DAVAO CITY – The Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns said the government should put an end to human trafficking in the country by addressing its root causes.
In a statement to the press on Tuesday, Kharlo Manano, Salinlahi secretary general said the Aquino administration”has done very little in terms of addressing and resolving modern-day slavery, sexual exploitation and forced labor in the country, adding that women and children of marginalized sectors remain the most vulnerable to trafficking.”
“Serious and decisive measures should be taken by the Aquino government not only to curb cases and cushion its impact, but especially to address its root causes,” said Manano.
Manano cited the US State Department’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report last July, where the Philippines ranked in the Tier 2 category since 2011. In the report, the Philippine government is described as not having fully complied with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and cites forced labour and the sex trafficking of men, women and children as significant problems within the country.
“Under the current administration, the country remains a hot-bed for human trafficking. Aside from a few rescues of women and girls victimized into cybersex dens, the administration failed to comprehensively implement a program against human trafficking,” Manano said.
Manano said the “poor implementation of existing anti-trafficking laws, lack of capacity of law enforcers to enact policies, slow-paced judicial system and low public awareness on the issue” remain as stumbling blocks in protecting the children against human trafficking.
Manano added that the high poverty incidence in the Philippines is “the major contributing factor why many Filipino children have become victims of human trafficking and prostitution.”
“So long as poverty persists, worst forms of abuses and deprivation of human rights will continue to thrive and victimize people living in the margins of our society,” he said. (davaotoday.com)
