Asst. Prof. Tiu serves as resource person on Business and Human Rights

As part of the Commission on Human Rights Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Center’s training of stakeholders on business and human rights, Assistant Professor Michael T. Tiu, Jr. served as resource person and delivered a presentation on the role of the State in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) Framework.

Prof. Tiu discussed the state’s duty to protect human rights as one of the three pillars of the UNGP, and elaborated on the foundational and operational principles that stress the State’s duties to enact preventive, investigative, punitive, and remedial measures to ensure that human rights are protected in the context of business and their operations within the Philippines. The duty also entails ensuring that companies perform their corporate responsibility to respect human rights.

The training, called a Learning Session, which was held on July 13, 2022 at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria was also co-organized by the Philippine Alliance for Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA). The over-all goal of the work is to jump-start the formulation of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. It was attended by representatives from various national government agencies and the business sector.

Prof. Tiu is a member of the Philippine Working Group on Business and Human Rights (BHR). He has conducted BHR trainings for a number of the biggest publicly-listed companies in the Philippines. As an expert in the field, he continues to serve as resource person for various stakeholders, including government agencies, enterprises, and civil society organizations, who aim to transition the Philippines into compliance with the UNGP.