This year, the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch (PMRW) chairs the inter-agency committee for the celebration of the month of overseas Filipinos and international mi-grants’ day. President Gloria Arroyo on October 10, 2007, signed Administrative Order No. 202, creating an interagency committee to prepare commemorative activities on December 18, 2007 as avenues for collective action to pro-mote the welfare of Filipino migrants. Co-chaired by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), the commit-tee on December 18 came up with the forum “Elevating Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Filipino Migrants” held at the Coconut Palace.

The forum was a gathering of various migration stake-holders in order to

Guest of honor for the occasion was Vice President and Presidential Adviser on OFW Affairs, Noli de Castro. The Vice President talked about the efforts of government to address the needs of OFWs all over the world. In particular, he cited efforts to curb illegal recruitment and trafficking in persons. He also mentioned about the successful negotiations to save the lives of OFWs.

CFO Chairman Dante Ang and PMRW President and DAWN Executive Director Carmelita Nuqui delivered the welcome remarks during the occasion. Ms. Nuqui mentioned that despite the Philip-pines offering one of the best support services for its mi-grant population there is stillroom to further improve the services for Filipino migrants.

“Efforts are still not enough because the number of Filipino migrants is still increasing. As more and more Filipinos opt to migrate, the concern about their vulnerability to human rights abuses also increases. Despite the many efforts to uphold and protect migrants, many still remain vulnerable to abuse and exploitation; some have been denied their rights,” said Nuqui.

Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias of the Migration Policy Institute and Neil Ruiz of Brooklyn Institute came over from the United States to present their paper “Protecting Overseas Workers: Lessons and Cautions from the Philippines.” It is a policy research paper that centered on the work of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

Director Vivian Tornea of OWWA, Mr. Pablito Mendoza of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Mr. Jeremaiah Opiniano of the Dconomic Resource Center for Overseas Filipinos(DRCOF) were asked to react to the paper of the two. Government agencies and NGOs involved in migration work also presented their reports on various efforts being done in relation to the issue of Filipino migration.

The forum was also attended by migrants, and representatives of non-governmental organizations, recruitment agencies, and the private sector.

Later in the evening, a concert for the OFWs and their families was held. Side A, Tuesday Vargas, and Epi Quizon performed in the con-cert sponsored by Smart Communications.