MEASURES VS TRAFFICKING

Posted on February 21, 2011

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Brgy execs: Temporary Ids, registration for foreigners

A temporary identification card and registration of foreign nationals,
more checkpoints and strict implementation of curfews in the barangays
in Cebu City are among the proposals of barangay officials to prevent
human trafficking in the city.

The proposals were made during a seminar orientation of barangay
officials in Cebu City amid the kidnapping and killing of six-year-old
Ellah Joy Pique from Minglanilla town southern Cebu.

Punta Princesa Councilor Caroline Grace Baquero said that human
trafficking is a global issue and everyone should act on it.

“Most of the time innocent children are being held as victims is this
inhuman violation,” she said during the seminar organized by the Cebu
City Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (CCIACAT).

She said everybody must be guided to avoid this from happening and
take actions against this kind of crime.

She said barangays should always be alert to respond in cases like this.

Barangay Councilor Francis Espares suggested that the foreign
nationals should have temporary identification cards and to register
to barangays so that the local officials could keep track of the their
activities in the city.

They advised parents and guardians to monitor their children as well
as warning them from talking to strangers.

There have been a lot of illegal recruitments and fraudulent
activities happening that involved foreigners so everyone must take
precautions and be careful.

The cyber sex issue was also tackled and was considered as a new
approach to prostitution.

Councilor Baquero said that the proposals would be studied by CCIACAT
if they would be viable to implement.

Meanwhile, Lawyer Andrey Sawchenko spokesperson for the International
Justice Mission (IJM)- Cebu, said that there are enough laws to
protect residents from human trafficking, but what it lacks is
implementation from law enforcers.

Sawchenko said that this was the reason human trafficking had become a
serious problem in Cebu.

Sawchenko said that for Cebu alone, they had rescued 230 victims of
human trafficking for the past three years and had filed at least 60
cases.

“There have been a lot of cases, it is a very serious problem in
Cebu,” Sawchenko said.

According to him, half of the victims of human trafficking in Cebu are minors.

Sawchenko cited the presence of numerous “vulnerable” communities
especially in Cebu city, Mandaue city and Lapu-lapu who could easily
be lured by traffickers.

“The high rate of unemployment and lack of education is also another
factor,” Sawchenko added.

According to its website, the IJM is” a human rights agency that
secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other
forms of violent oppression.”

They also partner with government agencies and civil societies to
provide legal and other assistance for the persecution of perpetrators
and the protection of victims involved in human trafficking.

Sawchenko urged all residents to report any suspicious activities such
as illegal recruitment and commercial exploitation like involvement in
pornography and prostitution.

The Republic Act 9208 known as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of
2003 provides protection especially to women and children against
human trafficking and provides criminal liability to violators need
public collaboration to be successfully implemented, Sawchecnko said.

Vic Abadesco coordinator of Visayan Forum, a non-government agency
also fighting against human trafficking, said that it is difficult to
fight human trafficking because the problem is “invisible”.

He said that most of the perpetrators of human trafficking are
foreigners who would lure victims for job abroad and it is difficult
to keep track of their activities because they have been operating for
a long time and is already organized.

He said that they continually conduct information and education drive
to communities which contains mechanisms on how to protect residents
against human-trafficking.

Visayan forum also provides residential care and community based
program to women and children and legal assistance specially those who
are victims of trafficking.

Abadesco said that based on their records, around 200,000 women are
children are being “victimized” by human trafficking every year
nationwide.

He said that their data is based on a barangay based research which
they conduct every year.

However, only 60,000 victims has been reported on their office for the
past three years.

Of the total victims, Abadesco estimated that around 40 percent of
them are minors.

However, he said that the law and its enforcement in Cebu is enough to
minimize the case of human trafficking in the province.

“ We just have to be more vigilant and continue our cooperation with
law enforcers,” Abadesco said.

Abadesco also said that the killing of Ellah Joy Pique was a form of
trafficking.

To determine human trafficking, Abadesco said that there should be
transfer of the victim, the means of transfer and exploitation.

He said that all factors were done to Ellah. /Reporter Candeze Mongaya
and Correspondent Princess Gabunales

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