RP wins in UN migrants rights monitoring body

NEW YORK, United States — The Philippines overwhelmingly won another three-year term in the Committee on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW), the Philippine Mission to the United Nations said in a statement Wednesday.

In his report to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Ambassador Hilario Davide Jr., Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York, said the Philippines, represented by Ambassador Jose Brillantes, will again serve in the committee for the term 2010-2013.

Davide said Brillantes, the current Philippine ambassador to Canada who concurrently sits as vice chairman of the CMW, was able to secure 34 out of 40 member-states present and voting during the elections held at the United Nations headquarters on December 3.

Other countries that were elected to the CMW are Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mali, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey.

The CMW was established in order to monitor the implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. The Philippines signed the Convention in 1993 and ratified it in 1995. There are currently 42 states parties to the Convention.

“The extensive body of work of Ambassador Jose S. Brillantes in protecting and upholding the rights of migrant workers throughout his long distinguished career in public service no doubt contributed to his being able to secure the highest number of votes during the elections,” Davide said.

“Furthermore his hard work in the CMW, as an elected member and current vice chairman, showed his capabilities and the member-states recognized his valuable contributions, which can be gleamed from the results of the voting,” he added.

A lawyer by profession and training, Brillantes has served as a diplomat for almost 40 years having had postings in Bonn, Washington DC, and Kuala Lumpur. He also served as labor minister in the then Ministry of Labor and undersecretary for migrant workers affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs. –INQUIRER.net