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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This section presents the various related studies and literature on anti trafficking
in persons, R.A. 9028 as amended and its implementation as well as jurisprudence and
reports related to it which will provide a clearer view of the study.

Related Literature
Trafficking in persons is a modern-day form of slavery, a new type of global slave
trade. Perpetrators prey on the most weak among us, primarily women and children, for
profit and gain. They lure victims into involuntary servitude and sexual slavery.
Defeating human trafficking is a great moral calling of our day. - Condoleezza Rice
Trafficking in persons, human trafficking, and modern slavery have been
used as umbrella terms for the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force,
fraud, or coercion. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-386), as
amended (TVPA), and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Protocol) describe this compelled
service using a number of different terms, including involuntary servitude, slavery or
practices similar to slavery, debt bondage, and forced labor.

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Human trafficking can include, but does not require, movement. People may be
considered trafficking victims regardless of whether they were born into a state of
servitude, were exploited in their hometown, were transported to the exploitative
situation, previously consented to work for a trafficker, or participated in a crime as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking. At the heart of this phenomenon is the
traffickers goal of exploiting and enslaving their victims and the myriad coercive and
deceptive practices they use to do so. (Trafficking in Persons Report 2015)
Modern slavery doesnt exist in a vacuum. Its connected to a host of 21st century
challenges, including the persistence of extreme poverty, discrimination against women
and minorities, corruption and other failures of governance, the abuse of social media,
and the power and reach of transnational organized crime. One thing is clear: No nation
can end modern slavery alone. Eliminating this global scourge requires a global solution.
It also cannot be solved by governments alone. The private sector, academic institutions,
civil society, the legal community, and consumers can all help to address the factors that
allow human trafficking to flourish. But governments have a special responsibility to
enforce the rule of law, share information, invest in judicial resources, and espouse
policies that urge respect for the rights and dignity of every human being. Human
trafficking is not a problem to be managed; it is a crime to be stopped. (Kerry, 2015)

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HUMAN TRAFFICKING DEFINED


The TVPA defines severe forms of trafficking in persons as:
a. sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or
coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not
attained 18 years of age; or
b. the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a
person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion
for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt
bondage, or slavery.
A victim need not be physically transported from one location to another in order
for the crime to fall within these definitions. (Trafficking in Persons Report 2015)

THE MULTIPLE FACES OF MODERN SLAVERY


SEX TRAFFICKING
When an adult engages in a commercial sex act, such as prostitution, as the result
of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion or any combination of such means, that person
is a victim of trafficking. Under such circumstances, perpetrators involved in recruiting,
harboring, enticing, transporting, providing, obtaining, or maintaining a person for that
purpose are guilty of the sex trafficking of an adult. Sex trafficking also may occur within
debt bondage, as individuals are forced to continue in prostitution through the use of
unlawful debt, purportedly incurred through their transportation, recruitment, or even
their crude salewhich exploiters insist they must pay off before they can be free. An
adults consent to participate in prostitution is not legally determinative: if one is
thereafter held in service through psychological manipulation or physical force, he or she

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is a trafficking victim and should receive benefits outlined in the Palermo Protocol and
applicable domestic laws.

CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING


When a child (under 18 years of age) is recruited, enticed, harbored, transported,
provided, obtained, or maintained to perform a commercial sex act, proving force, fraud,
or coercion is not necessary for the offense to be characterized as human trafficking.
There are no exceptions to this rule: no cultural or socioeconomic rationalizations alter
the fact that children who are prostituted are trafficking victims. The use of children in
the commercial sex trade is prohibited under U.S. law and by statute in most countries
around the world. Sex trafficking has devastating consequences for children, including
long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease (including HIV/ AIDS), drug
addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and even death
FORCED LABOR
Forced labor, sometimes also referred to as labor trafficking, encompasses the
range of activitiesrecruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining
involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion, abuse of
the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work. Once a
persons labor is exploited by such means, the persons prior consent to work for an
employer is legally irrelevant: the employer is a trafficker and the employee a trafficking
victim. Migrants are particularly vulnerable to this form of human trafficking, but
individuals also may be forced into labor in their own countries. Female victims of forced

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or bonded labor, especially women and girls in domestic servitude, are often sexually
exploited as well.

