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Pinoy workers rights taken up in ASEAN dialogue in Germany
The rights of Filipino migrant workers were among the issues taken up at a recent dialogue between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) representatives and a private foundation in Berlin, Germany. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the dialogue between the Berlin ASEAN Committee (BAC) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), a foundation affiliated with the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), was held on March 5. While FES is associated with the SPD, it is independent from it. FES was established in 1925 as the political legacy of Friedrich Ebert, Germany's first democratically elected President. FES is the largest and oldest of the German party-associated foundations and works on issues related to social justice, labor, peace and security, and gender equality. "Of particular interest to the Philippines is its recent work on the Philippine pension system, and on labor market reforms, specifically the rights of migrant workers. Initiatives in energy and climate change were likewise discussed," the DFA said in a news release. "There were suggestions from the BAC for the FES to undertake activities aimed at rethinking sensitive issues that have an impact on the security of the ASEAN region and Asia in general," the DFA said. Aside from migrant workers' rights, the issues tackled were:
- the West Philippine Sea;
- cross-straits issues (China-Taiwan);
- dialogue between the two Koreas;
- climate change;
- the United States' policies in Asia, and
- political engagement between the European Union and ASEAN.
