National Situationer on the

Labor Trafficking of Filipinos

Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT)

Heroes Hall, Malacañang Palace
13 March 2023
Trafficking in Persons in the Philippines
 Trafficking in Persons (TIP)

World’s third largest and most profitable crime industry

after illegal drugs and arms trafficking
 PH VULNERABILITIES
▪ Poverty/ Economic Situation ▪ Border porosity
▪ Dysfunctional Families/ Family ▪ Materialism
Breakdown ▪ Social/Peer Pressure
▪ Globalization ▪ Adventurism
▪ Lack of Education & Information ▪ Gender issues
▪ Unemployment ▪ Cultural factors
▪ Culture of Migration and Existing ▪ Modernization & Development
Migration Networks Schemes
▪ Increased vulnerabilities brought ▪ Corruption & Collaboration
about by natural disasters and
armed conflict
Routes of Human Trafficking
AIRPORTS

Clark International Airport

Ninoy Aquino International Airport

Mactan-Cebu International Airport

Davao International Airport

 China

Taiwan
Middle East Hong Kong
and other
Western
Countries
Bangkok,
Thailand Manila

Sabah,
Kuala
Malaysia
Lumpur, Singapore
Malaysia

DIRECT FLIGHTS TO OTHER COUNTRIES

Routes of Human Trafficking

 Routes of Human Trafficking

ZAMBOANGA BACKDOOR EXIT

ZAMBOANGA

Sandakan, MALAYSIA

Lahad Datu, Source: PNP

MALAYSIA
BONGAO, TAWI-TAWI

SIBUTU, TAWI-TAWI
 Routes of Human Trafficking
From Manila
PALAWAN BACKDOOR EXIT

Source: PNP

Turtle Islands
ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS LAWS

R.A. No. 9208 This law established the IACAT and instituted
May 26, 2003 Anti-Trafficking in the policies to eliminate and punish human
Persons Act of 2003 trafficking

R.A. No. 10364 It is an expanded and strengthened version of

Expanded Anti- the R.A. No. 9208 when it penalized more acts
March 1, 2013 of trafficking and prescribed more stringent
Trafficking in Persons
Act of 2012 penalty.

R.A. No. 11862

July 26, 2022 Expanded Anti-
This new law provides for more provisions
against Online Abuse and Exploitation of
Trafficking in Persons
Children (OSAEC)
Act of 2022
 OTHER ATIP-RELATED LAWS

• RA No. 8042/RA No. 10022: Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act
• RA No. 9775: Anti-Child Pornography Act
• RA No. 6955: Anti-Mail Order Spouse Act
• RA No. 7610/RA No. 9231: Special Protection of Children against Child Abuse,
Exploitation and Discrimination Act
• RA No. 8043: Inter-Country Adoption of Filipino Children
• RA No. 9995: Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act
• RA No. 9160/RA No.10365: Anti-Money Laundering Law
• Revised Penal Code

• RA No. 11930: An Act Punishing Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of

Children (OSAEC), Penalizing the Production, Distribution, Possession and
Access of the Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM)
WHAT IS IACAT
DMW

LCP LMP
Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT)

• Established in 2003

• The government body mandated to formulate a

comprehensive and integrated program to prevent and
suppress TIP in the Philippines

• Composed of 28 member agencies and organizations

Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT)

• IACAT Secretariat

• IACAT Operations Center (OpCen)

• National Coordinating Council on Anti-Online Sexual

Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual
Abuse or Exploitation Materials (NCC-OSAEC-CSAEM)
 The Philippine Ranking
US Trafficking In Persons Report

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 2 WL

Tier 3

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

TIER 1 FOR THE 7TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

SITUATIONER: Regional Trafficking
Problem in Southeast Asia
 • The spurious online job offers entice Filipinos to
Golden work as customer service representatives (CSR)
or call center agents in Southeast Asian countries.
Triangle
• Once recruited, they are flown to Thailand on a
Labor tourist visa and taken to adjacent countries, where
they are sent to remote areas to work as online
Trafficking cryptocurrency scammers.

Scam • The criminal syndicates are now recruiting even

Filipinos working in other countries in the Middle
East and Asia
 • Anecdotal evidence show that some victims
choose to work abroad despite knowledge of risks
of labor trafficking and illegal recruitment

• Some Filipinos who were repatriated return to the

Profile of countries where they were rescued

Victims • Difficulty in getting statements from victims once

they are turned over by DFA

• Some rescued Filipinos change their names and

addresses so they can no longer be located by
government authorities (as per DMW)
From the Bureau
of Immigration
DMW
From the
Philippine Coast
Guard
From the
Department of
Foreign Affairs
From the
Department of
Migrant Workers
Key Actions To Address The Regional
Problem on Labor Trafficking
 Strengthening airport task forces

Stricter screening of passengers

Operational
Strengthening case build-up of
trafficking cases

Updating the Proposed

Operational Handbook
for Task Forces
Actions To Address The Regional
Problem on Labor Trafficking
 Updating of the Departure
Formalities Guidelines for
International Bound Passengers

Policy Finalization of
Anti-Corruption Guidelines

Collaboration with the House of

Representatives for new
legislation on online illegal
recruitment
Actions To Address The Regional
Problem on Labor Trafficking
 Facilitate Administrative Cases
versus Complicit Government
Officials

Administrative Revisiting the Guidelines on the

Referral System involving
TIP Cases

Actions To Address The Regional

Problem on Labor Trafficking
 Establishment of Zamboanga City
as a Specialized Non-Trafficking
Justice Zone through the
Justice Sector Coordinating
Council (JSCC)
Partnerships
8th Manila International Dialogue
on Human Trafficking

Partnership with the Presidential

Anti-Organized Crime Commission
(PAOCC) for the
Actions To Address The Regional National Summit on TIP
Problem on Labor Trafficking
 Improved Strategy for
Communications and
Information Information Dissemination
Campaign

Actions To Address The Regional

Problem on Labor Trafficking
 1. Diplomatic

2. Technological

3. Victim Profile and

ISSUES Behavior
REQUEST FOR
GUIDANCE
THANK YOU

https://iacat.gov.ph/