BONDED LABOR OR DEBT BONDAGE


One form of coercion is the use of a bond or debt. Some workers inherit debt; for
example, in South Asia it is estimated that there are millions of trafficking victims
working to pay off their ancestors debts. Others fall victim to traffickers or recruiters
who unlawfully exploit an initial debt assumed, wittingly or unwittingly, as a term of
employment. Debts taken on by migrant laborers in their countries of origin, often with
the involvement of labor agencies and employers in the destination country, can also
contribute to a situation of debt bondage. Such circumstances may occur in the context of
employment-based temporary work programs in which a workers legal status in the
destination country is tied to the employer and workers fear seeking redress.

DOMESTIC SERVITUDE
Involuntary domestic servitude is a form of human trafficking found in distinct
circumstanceswork in a private residencethat creates unique vulnerabilities for
victims. It is a crime in which a domestic worker is not free to leave her employment and
is abused and underpaid, if paid at all. Many domestic workers do not receive the basic
benefits and protections commonly extended to other groups of workersthings as
simple as a day off. Moreover, their ability to move freely is often limited, and
employment in private homes increases their vulnerability and isolation. Authorities
cannot inspect homes as easily as formal workplaces, and in many cases do not have the

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mandate or capacity to do so. Domestic workers, especially women, confront various


forms of abuse, harassment, and exploitation, including sexual and gender-based
violence. These issues, taken together, may be symptoms of a situation of involuntary
servitude.

FORCED CHILD LABOR


Although children may legally engage in certain forms of work, children can also
be found in slavery or slavery-like situations. Some indicators of forced labor of a child
include situations in which the child appears to be in the custody of a non-family member
who requires the child to perform work that financially benefits someone outside the
childs family and does not offer the child the option of leaving. Anti-trafficking
responses should supplement, not replace, traditional actions against child labor, such as
remediation and education. When children are enslaved, their abusers should not escape
criminal punishment through weaker administrative responses to such abusive child labor
practices.

UNLAWFUL RECRUITMENT AND USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS


Child soldiering is a manifestation of human trafficking when it involves the
unlawful recruitment or use of childrenthrough force, fraud, or coercionby armed
forces as combatants or for other forms of labor. Some child soldiers are also sexually
exploited by armed groups. Perpetrators may be government armed forces, paramilitary
organizations, or rebel groups. Many children are forcibly abducted to be used as
combatants. Others are made to work as porters, cooks, guards, servants, messengers, or

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spies. Young girls can be forced to marry or have sex with commanders and male
combatants. Both male and female child soldiers are often sexually abused and are at
high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. (Trafficking in Persons Report
2015)

TIER PLACEMENTS
The Department of State places each country in its Report onto one of four tiers,
as mandated by the TVPA. This placement is based more on the extent of government
action to combat trafficking than on the size of the countrys problem. The analyses are
based on the extent of governments efforts to reach compliance with the TVPAs
minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, which are generally
consistent with the Palermo Protocol.
Tier rankings reflect an assessment of the following:
enactment of laws prohibiting severe forms of trafficking in persons, as defined
by the TVPA, and provision of criminal punishments for trafficking offenses;
criminal penalties prescribed for human trafficking offenses with a maximum of
at least four years deprivation of liberty, or a more severe penalty;
implementation of human trafficking laws through vigorous prosecution of the
prevalent forms of trafficking in the country and sentencing of offenders;
proactive victim identification measures with systematic procedures to guide
law enforcement and other government-supported front-line responders in the
process of victim identification;

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government funding and partnerships with NGOs to provide victims with access
to primary health care, counseling, and shelter, allowing them to recount their
trafficking experiences to trained social counselors and law enforcement in an
environment of minimal pressure;
victim protection efforts that include access to services and shelter without
detention and with legal alternatives to removal to countries in which victims
would face retribution or hardship;
the extent to which a government ensures victims are provided with legal and
other assistance and that, consistent with domestic law, proceedings are not
prejudicial to victims rights, dignity, or psychological well-being;
the extent to which a government ensures the safe, humane, and to the extent
possiblevoluntary repatriation and reintegration of victims; and
governmental measures to prevent human trafficking, including efforts to curb
practices identified as contributing factors to human trafficking, such as
employers confiscation of foreign workers passports and allowing labor
recruiters to charge prospective migrants excessive fees.

