CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 d. It commits the State to provide mandatory services to trafficked persons, such as emergency shelter, counseling, free legal services, medical or psychological services, livelihood and skills training and educational assistance. e. It gave various government agencies specific mandates and responsibilities. Among these agencies are: the foreign affairs department, which shall make available resources and facilities overseas for trafficked person; social welfare department to conduct rehabilitative and protective programs for trafficked persons; and labor department to ensure the strict implementation and compliance with the rules and guidelines relative to employment of persons locally and overseas. 189. The passage of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 is an example of the combined advocacy of government agencies and inter-agency councils and the civil society groups that provided both technical inputs and political pressure. 190. At the end of 2003, the IACAT had completed the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR), subjected these to a series of public consultations in Cebu, Davao, and Metro Manila, and published these in two leading newspapers. It had also begun the process of finalizing the National Strategic Action Plan to Address Trafficking in Persons that was prepared by the IACAT and other relevant agencies and NGOs during a strategic planning workshop held in November 2003, and started work on an orientation module on the law, including core messages on trafficking. The IACAT is likewise set to convene the inter-agency task force on international and local airports, seaports, and land transportation terminals. 191. The Philippines is also a State Party of a number of international instruments addressing trafficking and migration, including the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 192. On 24 October 2001, the Philippine Senate ratified the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its Supplementary Protocols, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air, and Sea. This opens opportunities for local agencies to link up with other countries in a global effort to fight trafficking in narcotics and other transnational crimes and to put a stop to the exploitation and trafficking of women and children. 193. Other measures taken by the Philippine government to address the problem of irregular migration include reinforcing the integrity of the Philippine passport, continuing the fight against illegal recruitment and monitoring departures of nationals and aliens. Such measures are implemented under the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, the Philippine Labor Code and certain provisions of the Immigration Act of 1940. Moreover, the social welfare department continues to require a permit whenever a minor travels with anyone other than both parents or guardian. Other measures to prevent trafficking in women and children 194. After an alarming number of cases of trafficking in women surfaced in 1996, the government took measures to give immediate help to victims while designing and implementing a national 62