Civil action suits can now be initiated against human traffickers even if they are not convicted of the criminal offense, the Department of Justice said on Monday.

This was the gist of a new manual adopted by the department in the stepped-up campaign to stop trafficking in humans.

Forty-two young girls were rescued and five employees of a massage parlor were arrested during a raid by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) operatives in Quezon City recently.

The suspects were identified by NBI Director Nonnatus Caesar Rojas as Byrone Fule, manager of Grandeur Health Club, and a resident of 53 Torres Bugallon, Sangandaan, Caloocan City; Geneva Vequiso Rollon, cashier, of 8 Scout Ybardolaza Street, Quezon City; Joselyn Franco Medina, cashier, of 36 Scout Torillo, Barangay Sacred Heart, Quezon City; Antonio Samson Nuevo, of 11 Madelaine Street, Quezon City, and Richard Villegao Orpano, of 190 Road 1, Pag-asa, Quezon City, both roomboys.

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation recently rescued three girls from a suspected Australian pedophile during a raid in Cebu City.

The suspect was identified as Keith Robert Hutton, 65, an Australian billeted at ACE Pensionne Hotel located along M. L. Quezon National Highway, Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan Island, Cebu.