A GUIDE TO THE TIERS


TIER 1
The governments of countries that fully comply with the TVPAs minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking.
TIER 2

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The governments of countries that do not fully comply with the TVPAs minimum
standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with
those standards.
TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The government of countries that do not fully comply with the TVPAs minimum
standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with
those standards, and for which:
a) the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant
or is significantly increasing;
b) there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe
forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year, including increased
investigations, prosecution, and convictions of trafficking crimes, increased
assistance to victims, and decreasing evidence of complicity in severe forms of
trafficking by government officials; or
c) the determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into
compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country
to take additional steps over the next year.
TIER 3
The governments of countries that do not fully comply with the TVPAs minimum
standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.
The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is the U.S. Governments principal
diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human trafficking.
(http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/)

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The Department of State is required by law to submit a Report each year to the
U.S. Congress on foreign governments efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in
persons. It is intended to raise global awareness, to highlight efforts of the international
community, and to encourage foreign governments to take effective actions to counter all
forms of trafficking in persons. (Trafficking in Persons Report 2007
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/82902.pdf)

HUMAN AND SOCIAL TOLL OF TRAFFICKING?


Trafficking in Persons Is a Human Rights Violation.
Fundamentally, trafficking in persons violates the universal human right to life,
liberty, and freedom from slavery in all its forms. Trafficking of children under mines the
basic need of a child to grow up in a protective environment and the right to be free from
sexual abuse and exploitation.
Trafficking Fuels Organized Crime.
The profits from human trafficking fuel other criminal activities. According to the
UN, human trafficking is the third largest criminal enterprise worldwide. It is also one of
the most lucrative criminal enterprises, and is closely connected with money laundering,
drug trafficking, document forgery, and human smuggling. There have also been
documented ties to terrorism. Where organized crime flourishes, governments and the
rule of law are weakened.
Trafficking Deprives Countries of Human Capital.
Trafficking has a negative impact on labor markets, contributing to an
irretrievable loss of human resources. Forcing children to work 10 to 18 hours per day at

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an early age denies them access to education and reinforces the cycle of poverty and
illiteracy that stunts national development.

Trafficking Undermines Public Health.


Victims of trafficking often endure brutal conditions that result in physical, sexual
and psychological trauma. Sexually transmitted infections, pelvic inflammatory disease,
and HIV/AIDS are often the result of forced prostitution. Anxiety, insomnia, depression,
and post-traumatic stress disorder are common psychological manifestations among
trafficked victims.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND TECHNOLOGY


In the fight against modern slavery, technology can be a double-edged sword.
Traffickers use technology to advertise their services widely and develop new methods to
recruit, manipulate, and lure potential victims. Meanwhile, governments, anti-trafficking
advocates, and technology companies are collaborating to leverage technological tools to
turn the tables on the traffickers.

Innovations in prevention include mobile and SMS technologies that allow


users to send alerts about human trafficking or allow payments to workers
to be traced so that they are less vulnerable to the threat of bonded labor.
Social media platforms can be used to engage the public at large and raise

awareness of this crime worldwide.


Technology can also help protect victims. Mobile devices and SMS
technologies may also enable survivors of human trafficking to more
readily reach out to service providers and seek help. Victim identication by

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law enforcement is made easier through facial-recognition software that is


able to locate the images of minors who are being exploited onlineeven

when copies of the image have been digitally altered.


Prosecuting human traffickers requires evidence; technology makes the
crime more traceable. The cell phones and computers of traffickers and
victims alike contain archives of text messages, voicemails, geo-tagged
data, and web browsing history, all of which can be evidentiary gold
mines for law enforcement. Pattern recognition and data analysis used to
detect money laundering can also help expose human trafficking schemes.
(Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2013 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/210737.pdf)

2015 marked the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
(Palermo Protocol). The impact of the Palermo Protocol has been remarkable, 166
countries have become a party to the Protocol. Many countries have implemented the
3P paradigm of prosecuting traffickers, protecting victims, and preventing the crime
through the passage and implementation of national anti-trafficking laws. Countries
continue to update their legal framework to better address this crime.

