The International Organization for Migration yesterday started a
series of training seminars aimed at enhancing the capacity of
Philippine border-related agencies to prevent irregular migration,
which can be linked to terrorism and other trans-national crimes.

Senior officials from various government agencies involved in
border management are attending.

This is the first in a series of seminars and trainings being
undertaken by IOM as part of its Philippine Border Management
Project (PBMP) - a three-year project funded by the European
Commission designed to enhance the country’s ability to
implement efficient migration and border controls.

During the seminar, participants will discuss the current
situation of border and identity management in the Philippines and
identify priority issues and areas requiring improvement and action
from relevant border-related agencies. Standards for performance
measurement will also be discussed.

"This seminar sets in motion the comprehensive education and
training programme planned under the PBMP. Its successful launch is
an indication of the excellent cooperation that we're getting from
our partners," said IOM PBMP training officer, Sean Burke.

Other trainings and seminars have been scheduled targeting
senior officials, technical and operational staff from government
agencies involved in the country’s border management, as part
of the PBMP's education and training programme.

PBMP - which targets five pilot points throughout the
Philippines including Manila, Cebu, Zamboanga, Laoag and Davao - is
being rolled out through four modules designed to achieve the
following objectives:

• Facilitate stronger cooperation among all local border-related
  authorities.
• Facilitate information exchange between and among these
  agencies.
• Improve existing technology applications and raise public
  awareness to reduce the circulation of false identity
  documents.
• Increase the capacity of border agency officials in various
  levels of seniority and fields of expertise to deal with common
  border issues and concerns.

The PBMP is being implemented by IOM in close coordination with
the Bureau of Immigration (BI), National Intelligence Coordinating
Agency (NICA), Bureau of Customs (BOC), Philippine Center for
Transnational Crime (PCTC), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA),
and National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

For further information, please contact:

Ruffy Villanueva

IOM Manila

Tel: +632 848-1260/1/2/3

Mobile : +63 918-4211786

Email: "mailto:rvillanueva@iom.int">rvillanueva@iom.int