cent.[2] Nonetheless, in recent years the PNP have often reserved 20 per cent of their annual recruitment quota for women in practice but not for every region.[3]

With the creation of the BARMM and the inclusion of additional areas, the new police regional office will also expand its jurisdiction. The BARMM will not have a separate police force. The Bangsamoro police will continue to be a regional unit of the PNP. In addition, there is no automatic or wide-scale integration of the MILF ex-combatants into the PNP or the AFP.

The BOL specifies that the defense and security of the BARMM shall be the responsibility of the national Government. Similarly, the main pillars of public order and safety, such as police, jail management and the coast guards are to remain under the relevant national authorities, with the BOL requiring the setting up of dedicated Regional Offices within each of these fields. The Philippines National Police (PNP), for example, is required to set up a BARMM Police Regional Office (BARMM-PRO) under the “direct operational control and supervision” of the PNP, and a Regional Office of the National Police Commission shall be established under the direct authority of the National Police Commission. However, the law also provides a consultative function on police matters to the BARMM Chief Minister. Although the broad lines of responsibilities have been established, there remains many technical details that the two parties need to discuss regarding the scope of the BTA’s role in policing matters in the BARMM.

There is also an existing manual on Police Community Relations (PCR) (2012) that defines PCR as a community oriented policing ideology as well as elements or components of PCR, which also mentions gender and development as one of the paradigms. The manual, however, is in need of integrating gender considerations in throughout community policing elements or components.   

Looking at the recent developments, threats and opportunities, this project aims at better promoting peace and stability in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by bringing citizens and law enforcement institutions closer to effectively counter crime, violent extremism and terrorism and will be led by UNODC with UN Women as a Responsible Party in implementation. Conversely, this project increases women’s resources and capacities to lead efforts that build resilience and social cohesion in their communities. This will be achieved through focusing on enhancing capacities and interactions between security actors and local communities, especially community women, in promoting a community-based policing approach by security emphasizing prevention and peaceful coexistence and promoting women’s leadership in law enforcement as well as women facilitating community-dialogues to discuss the promotion of social cohesion and peaceful co-existence and the role of women in preventing terrorism and hate speech. 

[1] Magna Carta of Women: Implementing Rules and Regulations. (Republic Act 9710). 2009. Office of the President, Philippines Commission on Women.   https://pcw.gov.ph/sites/default/files/documents/laws/republic_act_9710.pdf

[2] PHILSTAR. CHR: Limiting female cops goes against Magna Carta of Women. 2018. www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/11/08/1866900/chr-limiting-female-cops-goes-against-magna-carta-women

[3] Philippine National Police. Annual Reports. 2015, 2017 and 2018.

UN Women is seeking a consultant to work with the Philippine National Police, especially those in the BARMM, to adopt the gender-sensitive framework for community policing in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) with reference to the operationalizing Manual on Police Community Relations (PCR), among other plans such as the PNP Patrol Plan 2030.

The consultant should aim at:

• Better collaboration between the Philippine National Police, law enforcement institutions and the citizens, especially women, in effectively countering crime, violent extremism, and terrorism;
• Adoption of the gender-sensitive framework for community policing into the operationalization of the Manual on Police Community Relations (PCR), among other plans such as the PNP Patrol Plan 2030; and,
• Passage or adoption of policies or guidelines to address issues and barriers to women’s recruitment, retention and promotion in the police force, with reference to the gender-sensitive community policing framework and as part of strengthening gender mainstreaming in the PNP, especially in the BARMM.  

Knowledge and experience:

• Demonstrated knowledge in developing policies, advocacies, tools, and knowledge products on  gender equality programming in the government and women empowerment, peace and security in the Philippines;
• Excellent advocacy and social mobilization skills, with significant work related to the law enforcement sector, peace and and/or gender mainstreaming in the Philippines;  
• Fluency in English and Tagalog with knowledge of the BARMM dialects.

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the United Nations’ values and ethical standards;
• Promotes vision, mission and strategic goals of the UN and UN Women;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Ability and willingness to work as part of a team to meet tight deadlines and produce high quality work.

Confidentiality and Copyrights

• All documents compiled by or received by the Contractor in connection with this contract shall be property of UN Women, shall be treated as confidential and shall be delivered only to duly authorized UN Women officials on completion of the work or services under the contract.

In no event shall the contents of such documents or any information known or made known to the Contractor by reason of its association with UN Women be made known by the Contractor to any unauthorized person without the written approval of UN Women