Related Studies

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TIP REPORTS FROM RA 9028s ENACTMENT AND IN THE LAST 4 YEARS


THE PHILIPPINES (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) 2004
The Philippines is a source, transit, and destination country for persons trafficked
for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. There is internal trafficking from
rural to urban metropolitan areas. Filipino women who are trafficked for sexual
exploitation to destinations throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North
America are often lured abroad with false promises of legitimate employment. The
Philippines is a transit point and destination for victims from the Peoples Republic of
China. The sexual exploitation of children within the country is also a growing concern.
Endemic poverty, a high unemployment rate, a cultural propensity toward migration, a
weak rule-of-law environment, and sex tourism all contribute to significant trafficking
activity in the Philippines. The Government of the Philippines does not fully comply with
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The Philippines is placed on Tier 2 Watch List due to the
governments failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of
trafficking, particularly in terms of its weak implementation of the anti-trafficking law
and a lack of progress in law enforcement.
In 2003, the government passed anti-trafficking legislation that protects women
and children from sexual exploitation and forced labor. Prosecution Anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts in the Philippines remained weak in 2003. The government enacted a
comprehensive anti-trafficking law in May 2003 that imposes harsh penalties against
traffickers and clients, but there has been no improvement in the government's
enforcement efforts. The government has investigated cases of trafficking-related

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offenses but prosecuted only three trafficking cases under the new anti-trafficking law.
Government sources reported two convictions for trafficking-related offenses under other
laws, resulting in sentences ranging from time served to life in prison. The paltry number
of prosecutions and convictions is a serious shortcoming, and available data on
prosecutions is also incomplete. Corruption and a weak judiciary remain serious
impediments to the effective prosecution of traffickers.
In 2003, the government continued to sponsor adequate protection efforts for
trafficking victims. Under the 2003 anti-trafficking law, the government recognizes
trafficked persons as victims and does not penalize them. The government provides a
range of protective services, including temporary residency status, relief from
deportation, shelter, and access to legal, medical, and counseling services. The
government in 2003 also devoted anti-trafficking resources to protect overseas Filipino
workers. The Philippine Government continued to train law enforcement officials and
consular officials in all of its embassies to deal with trafficking victims.
In 2003, the government reported a decline in illegal recruitment and recruitment
violations due to an intensified information campaign on overseas employment.
Government offices continued to conduct information campaigns on child labor and
sexual exploitation for the hotel and tourism industries. (Trafficking in Persons Report
June 2004 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/34158.pdf)

THE PHILIPPINES (TIER 2) 2012

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A significant number of Filipino men and women who migrate abroad for work
are subsequently subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude. Men, women, and
children are subjected to conditions of forced labor in factories, at construction sites, on
fishing vessels, on agricultural plantations, and in the shipping industry, as well as in
domestic service and other service sector jobs in Asia and increasingly throughout the
Middle East. A significant number of Filipina women working in domestic service in
foreign countries also face rape, physical violence, and sexual abuse. Skilled Filipino
migrant workers such as engineers and nurses are also subjected to conditions of forced
labor abroad. Filipina women were subjected to sex trafficking in Malaysia, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,
Qatar, Kuwait, and Syria.
Trafficking of men, women, and children within the country also remains a
significant problem. People are trafficked from rural areas to urban centers including
Manila, Cebu, the city of Angeles, and increasingly cities in Mindanao, as well as within
other urban areas and tourist destinations such as Boracay, Olongapo, Puerta Galera, and
Surigao. Men are subjected to forced labor and debt bondage in agriculture, including on
sugar cane plantations, and in the fishing industry. Women and children were trafficked
within the country for forced labor as domestic workers and small-scale factory workers,
for forced begging, and for exploitation in the commercial sex trade. Hundreds of victims
are subjected to sex trafficking each day in well-known and highly visible business
establishments that cater to Filipinos and foreign tourists demand for commercial sex
acts. Filipino migrant workers, both domestically and abroad, who became trafficking
victims are often subjected to violence, threats, inhumane living conditions, nonpayment

