The Philippines has "acceded to" the Hague Child Abduction Convention - -which means ratification, for countries that were not members of the original "Hague Conference" that writes "Hague Convention" treaties on "private international law" -- i.e. international dealings, such as trade and litigation, between private parties, not governments. It will the the 94th nation in the treaty. Other members in the region are Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand.
As U.S. Ambassador Susan Jacobs has pointed out,
"With ten million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and the rise of bi-national marriages, the Convention’s importance for the Philippines and its citizens could not be more relevant or urgent. It is no longer unusual to know an aunt, neighbor, friend, colleague, uncle, sister, or cousin who has had a child abducted to a foreign country. If you do know someone, my next question may be difficult. Did that child ever return to the Philippines? The reality is that since the Philippines is not a party to the Convention, it is not uncommon for abduction cases to remain unresolved for years, resulting in an often prolonged and painful separation between children and their parents. Philippine citizen parents currently have limited remedies to seek the return of their children from abroad; this is why joining the Convention now is of the utmost importance."
Countries that "accede" to a Hague treaty instead of ratifying do not automatically enter a treaty relationship with other countries in the treaty. The other countries choose whether, and when, to "accept" that country's "accession" and have a treaty relationship with the newcomer. Without that bilateral relationship, the Hague Convention does not apply to a case between two countries. The United States has grown wary of accepting accessions from countries that do not seem equipped to implement the Hague Convention and actually comply with it, and State Department officials have reported that they thought some such countries actually acceded to it by mistake, getting it mixed up with another Hague treaty.
But the United States sounds eager to welcome the Philippines into this treaty. It has sent four delegations in recent years to work with various government agencies to advocate and prepare for the treaty to be put into practice there.
The Convention will not actually become law for the Philippines until June 1, 2016. On that date it will be in force between the Philippines and Japan, which has accepted the Philippines' accession. It is the first and only nation to do so, so far. Later acceptances will be tracked here, on the Hague Conference's web site.
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