Press Release
December 10, 2008

THE FIGHT AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA

Privilege Speech

Nine Filipinas with ages ranging from 18 to 29 came to Malaysia upon the recruitment of a certain Marilyn Gonzales Jabonero and her Malaysian Chinese spouse, a certain Ng Kok Weng. Jabonero and her spouse promised each of the Filipinas jobs as waitresses with earnings of 20,000 pesos a week in a restaurant in Malaysia. These Filipinas are from different provinces and cities, from Nueva Ecija to General Santos City.

However, to their utter shock, the Malaysian Chinese Ng Kok Weng took possession of their cell phones and passports which turned out to be counterfeit upon their arrival in Malaysia. He then locked them inside a room.

But the worst of their nightmare was not yet over. They were forced into prostitution by the couple and were physically abused whenever they refused to consent to the sexual abuse of patrons. To dissuade them from seeking help from authorities, the couple constantly threatened them with bodily harm and of being turned over to the police or immigration for violating Malaysian immigration and employment laws.

During their captivity, they were given only one meal a day. They did not receive a single cent for all their sufferings because the couple took all the money paid by customers. They tried to escape several times, but each time they were thwarted by an unidentified person working for the couple.

On December 03, 2008, they managed to escape, and took refuge at the Philippine Embassy, arriving there with nothing save for the clothes they were wearing.

Last week, I was invited to Kuala Lumpur by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction who appointed me as regional champion of disaster risk reduction for Asia-Pacific. I had a meeting with Ambassador Victoriano M. Lecaros at our embassy in Kuala Lumpur where I had the chance to know these victims of trafficking in persons.

The nine victims of trafficking in persons who may be charged for possessing counterfeit passports and overstaying sought immunity within the walls of the Philippine embassy. I commend our embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur for the immediate relief they extended to the victims. However, knowing that such relief is only temporary, I did what I could to give assistance to them. The embassy facilitated their travel documents and exit pass and I sponsored their transportation back to the country.

Alleged human traffickers like Marilyn Gonzales Jabonero and the Malaysian Ng Kok Weng must be captured and punished by law enforcers for violating R.A. 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.

Trafficking involves transporting people away from the communities in which they live, by threat or use of violence, deception, or coercion so they can be exploited as forced or enslaved workers for sex or labor.

Each of the nine Filipinas has a trafficking ordeal story to tell. But in each of their unique stories, they share certain common elements with other cases of trafficking in persons.

The victims, mostly women and minors, are often deceived about the true nature of the work they are recruited to do. They are exploited in slavery-like conditions. They are recruited with promises of decent and high-paying jobs in foreign countries. However, trafficked women and children find themselves forced into backbreaking illegal labor or prostitution.

Through case studies of trafficking victims, it was found out that women and girls from areas afflicted with natural disasters or war, or with little economic prospects are more vulnerable to being ensnared and coerced into sexual slavery.

Traffickers threaten, hurt, intimidate, and sexually assault their victims in order to instill fear on them and prevent them from escaping. To keep them subservient and terrified, traffickers often repeatedly rape and abuse their victims.

The repeated violence inflicted by traffickers on their helpless and hapless victims is aggravated by days and nights spent alternating between harrowing abuses by sexual predators and deprivation of basic necessities. Victims suffer unthinkable violations of their human rights, including the right to liberty, the right to dignity and security of their persons, the right not to be held in slavery or involuntary servitude, and the right to health.

Trafficking is a high-profit big business, generating an estimated 7-12 billion US dollars a year in profits. Trafficking in persons is now considered the third largest source of profits for organized transnational crime, next to drug trafficking and terrorism. However, it is the millions of women and children trafficked and sexually exploited who assume the biggest risk.

Other figures are as alarming. The United Nations estimated that one million to 4 million persons are trafficked worldwide each year. The wide margin of error in counting the victims is characteristic of the crime; we are practically groping in the dark in our fight against this enemy.

What we are certain about is that most Filipino women are acutely affected by poverty and lack of basic necessities, which in turn puts them in the dangerous position of being targeted by traffickers. Almost always, victims of trafficking in persons inevitably become victims of rape and other forms of sexual abuse and as such, many victims choose to be silent about the ordeal they were subjected to in the hands of human traffickers.