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of salaries, confinement, and withholding of travel and identity documents. Traffickers, at


times in partnership with organized crime syndicates and corrupt government officials,
recruit family and friends from villages and urban neighborhoods, sometimes
masquerading as representatives of government-registered employment agencies.
Traffickers increasingly used email and social networking sites to fraudulently recruit
Filipinos for overseas work. Fraudulent recruitment practices and the institutionalized
practice of paying recruitment fees leave workers vulnerable to forced labor, debt
bondage, and commercial sexual exploitation.
Recruiters continued to employ various methods to avoid governmentrun victim
detection units at airports and seaports. Traffickers utilized budget airlines, inter-island
ferries and barges, buses, small private boats, and even chartered flights to transport their
victims domestically and internationally. Organized crime syndicates transported sex
trafficking victims from China through the Philippines en route to third-country
destinations. Child sex tourism remained a serious problem in the Philippines, with sex
tourists coming from Northeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and North
America to engage in the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Increasingly,
Filipino children are coerced to perform sex acts for internet broadcast to paying foreign
viewers. An NGO reported an increasing risk of boys becoming victims of commercial
sexual exploitation. Children in conflict-afflicted areas were particularly vulnerable to
trafficking. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a separatist group, and the New Peoples
Army were identified by the UN as among the worlds persistent perpetrators of
violations against children in armed conflict, including unlawfully recruiting and using
children. The UN reported on the Abu Sayyaf Groups continued targeting of children for

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conscription as both combatants and noncombatants. (Trafficking in Persons Report June


2012 http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/index.htm)
THE PHILIPPINES (TIER 2) 2013
It did not, however, make significant progress in addressing the underlying
weaknesses in its judicial system, which stymied efforts to hold trafficking offenders
accountable, and the overall number of prosecutions and convictions remained
disproportionately low for the size of the problem. It enacted amendments to its antitrafficking legislation that could facilitate prosecution of a wider range of cases, but the
excessive length of trials and lack of public prosecutors dedicated to trafficking cases
continue to limit progress. The government identified and provided protections to
trafficking victims but did not make significant efforts to increase the availability of
specialized services. Rampant corruption at all levels enabled traffickers and undermined
efforts to combat trafficking.
Although the DOJ encouraged courts expedited processing of trafficking cases
based on a 2010 supreme court circular setting a six-month limit (See Appendix D),
inefficiencies in the judicial system posed serious challenges to the successful
prosecution of some cases; government and NGO observers estimated the average length
of trafficking cases to be between three-and-a-half and five years.
Law enforcement officials complicity in human trafficking remained a problem
in the Philippines, and corruption at all levels of government enables traffickers to
prosper. Officials in government units and agencies assigned to enforce laws against
human trafficking reportedly permitted trafficking offenders to conduct illegal activities,
allowed traffickers to escape during raids, extorted bribes, facilitated illegal departures

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for overseas workers, and accepted payments or sexual services from establishments
known to traffic women and children.
IACAT operated an anti-trafficking help line; during the year, the line received
over 7,000 calls leading to the identification of 133 trafficking victims. The government
encouraged victims to assist in the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers, but
the serious lack of victim and witness protection programs, exacerbated by a lengthy trial
process and fear of retaliation by traffickers, caused many victims to decline or withdraw
cooperation.
The immigration department continued its intensified efforts to screen for
potential trafficking victims at airports and seaports; this aggressive effort to off-load
suspected victims for interviewsin essence blocking their travel from the Philippines
raised concerns that Filipinos right to travel out of the country might be unduly
restricted. The government provided training, including a module on human trafficking,
to Philippine troops prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping
missions. (Trafficking in Persons Report June 2013
http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2013/215544.htm)
THE PHILIPPINES (TIER 2) 2014
A significant number of the estimated 10 million Filipino men, women, and
children who migrate abroad for skilled and unskilled work are subsequently subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor, including through debt bondage, in factories, at
construction sites, on fishing vessels, on agricultural plantations, as engineers or nurses,
and in the shipping industry, as well as in domestic work, janitorial service, and other
service sector jobs in Asia, throughout the Middle East, and increasingly in Europe.

