13 May 2004— The Philippines will be one of two members of the Asian Group that will serve in the Bureau of the inaugural session of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNCTOC) scheduled to take place in Vienna, Austria, from 28 June to 9 July 2004.

“The Philippine candidature was overwhelmingly endorsed by the States members of the Asian Group (Vienna Chapter) during the latter’s plenary meeting on 6 May 2004,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert said. “The Philippines meets the criteria set for the under the Draft Rules of Procedure for the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC/COP/2004/3), which the COP will formally adopt as one of its first orders of business.”

Under these rules, a President, eight Vice-Presidents, and a Rapporteur shall be elected from among the representatives of the States Parties, to become the officers of the session (Rule 22), and to concurrently serve as members of the bureau of the COP (Rule 30). The rules require nominees to be “Parties to the Convention and one of more and if possible all the Protocols that have entered into force by the opening of the session…”

The Philippines is a Party to both the UNCTOC, as well as to the two supplementary protocols that have already entered into force. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air were both signed and ratified by the Philippines on 14 December 2000 and 28 May 2002, respectively.

“Philippine Government policy has consistently accorded top priority to combating transnational organized crime. Within the UN, the Philippines had actively taken part in the negotiation of the UNCTOC and its supplementary Protocols and is currently involved with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on a multi-year pilot project under the UN Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, whose outputs are seen to contribute to the effective implementation of the anti-trafficking protocol of the UNCTOC,” Secretary Albert said.

In thanking the Asian Group members for their demonstration of confidence, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN (Vienna) Victor G. Garcia III, reiterated the Philippines commitment to ensuring that the Asian Group’s concerns and interests will be fully taken into account in the deliberations of the inaugural session of the COP.  END.