MANILA, 7 June - Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas has promised to try to get more countries to ratify the ILO Migrant Workers Convention now that she has been elected to head the prestigious international labor body. Sto. Tomas said this will be a good substitute to negotiating bilateral agreements with some of these countries since as signatories of the Convention, they are enjoined to uphold certain standards of labor and certain minimum wages. Sto. Tomas was recently elected to head the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva, where she is attending the International Labor Conference (ILC) until June 22.  She said "the presidency is an honorific post.  All it means is that you preside over the conference and there are things within the year where you have to participate."  She added that "the more important here is the honor that it brings to the country and the recognition that it brings to the country. Sto. Tomas is the second Filipino in 26 years to get elected, the first being Blas Ople who also served as labor secretary before he became senator.   Before Sto. Tomas left for Geneva, she was confident of winning the position because "this is Asia's year and Asean has unanimously endorsed us for the presidency."  Sto. Tomas headed a small delegation composed of labor sector representatives Democrito Mendoza, Ramon Jabal, Daniel Edralin and Vladimir Tupas; management representatives Mike Varela, Ancheta Tan, Donald Dee, and Rene Soriano; and Labor Undersecretary Manuel Ymson.