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Traffickers, at times in partnership with local organized crime syndicates and


corrupt government officials, recruit family and friends from villages and urban
neighborhoods, sometimes masquerading as representatives of government-registered
employment agencies.
The government continued to prosecute sex and labor trafficking offenses and to
impose stringent sentences on convicted sex traffickers, but it did not make progress in
convicting labor traffickers and its overall number of convictions remained low compared
to the size of the problem.
Although the DOJ encouraged courts expedited processing of trafficking cases
based on a 2010 supreme court circular setting a six-month limit, endemic inefficiencies
(See Appendix D)particularly a large backlog of cases and lengthy, discontinuous trials
continued to pose significant challenges to the success of anti-trafficking prosecution
efforts.
The government continued to proactively identify and provide limited services to
victims, but efforts were inadequate to serve the large number of victims in the country.
Comprehensive statistics for the total number of victims identified and assisted were not
available. (Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2014
http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2014/index.htm)
THE PHILIPPINES (TIER 2) 2015
Traffickers, typically in partnership with small local networks, engage in
recruitment practices that leave migrant workers vulnerable to trafficking, such as
charging excessive fees and confiscating identification documents. Traffickers also use
email and social media to fraudulently recruit Filipinos for overseas work. Illicit

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recruiters use student, intern, and exchange program visas to circumvent the Philippine
government and destination countries regulatory frameworks for foreign workers.
Women and children many from impoverished families, typhoon-stricken
communities, and conflict-affected areas in Mindanaoundocumented returnees, and
internally displaced persons are subjected to domestic servitude, forced begging, forced
labor in small factories, and sex trafficking in Manila, Cebu, Angeles, and urbanized
cities in Mindanao. Trafficking also occurs in tourist destinations such as Boracay,
Olongapo, Puerto Galera, and Surigao where there is a high demand for commercial sex
acts. Men are subjected to forced labor and debt bondage in agriculture, fishing, and
maritime industries. Child sex trafficking remains a serious problem, typically aided by
taxi drivers who have knowledge of clandestine locations. Very young Filipino children
are coerced to perform sex acts for live internet broadcast to paying foreigners; this
typically occurs in private residences or internet cafes and is often facilitated by family
members. Public officials, including those in diplomatic missions abroad, law
enforcement agencies, and other government entities, are reported to be complicit in
trafficking or allow traffickers to operate with impunity. Officials proactively identified
victims exploited within the country. However, the government did not make efforts to
provide all trafficking victims access to specialized services; protection for male victims
remained minimal. Authorities convicted only one labor trafficker. The government did
not make significant efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. Pervasive
corruption undermined government efforts to combat trafficking, and investigations of
potentially complicit officials did not lead to criminal convictions and in some cases even

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failed to secure administrative punishment against offenders. (Trafficking in Persons


Report, June 2015 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245365.pdf)
While the promulgation of anti-trafficking criminal laws points to increased
commitment to address the crime, challenges in fully implementing the promise of
Palermo remain.
Government action is crucial in prosecuting trafficking cases, protecting victims,
and preventing trafficking. By strengthening efforts in these areas, and by continuing to
build partnerships with civil society and the private sector, governments are making
serious strides in fighting modern slavery.

REGIONAL AGREEMENTS
The Philippines has been an active participant in regional efforts to combat
trafficking in persons and to promote the rights of migrant workers. As a member State of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Philippines has adopted the
ASEAN Declaration on Transnational Crime and the Manila Declaration on the
Prevention and Control of Transnational Crime, which aim to strengthen regional
cooperation in combating trafficking in persons and other types of transnational crime. In
addition, in March 2000, the Philippines co-hosted the Asian Regional Initiative against
Trafficking in Persons- Particularly Women and Children (ARIAT).

