In an informal survey conducted by a civil society group working to stop human trafficking, they asked people in the streets what comes to their mind when they hear the phrase “human trafficking.”
Everybody answered:“Traffic.” As in vehicular traffic.
Such is the level of public awareness about human trafficking- the trade in human beings for several purposes, most commonly sexual slavery, pornography, forced labor , extraction of organs or tissues, surrogacy.
Photos from ABS-CBN video
ANC had a report of a human trafficking attempt in Tacloban. DSWD Assistant Secretary Cheche Cabrera related about two cases which they were able to stop. “A very beautiful girl was escorted by two burly looking guys,” she said.
Cabrera said together with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations, they are setting up a desk in Tacloban Tacloban City, Ormoc and Guiuan, Eastern Samar.“There are lots of possibilities where very young girls will be trafficked,” she said.
Amidst stories of Filipinos being lured by syndicates to a life of misery and degradation, here’s a silver lining:
Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad has granted the request of the Department of Justice for P100 million for the 2013 operations of the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking.
There were fears earlier that the DBM would only give IACAT P40 million which is even P10 million less.
Justice Undersecretary Jovy Salazar, who is in-charge of IACAT, said “The IACAT 2013 budget approval is a recognition and acknowledgment of the importance of what we do for the most vulnerable members of our society. We are truly grateful and up to the challenge.”
Considering that the government has intensified export of Filipino workers overseas because it cannot provide jobs for them, continuing to avoid going back in the Watch List is a consolation, however small because the ideal situation is that there should be jobs available for Filipinos in the country so that the father or mother, son or daughter does not need to be far away from his or her family in a strange environment just to earn a living.