Expanded human trafficking law to raise convictions

MANILA, Philippines - More suspected human traffickers will be convicted following the signing into law of a bill expanding Republic Act 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, the government said yesterday.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman urged the public to participate in the crafting of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 10364.

“In the fight against human traffickers, social workers actually endanger themselves,” she said. “They realize the risks that they face when dealing with illegal recruitment and trafficking syndicates, but nonetheless perform their jobs to protect and help the victims recover.”

Soliman lauded the inclusion of measures that would protect law enforcement officers and social workers from harassment suits for lawful acts done in good faith during authorized rescue operations, investigation, or prosecution of a case.

“We are relieved that social workers, who play a vital role in the recovery and healing of trafficked victims, will now be protected,” she said.

Last Feb. 6, President Aquino signed into law RA 10364.

The expanded law is a strengthened version of the Anti-Trafficking Law, covering attempted trafficking.

The new law provides for free legal assistance to overseas Filipino workers.

RA 10364 allows the reporting and publication of names of suspects and accused in human trafficking cases.

The amendment effectively allows the government to make use of the “name and shame” method in combating human smuggling syndicates.

In a statement, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima believes the amendment would result in a stronger government campaign against human trafficking.

“The signing of this law will give the government a stronger weapon against human trafficking syndicates,” she said.

Among the other amendments in the previous law was the inclusion of attempted trafficking as a crime punishable with imprisonment of 15 years and a fine of P500,000 to P1 million.

The new law defines attempted trafficking as a crime “where there are acts to initiate the commission of a trafficking offense, but the offender failed to or did not execute all the elements of the crime, by accident or by reason of some cause other than voluntary desistance.”

Liabilities of accessories and accomplices of human trafficking activities have also been clearly laid down in RA 10364.

Accomplices are “those who knowingly aid, abet, cooperate in the execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts.”

Accessories, on the other hand, are “those who have knowledge of the commission of the crime, and without having participated therein, either as principal or as accomplices take part of its commission subject to specific acts stated in the law.”

In 2012, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) prosecuted and convicted 100 people, including government officials.

The Philippines had been upgraded to Tier 2 category in 2011 from the Tier 2 Watchlist.

The Tier 2 status officially recognizes a country’s significant efforts to adhere to the benchmarks of the US State Department. – With Edu Punay