BEFORE R.A. 9028s ENACTMENT

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Before the enactment of the Anti-Trafficking Law, the offence of trafficking in


persons was not explicitly defined under Philippine law. Elements of trafficking or
certain categories of trafficking, such as illegal recruitment or the use of fraudulent
documents, were covered by various pieces of legislation, including the following:
Republic Act No. 7610, Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse,
Exploitation, and Discrimination Act
Republic Act No. 8042, the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995
Republic Act No. 6955, the Mail Order Bride Act27
Republic Act No. 8043 Philippine Passport Act of 1996

Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 under R.A. 9028 (See Appendix B)


Pursuant to its obligations under international law, the Philippine Government
enacted Republic Act No. 9208, otherwise known as The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act
of 2003 on the 26th of May 2003. (http://www.iacat.net/index.php/about-us-2/16-aboutus-history/38-about-us-history)
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, also known as Republic Act 9208,
institutes government policies to eliminate trafficking in persons, especially women and
children. It establishes the necessary mechanisms to protect and support trafficked
persons, and provides penalties for violators.
Trafficking in persons is an illegal act and is considered a violation of human
rights and inimical to human dignity and national development. It consists of the
following elements:

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1. It involves the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of a


person or persons;
2. It is committed with or without the victims consent or knowledge;
3. It is done within or across national boundaries;
4. It is committed by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion,
abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or position, giving or receiving of
payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having actual control over
another person; and
5. It is done for the purpose of exploitation such as sexual exploitation, forced
labor or services, slavery, and removal or sale of organs or other similar acts.
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 provides for the punishment of three
categories of trafficking:
1. Acts of trafficking in persons
2. Acts that promote trafficking in persons
3. Qualified trafficking in persons (Primer on R.A. 9208, 2009 http://www.cfo.gov.ph/pdf/9208%20Primer2ndEd.pdf)
Sec 4 provides for Acts of Trafficking in Persons

Recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, providing or receiving a


person by any means, including those done under the pretext of domestic
or overseas employment or training or apprenticeship, for the purpose of
prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery,

involuntary servitude or debt bondage;


Introducing or matching for money or other consideration, any person or,
as provided for under Republic Act No. 6955, any Filipina, to a foreigner,

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for marriage for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual

exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;


Offering or contracting marriage, real or simulated, for the purpose of
prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor or slavery,

involuntary servitude or debt bondage;


Undertaking or organizing tours and travel plans consisting of tourism
packages or activities for the purpose of prostitution, pornography or

sexual exploitation;
Maintaining or hiring a person to engage in prostitution or pornography;
Adopting or facilitating the adoption of persons for the purpose of
prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery,

involuntary servitude or debt bondage;


Recruiting, hiring, adopting, transporting or abducting a person, by means
of threat or use of force, fraud, deceit, violence, coercion, or intimidation

for the purpose of removal or sale of organs of said person; and


Recruiting, transporting or adopting a child to engage in armed activities
in the Philippines or abroad.

R.A. 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012 (See Appendix
C)
More suspected human traffickers will be convicted following the signing into
law of a bill expanding Republic Act 9208. On Feb. 6, 2013 President Aquino signed into
law RA 10364. There is inclusion of measures that would protect law enforcement
officers and social workers from harassment suits for lawful acts done in good faith
during authorized rescue operations, investigation, or prosecution of a case. The

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expanded law is a strengthened version of the Anti-Trafficking Law, covering attempted


trafficking.
The new law provides for free legal assistance to overseas Filipino workers.
RA 10364 allows the reporting and publication of names of suspects and accused in
human trafficking cases.
The amendment effectively allows the government to make use of the name and
shame method in combating human smuggling syndicates.
The new law defines attempted trafficking as a crime where there are acts to
initiate the commission of a trafficking offense, but the offender failed to or did not
execute all the elements of the crime, by accident or by reason of some cause other than
voluntary desistance.
Liabilities of accessories and accomplices of human trafficking activities have
also been clearly laid down in RA 10364. (Expanded human trafficking law to raise
convictions - The Philippine Star, 2013)

The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT)


IACAT is the primary body that coordinates, monitor and oversee the
implementation of R.A. 10364. The Philippines is a State party to a number of
international agreements that require the government to adopt measures to combat human
trafficking at the local, national, regional and international level.
The IACAT is the body created by law to coordinate and monitor the
implementation of Republic Act No. 9208, otherwise known as the Anti-Trafficking in

