Philippine consulates and ernbassies are located, it may even be necessary to establish a system of quick response or network referral. Shelters should as much as possible also be on embassy premises rather than outside to be able to give the most secure refuge. These are areas in which migrant service NGOs and migrant membership-based organizations have exhibited relatively greater capacity in spite of their very limited resources. The final recourse for many abused migrants is to return to the Philippines in which case there is often a critical need for assistance in repatriation, perhaps treatment, and eventual returrr to work at home or with another foreign employer. OWWA domestic service support. There is a declared intent to develop a scheme for a national system of migrant welfare services - e.8., death and disability coverage, social work assistance, legal assistance, repatriation in emergency situations, counselling and domestic reintegration. Support can also be given to families in the country to help them in dealing with OFW relatives in distress overseas. These are all important and vital. The capacity to meaningfully provide these is however limited by the insufficient financial and administrative resources allotted by the national government. Indeed the OWWA even relies on US$25 mernbership contributions from each departing migrant, on a per contract basis, and on the returns from investing these cumulative contributions. These are supposedly invested in high-yielding instruments but the standing demand by migrants for disclosure of these investments is unheeded. With the OWWA Omnibus Policies, the welfare benefits originally crafted has been scaled down. Many OFWs were also disenfranchised because OWWA limited the membership to a per contract basis. Thus, if the contract was inadvertently terminated through no fault of the OFW, said OFW will be ineligible for benefits. It is also striking however how there does not seem to be a fllnctioning mechanism for even just monitoring the true extent of welfare services provided to migrants meaning one that has clearly identified the indicators to monitor, that mobilizes the human and technical resources to perform this, and that operates in timely, consistent and convenient manner. Absent even such a basic monitoring scheme there neither can there be any real evaluation of the overall effectiveness of specffic welfare services and programs. Facilitating remittances and partially reducing fees and taxes. Government efforts to improve the remittance environment and to reduce taxes, fees and charges have immediate and direct benefits for overseas Filipinos. These also conveniently serve the government's macroeconomic objectives of encouraging the continued flow of remittances and foreign exchange. For some years now the government has been aggressive in trying to improve the channels of remittance transfers - particularly involving foreign and local correspondent banks - to bring down fees as well as to make the process easier, more convenient and 51