R.P. envoy to Canada reelected to UN migrants body

R.P. envoy to Canada reelected to UN migrants body

NEW YORK–The Department of Foreign Affairs announced the reelection on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2005, of Philippine Ambassador to Canada Jose S. Brillantes as member of the United Nations Committee on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

In his report to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, Ambassador Bayani S. Mercado, Charge d’Affaires of the Philippine Mission in New York said Ambassador Brillantes was reelected to a four-year term during elections held on Thursday morning at the Second Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on Migrant Workers at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families by its States Parties. It is the newest treaty body that held its first session in March 2004.

Ambassador Brillantes was first elected in 2003 as a member of the Committee, which is composed of 10 independent experts who are persons of high moral character, impartiality and recognized competence in the field covered by the convention. He also served as the Committee’s vice chairman.
According to Ambassador Mercado, many States Parties willingly supported the candidacy of Ambassador Brillantes in recognition of his experience in representing and upholding the rights of its workers.

Ambassador Brillantes, who was Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs at the Department of Foreign Affairs prior to his recent assignment as Philippine Ambassador to Canada, has extensive background and experience as former Secretary of Labor and Employment and as a participant in the UN sessions that passed the Convention.

“I will continue to exert every effort to represent the interests of overseas Filipinos in the various fora of the UN system and in the multilateral arena,” Ambassador Brillantes said shortly after his election. He added that his reelection to the Committee is a manifestation of the trust and confidence of the States Parties to the Philippines in the promotion of the objectives of the Convention.

“The Philippines, with its 8 million overseas workers, has served as a model for labor-sending countries on how to manage the migration phenomenon so it would be difficult to imagine the Philippines not being a member of the Committee,” Ambassador Brillantes said adding that “we would now want to go a step further and look into getting labor-receiving countries to accede to the Convention.” Ambassador Brillantes vowed to continue to actively encourage other members of the United Nations to sign the Convention. The main challenge, according to him, is how to convince receiving states to sign and ratify the Convention. So far, 34 States Parties, including the Philippines, have ratified the convention.

Ambassador Brillantes also said that all States Parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how migrant workers rights are being implemented. States must report initially one year after acceding to the Convention and then every five years. The Committee will examine each report and address its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of “concluding observations”.