CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 involvement of parents and communities in providing the full range of health, nutrition, early education and social services programs to meet the basic needs of young children. 553. Executive Order No. 340, issued on 5 February 1997, directed national government agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations to provide day care services for their employees’ children younger than five years. The social welfare department issued in 2000 the guidelines in the accreditation of day care centers and day care workers. 554. As discussed under Article 14, the agrarian reform department bestowed on housewives equal rights to own land in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Family Code and the Civil Code on property relations involving legally married and common-law spouses. 555. As discussed under Articles 14 and 15, the environment and natural resources department order amended in 2002 its regulations on alienable and disposable public lands thereby granting women, regardless of civil status, equal rights as men to apply for the purchases or lease of public lands. 556. Related bills such as House Bill 375 and 2518 promotes equal rights with respect to marriage and family relations, but are still pending with the House of Representatives Committee on Revision of Laws. Program developments 557. New measures have been taken to assist women married to foreigners who are known to suffer from the difficulties wrought by interracial marriages. As also noted in paragraph 156, RA 6955, which declares unlawful the so-called mail-order bride, is one of the bases for programs to protect women under these circumstances. The Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO), in cooperation with the foreign affairs department and other concerned agencies, is at the forefront of services designed to assist women overcome the difficulties of interracial unions and protect them from the dangers of trafficking. a. To assist Filipino women involved in interracial marriages and migration, the CFO provides the Nationwide Guidance and Counseling Service to fiancées or spouses of foreign nationals. It provides the clients with information about migration laws affecting them, marriage concerns, and ways of coping with difficult situations, available welfare and support services abroad, and of their individuals and conjugal rights. From 1989 to 1998, the CFO has served a total of 162,286 fiancées and spouses of foreign nationals. The service has expanded its coverage to 16 countryspecific and 4 general counseling sessions. b. An Inter-Agency Committee on Intermarriages was created in 1998 to coordinate the campaign against trafficking. In 2000, Executive Order No. 220 replaced it with the Council to Suppress Trafficking in Persons, Particularly Women and Children. Chaired by the foreign affairs secretary, the council institutionalizes the process of coordination and collaboration among concerned agencies in the implementation of programs to suppress trafficking in persons. With the passage of RA 9208 or the 146