CEBU, Philippines - Authorities in Cebu have scored another success in the fight against human trafficking.
This after a group of at least 15 girls traveling from Bohol to Manila was rescued by the maritime police upon arrival at the Cebu City port Friday night.
Members of the 701st Cebu Maritime Police Station also arrested a 41-year-old woman and her 22-year-old daughter, said to be the recruiters of the girls.
The girls, with ages range from 14 to 17 years old, arrived at Pier 3 around 6 p.m. on board a fastcraft from Tagbilaran City.
Cebu Maritime Police officer-in-charge Police Senior Inspector Joselito Oñez Blazo told The FREEMAN that the rescue was made following a tip from a guard at Pier 3 about a suspicious group of travelers disembarking from a ship.
Blazo and his men, after verifying the report at the area, then took the girls and apprehended the woman and her daughter.
Blazo said the group was bound for Manila and was waiting for a ship which was set to depart at 8:30 p.m. from Pier 6.
Based on the travel tickets recovered from the suspects, the alleged recruiters spent over P20,000 for the group’s fare from Tagbilaran City to Manila.
Police investigation showed the alleged recruiters claimed that the girls were their relatives from Getafe, Bohol. The two claimed they came from Tandang Sora, Quezon City.
However, they later claimed they were only guiding the girls to Manila where they can find a job.
“Sumama lang sila sa amin. Pagtulong lang ginawa namin at ito na ang ginawa nila sa amin,” one of them told The FREEMAN inside the detention cell of the Waterfront Police Station.
The girls were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development-7 Friday night.
Help
“We are providing temporary shelter for them,” DSWD-7 spokesperson Jaybee Binghay told The FREEMAN.
Binghay said the victims will undergo assessment procedures by their social workers.
According to Binghay, each victim will have her own “case manager” who will guide her as she undergoes “rehabilitation.”
She said lawyers from the International Justice Mission (IJM) will assist them in drafting the victims’ affidavits, which will be used against the two recruiters.
In the absence of their birth certificates, the IJM has dentists to check the children’s teeth to verify their real ages.
“Kon mga hard recruits sila, mamakak gyud na sila sa ilang edad,” Binghay said.
The DSWD-7 is now establishing contact with the girls’ families in Getafe.
Charges for violation of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 will be filed against the alleged recruiters at the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office tomorrow.
Capitol reaction
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia hailed the rescue of the 15 girls, saying the campaign against human trafficking is no longer concentrated on a particular agency.
“This has now become a concerted and collaborative effort of all sectors in the Cebuano community,” Garcia said.
The Provincial Task Force against Human Trafficking, which Garcia created, had called on all sectors to join in the campaign against human trafficking.
“I believe that this happened because dunay tip nga nakuha from a porter who saw nga makaduda. Info proved to be very crucial,” Garcia said.
She added that Cebu is showing the way in the fight against human trafficking. — With Gregg M. Rubio/LPM