Young Roots
Trafficking in Persons
By Johanne Margarette R. Macob
MY last weekend was different. Instead of the usual laundry, clean-up, or family bonding days, I spent three days in Baguio City learning about human trafficking, the situation and how we, journalists, should go about reporting it.
Trafficking in persons (TIP) or human tracking covers a very wide array of human rights issues. It involves sexual exploitation, unfair labor concerns, and even beyond. It is far-reaching, yet it gets insufficient attention. We hear about someone getting exploited or has suffered from forced labor but that, sadly, ends there. Worse, we hardly hear about people getting convicted or an agency being charged for their illegal activities, exploiting others’ weaknesses.
According to one of our resource speakers, Mr. Jerome Alcantara, Deputy Executive Director of the Blas Ople Policy Center, the Philippines has a significant problem on human trafficking, not to mention, the country has been tagged as a ‘source’ of TIP victims. It is worth noting that the Philippines is a migrant country. As statistics show, an estimated 4,000 Filipinos leave the country each day. This makes Filipinos more vulnerable to TIP considering that getting justice for victims in our own country is very slow. As of today, only 109 of 2,207 cases have reportedly ended up in successful conviction. That’s only 4.9% !
Furthermore, discussing human trafficking only emphasizes the acts. Prostitution is a good case in point. As explained by Alcantara, there are three considerations in regard to TIP cases, namely: acts, means, and exploitative purposes. Acts refer to the processes involved that resulted in the perpetuation of the trafficking such as the acquisition, transportation, and receipt of the victim. Means are the ways by which a victim ends up becoming one, usually either by coercion or deception. Lastly, exploitative purpose is the violation itself. Thus, sexual exploitations, violence, slavery, forced labor, removal and/or sale of organs, and even illegal recruitment are exploitative purposes for human trafficking cases. Atty. Celso Hernandez of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, meanwhile, pointed out the difference between illegal recruitment and human trafficking. In general, human trafficking is more extensive, but the bigger point is the former leads to the latter.
Fortunately, our Provincial Employment and Services Office (PESO) has been intensifying its campaign versus illegal recruitment and human trafficking. In a recent talk with PESO manager Alex Ferrer, he said the “Bantay Barangay” program will soon be launched. The database on all the OFWs from the province will be used to effectively monitor their statuses in order to better assist them. Noticeably, the PESO also conducts many jobs fairs, preventing Pangasinenses to be victims of illegal recruiters.
Still, we all have to work hand in hand. Let us report cases and help in the resolution of such, or better yet, help prevent any exploitation from happening by being informed and vigilant.
Human trafficking is everyone’s concern.
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