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Persons Act of 2003. It is composed of the Secretaries of the Department of Justice


(DOJ) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as chairperson
and Co-chairperson, respectively. Other agencies included as members of the council are
the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Commissioner,
Bureau of Immigration (BI), Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Commission
on Women (PCW), Commission for Filipinos Overseas (CFO), Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG), Philippine Center for Transnational Crime (PCTC) and
three (3) NGOs representing women, Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and Children
sectors. Other ex-officio members include the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI),
Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), the National Youth Commission (NYC) and
the Anti-Money Laundering Council of the Philippines. The Office of the Vice President
was also given an ex-officio status as Chairman Emeritus of the Council.
Since the creation of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT),
upon the enactment of Republic Act No. (RA) 9208 in May 26, 2003, the IACAT has
been at the forefront of the drawn-out battle against trafficking in persons (TIP). With the
committed support from an expansive range of partners, from the government, private
sector, civil society, international development and law enforcement organizations, it has
made significant stride in the Philippine governments campaign against trafficking in
persons. (http://iacat.gov.ph/index.php/about-us-2/16-about-us-history)
The IACAT superseded the Inter-Agency Executive Committee (IAEC) of the
Coalition Against Trafficking in Human Beings, a pilot project under the UN Global
Programme Against Trafficking in Human Beings. The IAEC was comprised of thirteen

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government agencies and mandated to formulate a strategic plan for combating


trafficking in human beings. Some of the IAECs accomplishments include development
of a strategic action plan for 2002-2004 and publication of the Philippine Manual on
Anti-Trafficking in Human Beings. The Coalitions Against Trafficking in Human Beings
project was undertaken with the assistance of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) and the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI).
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), though not a member
of IACAT, is mandated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act to conduct an
information and advocacy campaign against trafficking, monitor and maintain a database
on trafficking cases, guide local government units on how to monitor recruiters and raise
public awareness, and to promote family and community empowerment to prevent
trafficking. The role assigned to the DILG highlights the importance of community-level
activities and the involvement of local government in the prevention of trafficking.
(Sayres, 2005)

Anti-Trafficking in Persons Database


Under R.A. No. 10364, a new Section 16-A is inserted establishing an antitrafficking in persons central database. It tasked the Council submit a report to the
President of the Philippines and to Congress, on or before January 15 of every year, with
respect to the preceding years programs and data on trafficking-related cases.
The database shall include the number of cases of trafficking in persons, sorted
according to status of cases, including the number of cases being investigated, submitted

38

for prosecution, dropped, and filed and/or pending before the courts and the number of
convictions and acquittals among others.
Fulfilling the laws mandate, IACAT has created human trafficking related
statistics (See Appendix D), which for the purpose of this study will also be analyzed.

Related Cases
Jurisprudence on Anti-Trafficking in Persons
There arent many cases that reached the Supreme Court when it comes to
Trafficking in Persons. The law is relatively new having been enacted only in 2003, and
amended in 2013. As discussed above, before the enactment of R.A. 9028, elements of
trafficking or certain categories of trafficking, such as illegal recruitment or the use of
fraudulent documents, were covered by various pieces of legislation, including Republic
Act No. 7610, Republic Act No. 8042, Republic Act No. 6955, and Republic Act No.
8043.
From its enactment up to the present, the Supreme Court had the occasion to cite
Trafficking in Persons only in three (3) cases. While two cases basically involved AntiTrafficking in Persons Act of 2003, the other one was a case under Republic Act. No.
(R.A.) 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 but the Highest
Court took the opportunity to cite R.A. 9028.
For the purpose of this study, analysis will be made on the following cases: (1)
People v. Lalli, et. al., G.R. No. 195419, (2) People v. Hashim, et. al., G.R. No. 194255,
and (3) People v. Casio, G.R. No. 211465.

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All cases were decided in the light of R.A. 9028, without the amendments as all
were committed prior to the amendments approved only on February 2013. No case was
analyzed under R.A. 10364 .

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