Manila –ILS Executive Director Ahmma Charisma Lobrin-Satumba joined DOLE Labor Attachés together with Senior Officials from the Department for the 2019 Philippine Overseas Labor Officials (POLO) Command Conference last December 9-13 at the Lima Park Hotel in Lipa-Malvar, Batangas.

Executive Director Satumba served as one of the panelists for Session 5, which focused on “Migrant Access to Social Protection under Bilateral Labor Agreements: An Assessment of the Performance of DOLE Concluded Bilateral Labor Agreements (BLAs)” Exec. Dir. Satumba gave a Summary and Perspective of the DOLE Concluded BLA’s which were collated and studied by researchers from the ILS. This was followed by a Comparative Analysis of Government-to-Government vs. Agreement-to-Agreement approach by Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Director Rosemarie Duquez. The session was bookended with a discussion of “DOLE BLA Joint committee Meetings as Enabler: Outlining Implementation Outcomes for Selected BLAs.” POEA Director John Rio Bautista discussed “The DOLE BLA Joint Committee Meetings as Enabler: Outlining Implementation Outcomes for Selected BLAs.” The session was moderated by LabAtt Amuerfina Reyes.

There were a total of 10 activities, most of which are concurrent sessions, which covered a myriad of topics, particularly Session 4 which was titled “Porous Borders, Blurred Lines: Implications and Challenges for OFW Policies and Programs.” This session included in-depth exploration of the following presentations: “An Overview of New and Emerging Overseas Employment Pathways,” “POEA Anti-Illegal Recruitment Responses to New and Emerging Overseas Employment Pathways,” and “Addressing Irregular Migration and Trafficking Links,” issues that zeroed in on delivering better service and assistance to our Overseas Filipino Workers.