Police abort human trafficking

Sunday, May 22, 2011

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Nineteen would-be victims, including five minors, of human trafficking in Zamboanga City were rescued by police authorities Friday.

Superintendent Celso Bael, Philippine Center on Transnational Crimes Western Mindanao head, said the would-be victims were sighted around 12 noon Friday inside a church along Nuñez Street in downtown Zamboanga City.

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Bael said an informant called one of his personnel, Police Officer 1 Christine Sevilla, and reported the presence of the group inside the church.

Bael immediately ordered Sevilla to coordinate with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Women's and Children Protection Desk of the Zamboanga City Police Office for proper action.

Investigation showed that the group was hired in the nearby province of Zamboanga del Sur and Pagadian City to work in a palm oil plantation in Sabah, Malaysia. The five minors were hired as fruit pickers.

The would-be victims were taken to the Visayas Forum Foundation (VFF) center for shelter after they failed to show travel and working papers, Bael said.

The VFF is a non-government organization that works on issues of domestic work, child labor and human trafficking, especially of women and children.

Investigation continues to unmask the people behind the recruitment of the would-be victims, Bael said.

The US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report on June 2009 stated that the Philippines is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.

A significant number of Filipino men and women who migrate abroad for work are subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude in Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Palau, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Muslim Filipina girls from Mindanao were trafficked to the Middle East by other Muslims, the report said. 

The Philippines, a close ally and treaty partner of the United States, was listed in the Tier 2 of the US Trafficking of Persons watch list in 2009 and again in 2010. This means it could be downgraded to Tier 3, unless Manila could convince the US it has done better in stemming human trafficking and illegal recruitment.

Vice President Jejomar Binay in his visit to the United States in February assured the Philippines' commitment to stem human trafficking and illegal recruitment.

Binay reported that an inter-agency council reported significant strides in the prosecution of human traffickers and illegal recruiters.

The council reported that from the last quarter of 2009 to the whole of 2010 15 persons have been convicted for violation of human trafficking laws.

Among the main causes of human trafficking in the Philippines are poverty, low economic development in communities of origin, gender inequalities, limited employment opportunities, existence of and access to public infrastructure (roads, schools, health centers, etc), large family sizes, inadequate awareness among families, and sex tourism. (Sunnex)