PHILIPPINES – IOM Brings Migration Tales to the Stage - “Karaoke Dreams” - a musical comedy produced by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) and sponsored by IOM’s European Union-funded Philippine Border Management Project (PBMP), has opened in Metro Manila on 20 June 2008.

The play’s serious message is designed to encourage Filipinos planning to join the estimated eight million of their compatriots living abroad to migrate legally using authentic passports and genuine visas, and to avoid irregular migration channels operated by people smugglers and human traffickers.

According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, about 3,000 Filipinos leave the country every day to work abroad in locations as diverse as the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore, North America and Europe.   

The play, which is part of a PBMP information campaign encouraging the use of authentic travel documents, is backed by the Office of Consular Affairs of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs.

The main characters dream of going abroad for a better life, but their dreams do not come true. A failed singer becomes a victim of human trafficking and is sold into prostitution. A migrant worker decides to overstay his visa and live as an illegal migrant, always on the run from the authorities. And a third character buys expensive fake travel documents, only to be caught at the airport and have them confiscated.

“The musical portrays real situations and its messages support the efforts of the Philippines government to ensure safe migration for Filipinos,” says the Manila-based IOM Regional Representative for East Asia, Charles Harns.

Free performances of “Karaoke Dreams” will take place in theatres, shopping malls and community centres in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, La Union and Zamboanga over the next four months.  

Next shows:

Admission is free!

For more information, please contact Kerstin Bartsch, Email: kbartsch@iom.int or Louie Sebastian, Email: lsebastian@iom.int at IOM Manila, Tel +63 2 848 1260.

“Karaoke Dreams”: A Musical Comedy on Filipino Migration

Philippines - Campaign on Travel Document Integrity On-going - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of Consular Affairs (DFA-OCA) is conducting a campaign to inform the general public on the importance of travel document integrity.

Using the campaign slogan "Ang Pekeng Passport, Problema ang Dulot" (A Fake Passport Causes Problems), Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for TV, radio and cinema are aired in top-rating media outlets in Metro Manila, Laoag, Cebu, Davao and Zamboanga. Print Advertisements are also featured in popular broadsheets and tabloids. These PSAs and advertisements can also be viewed at the DFA website at www.gov.ph.

Complementing these PSAs and print advertisements are billboards, jeepney top-ads as well as advertisements along the Metro Rail Transit in Manila to ensure greater outreach among the public.

IOM is implementing the information campaign under its Philippine Border Management Project (PBMP) funded by the European Union. PBMP aims to contribute to the efforts of the Philippine government to strengthen and enhance its border management capacity as to more effectively manage migration. The project is implemented in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Customs, Department of Foreign Affairs, National Economic Development Authority, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, and the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime. The project covers Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, Laoag and Zamboanga.

Posters, brochures, comics, leaflets, stickers, t-shirts and bags are also distributed during mobile passport services conducted by the DFA-OCA, job fairs, career orientation seminars, university forums, and other high-visibility activities in the areas covered by PBMP.

A highlight of the grassroots awareness raising activities is the staging of a theater-play that aims to raise awareness on the importance of using authentic travel documents and other issues related to irregular migration.

Similarly, PBMP is implementing a program entitled "YouMove: Filipino Youth and Migration" for 24 students enrolled in communication-related courses from universities in Manila, Cebu, Laoag, Davao and Zamboanga. The program aims to enhance the knowledge and raise awareness of the Filipino youth on the importance of using authentic travel documents and other issues related to irregular migration. The program runs for five months which commenced with an opening workshop held in Manila from February 22 to 25, 2008. The participants are now working on media projects related to the importance of using authentic travel documents and other issues related to irregular migration for presentation and discussion in a final workshop tentatively set in August 2008.

The campaign on travel document integrity was launched in November 2007 during the opening of the DFA-OCA Consular Information Center which provides immediate response to passport and visa queries through its Hotline Number 556-0000. PBMP supported the establishment of the DFA-OCA Hotline as part of the information campaign to raise awareness on the importance of the integrity of travel documents.

PHILIPPINES - Training to Combat Passport Fraud - IOM Manila this week completed a three-day training seminar for operational staff from the Philippine Bureau of Immigration.

The seminar focused on Passport Production & Security, Passport Issuance Processes and Passport Examination. It was designed to enhance participants’ skills in identifying instances of passport fraud at different stages of the process, and included the presentation of case studies and practical exercises in examining fraudulent passports.

The seminar followed earlier Passport Fraud workshops conducted in Cebu and Davao for operational staff from Philippine Government Partner Agencies of IOM’s Philippine Border Management Project (PBMP).

PBMP is a three-year EU-funded project that aims to contribute to the efforts of the Government of the Philippines to strengthen and enhance its border management capacity to more effectively manage migration in line with international norms and protocols.

The project is implemented by IOM in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Customs, Department of Foreign Affairs, National Economic and Development Authority National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and Philippine Center on Transnational Crime.

For further information, please contact:

Elisa Tsakiri
IOM Manila
Tel: +63 2 848 1260 ext. 115
Email: etsakiri@iom.int