MANILA — Malacañang has lauded the creation of an inter-agency
task force to monitor and combat human trafficking crimes in the
Zamboanga Peninsula and expressed hope that such a mechanism can be
replicated in other regions in the country.
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said on Friday the
establishment of the Zamboanga Sea-Based Anti-Trafficking Task Force
(ZSBATTF) provides a major boost in the government’s fight against the
illegal trade of human beings and will help efforts to remove the
Philippines from the United States watch list on human trafficking.
“The creation of inter-agency task force and establishment of
anti-human trafficking units had been proven to be successful in
reducing human trafficking in other countries.
We hope that it will do the same thing for us and the setting up of ZSBATTF is a good start,” the Executive Secretary said.??
Ochoa issued the statement after receiving the report of retired
Police Director Felizardo M. Serapio, executive director of the
Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), informing the Office of
the President that member-agencies of the ZSBATTF have formalized their
partnership in the drive against human trafficking with the signing of a
memorandum of agreement (MOA) last March 21.
The signing of the agreement was held at the Philippine Ports
Authority-Visayan Forum Halfway House, Port Area, Zamboanga City, with
United States Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas as keynote
speaker.
In the report, Serapio said the presence of Thomas “demonstrates
the commitment of the U.S. Government in the fight against trafficking
in persons.”
“We have to show our commitment in getting rid of human
trafficking, practically and sustainably. Human trafficking is a menace
that deprives people of their rights and fundamental freedoms,” the
Executive Secretary said.
Last year, the U.S. placed the Philippines in the Tier 2 watch
list, precariously close to falling to the Tier 3 category which lumps
countries that fail to meet the minimum standards of the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of the U.S.
The Philippines has been classified a Tier 2 watch list country
since 2007, the second straight year the country has been in this
category. The primary duty of ZSBATTF is to conduct intelligence,
surveillance and monitoring activities of trafficking operations within
the Zamboanga International Port and Zamboanga International Airport. It
is tasked to undertake a unified, coordinated and synchronized
interception, arrest and investigation of suspected traffickers in
persons as well as rescue of trafficking victims at the two ports.
In its first major rescue operation following its creation, the
ZSBATTF had prevented 82 women, believed to be victims of human
trafficking, from boarding a Malaysia-bound chartered aircraft at the
airport in Zamboanga, considered a transit point in the south.
ZSBATTF
is composed of representatives from the PCTC, Department of Justice,
Philippine Ports Authority, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of
Immigration, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Office of the
Zamboanga City Social Welfare and Development, Department of Foreign
Affairs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration, Department of Labor and Employment, National
Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Philippine National Police-Maritime
Group, Philippine Navy, National Bureau of Investigation, PNP-Women and
Children Protection Desk, Criminal Investigation Detection Group, Civil
Aviation Authority of the Philippines, PNP Aviation Security Group,
Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Quarantine, and the non-government
organization Visayan Forum Foundation Inc. (PNA)
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