A team from the Inter-Agency Council Against Human Trafficking (IACAT) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) is currently here to intensify and enhance its campaign regarding the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, particularly because Palawan is reportedly being used now as “transit point of human traffickers”.
Janet B. Ramos of the CFO-Policy, Planning and Research Division said the recent incident involving 13 females who were supposed to be smuggled to Malaysia through barangays Rio Tuba, Bataraza and Mangsee, Balabac in southern Palawan by an unidentified recruiter alerted them to focus on the need to increase awareness against human trafficking in the province.
“Most of the women in the foiled human smuggling attempt were from Laguna province and not Palawan”, Ramos said. This incident persuaded the IACAT-DOJ and the CFO to come to the province to coordinate with local government officials and other concerned stakeholders to put a stop on its use as passage site of human smugglers, as well as to stringently monitor the municipalities of Bataraza and Balabac to avoid similar incidents.
Ruby Ramores, head of the IACAT-DOJ, also disclosed there are seven human trafficking cases recorded in Palawan: one is under preliminary investigation, while the rest are being tried in court. She refused to give other details regarding the cases claiming they are prohibited by law from divulging anything that would compromise them while being tried in court.
“Palawan is one of the provinces that are being used as exit points of human traffickers going to Malaysia and to other parts of the world”, Ramores said, adding they want to enhance their anti-human trafficking campaign in the province to prevent it from contributing to the global trafficking of persons, which could upgrade the Philippines from Tier 2 to 3 category.
“If we’re upgraded to Tier 3, the Philippines will lose a lot”, she warned. “President Noynoy Aquino wants this to stop happening. In fact, his administration has provided funds for this”. The team is scheduled to travel to the municipalities of Brooke’s Point and Quezon in southern Palawan, and Roxas in the north, to meet with LGU officials and other stakeholders on the campaign against human trafficking.
Meanwhile, Ramos said they are in the province to campaign too, about 1343 Actionline Against Human Trafficking, a 24/7 action hotline whose goal is to attend to the gap in services of different government and non-government agencies in assisting victims of human trafficking.
Describing it as a “special hotline” for women who are mostly victimized by human smugglers, Ramos said it will “receive and respond to requests for assistance, inquiries and referrals from victims, including their families and the public on matters related to cases of human trafficking regardless if the crime was committed locally or internationally”.
The hotline service, she explained further, will enable the IACAT-DOJ and the CFO to “monitor the actions taken on cases referred to government agencies or NGOs; ensure that victims’ and witnesses’ rights are properly protected; increase trust among the public by encouraging vigilance in reporting human trafficking cases; develop a wide network of public-private institutions, including related concerns of migrant Filipinos; and enhance the country’s module on human trafficking regarding formulations of training materials and manuals to develop capacities and competencies”.
“This hotline is for those who fear that if they expose themselves, they will endanger not only their lives but their families. They can call this hotline and report to us any incident of human trafficking. Filipinas who also marry foreigners here and abroad, and who are being abused, can also use this hotline to inform us what is happening to them so we can help them out of their miserable situations”, Ramos added.
source:http://palawantoday.com/?page=read_news&;newsid=636
