It took fifteen years for the Absentee Voting (AV) bill to earn the nod of legislators both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. While everybody awaits the bicameral conference for the final drafting and signing into law of the said bill, another important piece of legislation, the Magna Carta for Seafarers, is pushed by migrant advocates and the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) themselves, hoping that it wont take another fifteen years before it benefits these workers at sea.

These two important legislative measures were discussed and addressed during a forum held last December 18 at the Holiday Inn Manila in celebration of the International Migrants' Day. *The Philippine Migrants' Rights Watch (PMRW) and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) organized this event that highlighted the importance of government and civil society collaboration in the passage implementation of laws for the rights and welfare of migrant workers.

Representative Apolinario Lozada, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, cited during the forum the efforts of migrant advocates like the PMRW and CFO whom he called, the "best chroniclers of the AV bill," that was already passed by both Chambers in the last quarter of the year.

Lozada and Atty. Demerie Raval, Chief Legislative Council of Senator Edgardo Angara, who is the major proponent of the AV bill in the Senate, assured everyone that the contentious issues from the different AV versions of the two Chambers were carefully addressed during their pre-bicameral consultation, including the scope of the election, the so-called sunset provision, and the registration and voting of migrant Filipinos. They refused to divulge specific details about the consultation but, nevertheless, assured everyone that it will be signed into law at the soonest time as their bi-cameral conference is already scheduled on January 15.

Dean Merlin Magallona, Chair of the 2002 Filipino Seafarers National Convention (FSNC), on the other hand, noted the PMRW's responsibility and oversight function in addressing the needs and concerns of sea-based workers. Thus, he called for the support of the group and other advocates, particularly for the Office of VicePresident Teofisto Guingona, who is tasked to handle the seafarers' welfare program, in

pushing for the administrative order that will establish a one-stop shop center for seafarers as well as for other legislative actions on the Magna Carta bill.

"In order to pass this Magna Carta into law at the soonest time possible, what is needed is a confluence of events to propel the process of legislation," Rep. Roseller Barinaga, Chair of the Committee on Labor and Employment, emphasized during the forum. He cited: 1) the commitment of the executive branch to prioritize the measure, 2) the political will of both Chambers to pursue its passage, and 3) the unrelenting pressure from the stakeholders to continuously demonstrate the need for this law, as essential elements that will fast track the passage of the Magna Carta for Seafarers.

Adding to the strong force is the participation of the University of the Philippines (UP) Law Center as part of the technical working group that was especially formed for this purpose. Magallona noted that the group is being requested to do a research / legislative project on the Magna Carta together with some members of the FSNC to further address the possible concerns and issues of this measure.

With these concrete actions and words of assurances and support comin g from the government sector for the Magna Carta for Seafarers and the Absentee Voting bill, the forum ended on a positive note and made migrant advocates hopeful and optimistic for a better year for the Filipino workers abroad.

Carmelita Nuqui