The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) continues to strengthen its ties with the international community as representatives from its member agencies embarked on an exchange mission in the Kingdom of Netherlands, a member of the European Union (EU), for a bilateral meeting with the heads of agencies of the said country to formulate effective preventive and combative measures against modern day slavery.
The Dutch Embassy stated that in its correspondence with IACAT that it has taken notice of the impressive measures that the Philippine Government has taken in the fight against trafficking in persons. They also highlighted that a shared responsibility to stop traffickers is more than necessary as well as the importance of cooperation in an international level.
To this end, it sought the assistance of IACAT in gaining ground in its own anti-human trafficking efforts.
"The 'inter-agency approach' that we have installed in the Philippines represents not only the power of partnership and collaboration with both the public and private sector but also the determination and collective will of the various stakeholders to overcome obstaclesin combating modern day slavery," said Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente B. Salazar, in-charge of the day-to-day operations of IACAT.
The exchange mission was conducted on October 29 to November 2, 2012, which constituted a meeting with the IACAT member agencies and their counterpart government instrumentalities in Netherlands. This is in recognition of the Dutch Government, on a political level, to close ranks with the Philippines as allies against human trafficking.
Early September this year, the IACAT and the Kingdom of Netherlands inked an agreement to construct a Victim Processing Center (VPC) within the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the enhancement of IACAT's database system, with Netherlands providing more than P1.8 million.
"We are optimistic that this partnership between the Philippines and the Kingdom of Netherlands shall serve as a precedent and trend which other nations may follow," Salazar concluded.
