CMW/C/PHL/CO/3 B. Positive aspects 5. The Committee notes with appreciation the ratification of or accession to the following instruments: (a) The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, on 24 March 2022; (b) The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Convention against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, on 6 February 2017. 6. The Committee welcomes the adoption of the following legislative measures: (a) Republic Act 11862, the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, signed into law on 23 June 2022, also providing recovery and reintegration services to trafficked persons as a mandatory programme; (b) Republic Act 11641, the Department of Migrant Workers Act, signed into law on 30 December 2021, merging several government offices into a single department; (c) Republic Act 11223, the Universal Health Care Act, signed into law on 20 February 2019, categorizing overseas Filipino workers as direct contributors to the programme; (d) Republic Act 11199, the Social Security Act, signed into law on 7 February 2019, mandating the enrolment of all overseas Filipino workers in the social security system; (e) Republic Act 10801, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Act, signed into law on 10 May 2016, to strengthen support services for overseas Filipino workers and their dependants. 7. The Committee also welcomes the following institutional and policy measures: (a) The addition of a new chapter on international migration and development in the Philippine Development Plan (2017–2022); (b) (2021); The adoption of the National Action Plan on Fair and Ethical Recruitment (c) The adoption of a National Action Plan on Gender-Responsive Return and Reintegration of Overseas Filipino Workers (2021); (d) The adoption of the National Action Plan to End Statelessness (2017–2024); (e) The signing of the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers by the ASEAN leaders during the ASEAN summit hosted by the Philippines in 2017. 8. The Committee notes as positive that the State party voted in favour of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which the General Assembly endorsed in its resolution 73/195. It also notes as positive that the State party accepted the invitation from the United Nations Network on Migration to become a Global Compact champion country, one of 15 member States globally to do so in 2020. The Committee recommends that the State party continue to make efforts to implement the Global Compact, within the framework of its international obligations contained in the Convention, given that both international instruments converge on the protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families. C. 1. Principal subjects of concern and recommendations General measures of implementation (arts. 73 and 84) Current context 9. The Committee notes the positive measures taken by the State party to assist overseas Filipino workers during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, including through repatriation and the provision of financial and social support. It notes the absence of longer- 2 GE.23-08778