Thursday, October 05, 2006 Ruiz, Magpale want Pinays protected
AT LEAST seven persons in different parts of the country have been convicted for violating the law against trafficking of persons that was enacted three years ago.
From 2003 to 2005, a total of 186 cases have been filed in court against traffickers. Majority of these cases are either under preliminary investigation or pending in courts.
Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, sixth district) reported these figures in the opening of the Visayas conference of the Consortium Against Trafficking of Children and Women in Sexual Exploitation (Catchwise) at the Rajah Park Hotel yesterday morning.
Ruiz said 25 operations have been conducted and resulted in the rescue of 137 victims and the arrest of 56 traffickers.
She cited data from the Inter-agency Council Against Trafficking.
“I am very happy to see modest but encouraging progress in the prevention of trafficking in persons and prosecution of traffickers,” she said.
Twelve cases were filed in 2003, 60 in 2004 and 114 in 2005.
Of the seven convictions, one was in Zamboanga City where three persons were sentenced to life imprisonment for qualified trafficking.
Four were in Quezon City where a husband and wife were sentenced to four life imprisonment for the same offense.
Guilty
Two persons in Batangas City were sentenced to six months of community service after pleading guilty to using trafficked persons.
“The figures indicate that trafficking in persons is prevalent in the country largely due to the huge number of Filipinos desiring to work in other countries,” Ruiz said.
She told the Catchwise conference participants to remain committed to their advocacy, saying the material rewards may not be enticing but the satisfaction cannot be matched.
In an interview after her speech, Ruiz told reporters that the figures provided do not indicate the real situation because more cases of trafficking are not documented.
She said that in most cases, it is the parents who push their children, especially women, to work abroad.
Ruiz and Cebu Provincial Board Member Agnes Magpale are looking into the possibility of sponsoring legislation for the protection of women who go to other countries using fiancée visas.
Fiancee visas
Some women go abroad using fiancée visas but don’t get married, becoming undocumented aliens instead.
“We have to assure our women that they will be protected wherever they are around the world,” she said.
Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 defines trafficking in persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim’s consent or knowledge.
Trafficking is done within or across national borders by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person.
It is also the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation which includes at a minimum, the exploitation or the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, servitude or the removal or sale of organs. (AAG)
