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Prisoner exchange: Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero suggests to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to negotiate and pursue a treaty between the Philippines and other countries with incarcerated Filipinos under the concept of "prisoner exchange." During Monday’s plenary debate onNovember 13, 2023 on the proposed 2024 budget of the DMW, Escudero said when a Spanish national was convicted in the Philippines for allegedly killing in Cebu, the Spain immediately tried to negotiate and enter into a treaty with the Philippine with respect to prisoner exchange. “Given that we have so many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)…wouldn't it be an opportune time, or perhaps a year ago, a decade ago for the Philippines to have been doing this similar thing? It would be a different matter for us to succeed to get that treaty, but at the very least, we should pursue it and aspire to it so that we can establish a place in those countries, in the Middle East, and Southeast Asia where we have huge number of Filipinos,” Escudero said. According to the DMW, as of July 2023, there are 293 Filipino prisoners in Southeast Asia, seven in Europe, and 954 in the Middle East. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)