Human Trafficking in the Philippines

MANILA -- The Philippines is no doubt a good resource for human trafficking, a United Nations (UN) official said Friday.

In a press conference, UN's Joy Ngozi Ezeilo lamented how Filipinos are being trafficked in different parts of the world.

"Children, women, and men are trafficked in the Philippines abroad for the purpose of sexual exploitation, including sexual tourism, cybersex and pornographic purposes, for forced and bonded labor, domestic servitude, forced marriages, as well as for organ transplantation," Ezeilo said.

Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, gestures as she talks about her report on her fact-finding mission in the Philippines on Friday at Makati City. (Associated Press)

Ezeilo is in the Philippines for a five-day fact finding mission to examine the situation of trafficked persons and the impact of anti-trafficking measures in the country.

Among the places she visited are Manila, Cebu, and Zamboanga.

The Nigerian noted how trafficking worldwide can be attributed to the socio-economic conditions in the country, including growing poverty, youth unemployment, gender inequalities, discrimination, gender-based violence, especially to women and girls.

Other factors at play, she noted, were armed conflict, clan feuding, and natural disasters, which results to large numbers of individuals being displaced.

The special envoy also noticed that trafficking of Filipina migrant workers is chiefly due to poverty and unequal access to employment and means of livelihood for women.

"Women want to migrate to earn income or run away from gender-based violence at home country," the human rights lawyer noted.

On the other hand, Ezeilo credited the Philippines for demonstrating strong commitment in combating human trafficking since the enactment in 2003 of the Republic Act 9028, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

"This is reflected by the ratification of the Protocol Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children or the Palermo Protocol," Ezeilo said.

She also commended the Philippine’s initiative in entering bilateral agreements with numerous countries of origin, transit and destination both for cooperation on human trafficking issues, and for conducting training and capacity building activities in collaboration with other countries, the UN and other international organizations.

"The Philippine government's anti-trafficking initiative is, therefore, in-line with its anti-trafficking law, which indeed encompasses the definition of trafficking in persons provided under the Palermo Protocol and penalizes all forms of trafficking in persons," Ezeilo said. (HDT/Sunnex)

 Reflection

 Based on the article, it is said that the Philippines provides a good resources for human trafficking. Let us not try to escape the truth. For me, as a Filipino, I would like to disagree with the statement saying the Philippines is a mine for human trafficking but as a person I know it is true. In my life, I always hear in news that Filipinos, especially women are part of human trafficking in other countries. At first, I pay little attention to it since I once thought it was just a little issue. But as a gained knowledge to this little issue, I saw the real side to it. I gained the knowledge on why human trafficking has become a major issue in the Philippines. First is that filipinos tend to participate in human trafficking to get a source of income.In other words, they can't find a good source of income in the Philippines so they tend to find it somewhere else. It clearly shows that the Philippine government can't provide decent jobs for every citizens. But it also says that searching for a source of income is just one of the factor contributing to human trafficking. Human trafficking is also a solution for people to run away from any violence. Violence is also a major issue in the Philippines, especially to women and children. It is not a surprise that majority of people involved in human trafficking are women and children. Aside from trying to earn a living, they want to escape being abuse and improper treatment. 

The bottom line is that Human Trafficking is a indication of a country's economic state. A high level of it means that the country has a poor economy. Meaning the reason why the Philippines is called a mine for human trafficking is that it has poor economy. The government cannot provide the needed things such as jobs and protection for women and children which can be the solution for human trafficking. I realized for the article that unless our country grows in economy and provides better protection for all, human trafficking will always be a major issue.