Of the more than 8 million overseas Filipino workers, 1.62 million are irregular migrants and are suspected to be victims of trafficking or smuggling. 65% of those victims are women, 25% of which were forced into prostitution.

Beyond these confounding yet distressing statistics are unforgettable faces and stories of vulnerabilities and helplessness. I will always remember the nine victims in Kuala Lumpur who ventured out of the comforts of their homes and the familiarity of their towns and cities in order to seek greener pastures but found themselves prey to greed and exploitation.

Republic Act No. 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, mandates policies to eliminate and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and establishes the necessary institutional mechanisms for the protection and support of trafficked persons. It aims "to promote human dignity, protect the people from any threat of violence and exploitation, and mitigate pressures for involuntary migration and servitude of persons, not only to support trafficked persons but more importantly, to ensure their recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration into the mainstream of society."

R.A. 9208 made the Philippines one of the few Asian countries in Asia that have enacted an anti-trafficking legislation.

The Philippines has also signed the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which obliges governments to legislate laws that would eliminate trafficking. The Philippines ratified the convention in 1981.

However, the plight of the nine Filipinas who have fallen prey to human traffickers and sexual predators in Malaysia clearly indicate to us that enacting a piece of legislation and acceding to an international treaty are not enough to shield our people from trafficking.

My esteemed colleagues, last November 2007, I filed Senate Resolution No. 207, A Resolution Directing The Appropriate Senate Committees To Conduct An Inquiry, In Aid Of Legislation, Into The Implementation Of The Anti-Trafficking In Persons Act Of 2003, Also Known As Republic Act No. 9208, Due To The Escalating Prevalence Of Trafficking In Persons From The Philippines. In that resolution, I cited findings by the US State Department as well as reports by Newsbreak unequivocally showing the rampant trafficking of Filipino women for prostitution or forced labor to neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Brunei and Japan.

In that same resolution, I presented figures by the International Justice Mission, a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. 85 put of 88 of the victims they rescued were trafficked for prostitution and three (3) for forced labor.

The International Organization for Migration, on the other hand, reported that uncoordinated collection of reliable and relevant data severely incapacitates Philippine government agencies involved in curbing trafficking.

All of these show that we have to do more.

First, an appropriate national program must be developed to identify effective services for trafficked victims and their families.

Second, prompt reporting of trafficking cases to authorities must be facilitated and encouraged. Incentives must be offered to informers. Third, potential victims, including girls must be made aware of the existence of this social evil. This can be done by including anti-trafficking information in elementary and high school curricula.

Lastly, we must strengthen our partnerships with civil society in creating a comprehensive network of programs that will singularly, albeit through ingenious diverse methods, advocate the suppression of trafficking in persons.

Perhaps most importantly and obviously, the government should solve the problem of poverty and provide productive jobs and livelihood for the poor in both urban and rural areas. We have to eliminate poverty. Poverty is that seemingly indomitable monster that we must fight. Trafficking and the other social ills around us are just its offshoot and so in order to defeat trafficking in persons, we must deal a significant blow against poverty.

Our experience shows us that most migration is poverty-driven. As legislators vested with the power of the purse and as we deliberate on the budget, we can appropriate more funds for social welfare. Much room in social legislation remains to be filled up too.

The struggle against sexual exploitation in all its forms is a struggle for the reaffirmation of human dignity. To be sure, aside from the nine victims in Kuala Lumpur, there are thousands more women and victims of trafficking in persons who are waiting to be rescued. It is easy to get demoralized by the statistics and the appalling number of the victims but we must always remain hopeful because change is possible.

Today is the International Human Rights Day. I hope that by retelling to you the plight of these nine victims, we will be more passionate in ensuring the preservation of the human rights of all Filipinos, particularly the victims of trafficking in persons.

Tonight, the nine victims in Kuala Lumpur will be back to the warm embrace of their loved ones. They will be back to the comfort of their homes. They will be back in the familiar surroundings of their towns and cities. They will be back in their homeland where they, and we, can work and hope that they are beyond the reach of the claws of exploitation and greed. Let us not fail them. Let us join hands in obliterating trafficking in persons within our realm.

Thank you.

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