19 September 2005, United Nations, New York – The Philippines has accepted an invitation to become a member of the Convening Group of the Community of Democracies (CD).  The CD is a unique forum that brings together nations committed to promoting and strengthening democracy worldwide. The Secretary made this announcement after attending the Ministerial Meeting of the CD at the United Nations today.

“Being invited to become a member of the Convening Group is a great honor as well as a great responsibility,” Secretary Romulo said after the meeting, adding “this is also a recognition by the international community of the vibrancy of Philippine democracy and the actions and policies being taken by our government to safeguard our democracy.”

Among the responsibilities of the Convening Group include establishing the criteria for participation or observer status in the CD, giving advice and support to participating states for actions taken within regional or international organizations, encourage the formation, among others, of coalitions and caucuses to support democracy.

“The Convening Group is also responsible for identifying means of facilitating action, sharing information about developments of and to discuss means of promoting and consolidating democracy in the respective regions. The Convening Group will also be available as a means of bridging regions and regional organizations to promote the sharing of best practices and ideas,” the Secretary said.

Secretary Romulo indicated Philippine acceptance of the invitation in his address (attached) before the Ministerial Meeting of the Community of Democracies today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, saying “At the outset, let me assure you of the readiness of the Philippines to serve as member of an enlarged Convening Group of our Community.  As the largest region, Asia deserves to have more than two members in the Convening Group.  I submit that our strong national democratic institutions, track record in the defense of democracy as the oldest republic in Asia, leadership in the International Conference on Newly Restored Democracies as its founder, as the credentials of the Philippines for membership in our expanded bureau.”

During the Ministerial meeting of the CD, Secretary Romulo also pushed for greater cooperation in the key areas of debt relief, protection of migrant workers and interfaith dialogue.

In pushing for greater cooperation on easing the debt burden, the Secretary said “The President of the Philippines proposed during the Summit a concrete step to hurdle this financing issue through a debt-for-equity swap whereby 50% of the amount for debt servicing should be converted as equities in the developing countries’ MDG-related including sustainable development projects.”  He added “The scheme does not call for new financial flows from developed to developing countries.  It does not call for debt cancellation or even debt relief or debt discount.  Creditors will profit from the returns on their equities in development projects.  This proposal would benefit more than 100 heavily indebted countries that are severely handicapped in fighting poverty because of debt-servicing obligations.”

On the protection of migrant workers, the Secretary pointed out that while we may have an array of international instruments promoting and safeguarding human rights but woefully the rights of migrant workers and their families have not yet been universalized.

“Unless their rights are internationally protected, the stigma of discrimination will haunt us.  Migrant workers and their families deserve particular attention because they are beyond the protective reach of their own governments,” the Secretary said in his statement.

“In this connection, I propose that our community give special attention to this lacuna in our peoples’ freedom to live in dignity in keeping with our democratic principles in the field of human rights promotion and protection.  In particular, I invite governments here present to accede to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families,” the Secretary said.

On Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace, emphasizing the importance of fostering greater inter-faith dialogue and cooperation, the Secretary said that the Philippines is working closely with others towards this end.

“The Philippines has been regarded as the key exponent of interfaith dialogue and cooperation for peace.  It has organized the international tripartite conference on interfaith cooperation for peace last June and successfully organized the informal summit last week here in New York, which adopted a declaration open to adherence to governments sharing the same vision of a democratic approach to conflict-prevention and conflict-resolution,” the Secretary said. END