AUTHORITIES have rescued two more potential victims of human trafficking during an inspection of a passenger ferry in the province of Tawi-Tawi, the police said Wednesday, August 6, 2025.
Police Major Alrashid Tulawie, Tawi-Tawi Maritime Police Station (Marpsta) chief, did not release the identities of the potential victims, but said both are adult females.
Tulawie said the two were rescued around 1 p.m. Tuesday, August 5, aboard a commercial ferry that had just docked at the port of Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi, coming from Zamboanga City.
Tulawie said the two adult females were rescued when they conduct profiling and verification of passengers aboard the newly docked passenger ferry.
The adult female passengers were about to travel to nearby Malaysia with no legal traveling documents and are vulnerable to become victims of trafficking-in-person.
The rescued potential trafficking-in-person victims were turned over to the office of the Ministry of Social Service and Development Office in Bongao for proper disposition after interview and verification by personnel from the Municipal Inter-Agency Committee Against Trafficking.
Authorities have strengthened their campaign against human trafficking in Tawi-Tawi, the southern border of the country.
Last week, authorities separately rescued four potential victims of human trafficking aboard commercial ferries at the port of Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.
One of the four rescued potential victims was a male minor and the other three were adult females, who were set to travel to Malaysia with no local travel documents. (SunStar Zamboanga)