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DFA: 1,600 PHL treaties now accessible online


Some 1,600 international agreements that the Philippines had entered into since 1946 can now be accessed online, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. The DFA said its Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) uploaded the treaties on the DFA website as part of the "Philippine Treaties Online" project. "It is best to make the terms of these agreements easily accessible to our people, as these agreements not only embody our country's international commitments but, more importantly, contain immense opportunities for our people," DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario said in a news release on Wednesday. The online archive includes accords on trade access, investment promotion and protection, and avoidance of double taxation. Those expected to benefit from the online project are entrepreneurs, exporters, and traders, the DFA said. Farmers, fisherfolk, and others in the countryside may benefit from agreements on foreign technical and development assistance, the DFA added. Students and the youth can avail of educational and cultural exchange programs with other countries and institutions, it added. Transparent governance He said the Philippine Treaties Online project supports the Aquino administration's commitment to "transparent, accountable and participatory governance." The DFA said the Treaties Digitization Project was initiated by outgoing Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs and now Philippine Ambassador-designate to Malaysia J. Eduardo Malaya, together with the Supreme Court's Library Services. In June 2010, the DFA-OLA released the CD-ROM "Philippine Treaties: 1946-2010," containing the full text of the agreements. It also published the book "Philippine Treaties Index: 1946-2010" edited by Malaya, then OLA Director Maria Antonina Oblena and Allan Casupanan. - VVP, GMA News

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