CMW/C/PHL/CO/3 and resources to sustainably increase opportunities to engage overseas Filipino workers in the State party’s electoral processes. 44. The Committee recommends that the State party provide the Commission on Elections Office for Overseas Voting with the legal mandate and adequate resources to operationalize an online election system and facilitate the access of overseas Filipino workers to this system. Work permits and residency 45. The Committee recalls its previous recommendation15 and recommends that the State party establish in law the guarantee that migrant workers who lose their employment have sufficient time to seek legal remedies against the termination of their employment and/or alternative employment and are not subject to expulsion during that time. 5. Provisions applicable to particular categories of migrant workers and members of their families (arts. 57–63) Frontier and seasonal workers 46. The Committee is concerned that the Department of Migrant Workers does not retain oversight over seasonal worker agreements concluded between local governments in the State party with their counterparts in destination countries. 47. The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that all international labour agreements are scrutinized and monitored by the Department of Migrant Workers to ensure compliance with the Convention, including the memorandum of understanding concluded directly between local governments in the Philippines and their counterparts in the Republic of Korea under the seasonal worker programme to deploy Filipino workers to the Republic of Korea in agriculture or fisheries. 6. Promotion of sound, equitable, humane and lawful conditions in connection with the international migration of workers and members of their families (arts. 64–71) International cooperation with countries of transit and destination 48. The Committee notes with appreciation the numerous bilateral agreements that the State party has concluded with destination countries engaging overseas Filipino workers, with a view to protecting their rights under the Convention. It regrets the absence of systemized monitoring, evaluation and reporting mechanisms on the effectiveness of such agreements in protecting all migrant workers’ rights. 49. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Review all bilateral agreements to ensure that they are gender-responsive and non-discriminatory and that they protect the human rights of migrant workers in accordance with the Convention; (b) Establish mechanisms to systematically monitor, evaluate and report on the implementation of its bilateral agreements to ensure that the rights of migrant workers under the Convention are upheld. Recruitment agencies 50. The Committee takes note of the information provided on the regulatory framework and the licensing system for private employment agencies operating in the State party, including the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Rules and Regulations (2016) attributing liability to the agencies for contract irregularities and enshrining respect for the labour and social legislation of both the Philippines and the country of destination. It is, however, concerned that private recruitment agencies continue to charge excessive placement 15 10 Ibid., para. 29. GE.23-08778