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Published: 29 January 2013

It begins with a painful, all-too-familiar story. The friend of a friend promises a young girl from an impoverished family a high-paying job abroad as a waitress. The amount being offered both astonishes and delights her, and she responds with a resounding yes. How can she not want to help her family, after all? Magically, the paper work is prepared in the blink of an eye.

She is to be sent to the Middle East, but must first pass by Malaysia as a stowaway. So she boards a motorized banca as the dusk begins to fall, hoping to evade roving coast guards on her way from Tawi-tawi in the southern part of the Philippines to Sabah in Malaysia. Before long, she finds herself in a cramped, dark space, her wrists encrusted in cold metal. She is handed a large box of condoms and is blithely informed that this will have to be her daily quota from now on — that is, if she hopes to eat at all. By then, it's too late, as we witness the plight of yet another trafficking victim.

Read more: Human Trafficking and its Intricate Web

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Published: 21 January 2013

The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP-CIDG) commemorated its long-standing partnership at the latter's 60th Founding Anniversary on January 07, 2013 held at Camp Crame, Quezon City. The event was highlighted by the awarding of a plaque of recognition to one of the key officials of IACAT, Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Raymond Jonathan B. Lledo who leads the National Inter-Agency Task Force Against Trafficking (NIATFAT).

Read more: Anti-Human Trafficking Official Cited by PNP-CIDG