CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 strategy to combat human trafficking. The foreign affairs department set up an information sharing system among concerned agencies, and led an effort of capability building and training for prevention, protection, prosecution, repatriation and rehabilitation as well as reintegration. A Presidential Memorandum created an interagency senior-level working group to develop the strategy. One of the results was the establishment, in 2000, of an Executive Council on the Suppression of Trafficking in Persons, particularly women and children. The council coordinates activities of all concerned government agencies and bodies toward more effective action against trafficking in persons. 195. The foreign affairs department and its diplomatic and consular offices abroad serve as the front line government agency in combating trafficking of women and children. The Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) acts as the nerve center on matters related to assistance to Filipinos in distress overseas. Created by virtue of RA 8042 (The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995), OUMWA coordinates the Philippine Foreign Service assistance to nationals. 196. Trafficking cases documented by the Philippine Foreign Service establishments are reported to the OUMWA with dispatch, with the view of immediately repatriating the victim(s) and alerting local authorities to the alleged recruiter or trafficker. Temporary refuge is given at the Filipino Workers’ Resource Center, while appropriate representations are done with the employer and the labor ministries of the host country. The foreign affairs department, meanwhile, alerts the appropriate investigative bodies to the alleged recruiter and coordinates assistance for the victim upon arrival in Manila. Victims are assisted in filing appropriate charges against the suspected trafficker or recruiter. 197. The social welfare department is coming up with a reintegration project for trafficked victims particularly women and children. It provides counseling and therapy, as well as other support to enable them to live normal lives. 198. In January 1999, the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) was created and tasked to establish a shared central database among government agencies for information on criminals, arrests and convictions on various transnational crimes, including trafficking in human beings. Meanwhile, the Commission for Filipinos Overseas (CFO) has been conducting community education programs to raise public awareness on various migration issues, including trafficking in persons, illegal recruitment, intermarriages and overseas employment. It also provides information on service networks for migrants in distress. 199. The Philippine-Belgian pilot project against trafficking in women is a notable effort in bilateral cooperation. Implemented in the mid-1990s, the project included a cross-cultural legal research component, a preventive education component and a social assistance and health component. On the other hand, the initiative dubbed "Operation Tutok: Jordan" by the POEA is a good model in the country team approach. One of its efforts has been the negotiation for a memorandum of agreement related to the hiring of household workers bound for Jordan. 200. In February 2002, the Philippine government participated in the “First Regional Conference in People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime” held in Bali, Indonesia. As a result, the President directed the foreign affairs department in March 2002 to 63