Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople announced his plans to convene a senior level governmental working group on human trafficking in line with a presidential memorandum to develop a national strategy to combat human smuggling and people trafficking.

Ople made his announcement during his meeting with Rep. Imee Marcos, vice chairman of the foreign relations committee, on the growing number of Filipino nationals who have fallen victims to human trafficking syndicates.

The Secretary said the DFA has been designated as chair of the working group on human trafficking which would also include senior level officials of the DOJ, DOLE, DILG, DSWD, DOT, BI,  CFO, PCTC, NBI and NRCFW.

Globally, the problem of human smuggling and trafficking has reached major proportions with 1 to 2 million women and children trafficked each year. Human smuggling and trafficking syndicates are said to earn a global profit of US $10-12 billion a year;50% of victims are from South and Southeast Asia.

In the Philippines, there have been 935 recorded cases of human trafficking from 1993 to March 2001. This figure is extremely low because of the refusal of victims to file cases against the members of human trafficking syndicates.

Most of the victims were illegally recruited from Region III, Region IV, ARMM and NCR. Almost 8% of cases involved intermarriages which lead to the exploitation of Filipino brides by their spouses. The Philippine government through the Philippine embassies and consulates abroad have been able to repatriate many of the victims of human trafficking, including those recently rescued from the civil war and white slavery rings in the Ivory Coast.

Rep. Imee Marcos sought a briefing from the DFA on the human trafficking/smuggling issue.

“I am appalled by the sheer number of Filipino women who find themselves in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and other continents to work in nightclubs and bars against their own will,” Rep. Marcos stressed.

She said she will file a House resolution calling for a nationwide campaign against the trafficking of Filipino women and children.

After the briefing, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople thanked her for her interest in preventing the trafficking of women and children. End