Not for sale: Trafficking, bondage and broken dreams

It begins with a painful, all-too-familiar story. The friend of a friend promises a young girl from an impoverished family a high-paying job abroad as a waitress. The amount both staggers and delights her, and she responds with a resounding yes. How can she not want to help her family? Magically, the paper work is prepared in the blink of an eye. She is to be sent to the Middle East, but must first pass by Malaysia as a stowaway. So she boards a motorized banca as the dusk begins to fall, hoping to evade roving coast guards on her way from Tawi-tawi to Sabah. Before long, she finds herself in a cramped, dark space, her wrists caressed by cold metal. She receives a large box of condoms and is blithely informed that this is her daily quota — that is, if she hopes to eat that day. By then, it’s too late: another trafficking victim.

There are thousands of victims of human trafficking in the Philippines every year. But, despite the enormous rescue planning and surveillance costs these clandestine networks entail, at least 16,814 people have now been rescued by different government agencies. Regrettably, only 72 traffickers have been convicted — 42 of whom were prosecuted during the Aquino administration alone. If those numbers seem demoralizing, the fact remains that, in two years in office, Aquino has prosecuted more traffickers than his predecessor did in nine whole years. Indeed, this is why the country was upgraded to solid Tier 2 status last year, no longer in the notorious Tier 2 Watch List.

So what environment encourages human trafficking in the first place? Most victims are poor, lack education and employment, and are desperately seeking opportunities elsewhere. Most are victimized by illegal recruiters and sent to countries banned to Filipino workers. Tragically, all remain unprotected by an entire social continuum — parents, friends, schoolteachers, immigration officials, and airport/port authorities — that should never turn a blind eye on them. The system, at some level, had irrevocably let them down. 

But even in such tragic stories, there can be a silver lining: to begin with, the P-Noy administration is serious about combating the problem. Internationally, anti-trafficking strategy is based on “4Ps”: Partnership, Prevention, Prosecution and Protection — the same strategy this government has adopted to fight trafficking at home and abroad.

The Philippine National Police runs Women & Children’s Complaint Desks locally and has trained about 3,000 of their personnel in victim identification. The Department of Labor and Employment has shut down “entertainment spots” exposing young people to prostitution. Overseas, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) deals with host country governments and all overseas Filipinos, including those illegally recruited or trafficked. The Bureau of Immigration (BI) oversees travel requirements, apprehends suspected traffickers in places of arrival and departure, and is attempting to establish patterns of deployment used by trafficking syndicates. The Commission on Overseas Filipinos also has a 24/7 action line focused on anti-trafficking. For the rescued, the Department of Social Welfare and Development maintains 42 shelters all over the country to provide safe residential recovery and psychosocial reintegration.

So why are trafficking numbers still so high, and how do the traffickers do it? Take a country like Syria. Word on the ground is that applicants apply for a visa using a fake affidavit of support for vacation from a fictitious person there and “go for a visit.” Now, the BI is supposed to scrutinize each transaction carefully but handlers are occasionally corrupt, money may exchange hands and voilà! — paper work: complete.  

Over 1,000 Filipinos have been repatriated from Syria since March 2011. But, alarmingly, the Jan 2012 mass repatriation of 204 Filipinos from Syria revealed that 90 percent of them were irregular or undocumented; 99 percent had been trafficked; 93 individuals were not in the BI’s data base; and 29 out of 95 passports had counterfeit Departure Border Stamps.

Human trafficking is the world’s third largest criminal enterprise, generating $15 billion last year alone —behind only the international drug and arms trades. But prevention must begin in countries of origin, putting all of us in the front lines in the fight against human trafficking.

So what can we do?

If in trouble or if you know of anyone being trafficked, dial the 1343 Hotline. If applying as a domestic helper, avoid countries where Pinoy domestics are routinely mistreated. Do not go to countries banned by the DFA. When applying to a recruitment agency, be sure it is licensed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and has an active job order (check the POEA website).

In the provinces, an agency should have provincial recruitment authority. Never transact business outside the registered address of the agency or deal with any person who is not an authorized representative of a licensed agency.

Pay no more than the allowed placement fee exclusive of documentation and processing costs, and do not pay placement fees unless you have a valid employment contract and official receipt.

Never be enticed by ads or brochures requiring you to send payment for processing papers to a Post Office Box. Avoid training centers and travel agencies promising overseas employment. Do not deal with “fixers” or accept a tourist visa if planning to work overseas.

The government pledges to prosecute people who have victimized others, but the public must help intercept activities related to human trafficking. Providing education, livelihood, jobs and other opportunities here at home is already a top priority. But until more jobs are available, everyone will have to remain vigilant. President Aquino is strongly committed to ridding our government agencies of corruption, but in the meantime, please protect yourselves. Pursue your dream job, by all means, but be careful so it doesn’t turn into the kind of nightmare your rescued compatriots come home reporting in such harrowing detail. In the end, beyond the deeply dehumanizing conditions and decimated lives, beyond the physical and sexual brutality, the greatest violence of all may still be the loss of human dignity trafficking so callously strips away.

(Assistant Secretary Lila Ramos Shahani heads communications for the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster and is adjunct faculty with the Center for Development Management at the Asian Institute of Management.)