Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning!

Allow me first to congratulate everyone, who had in one-way or another helped in the passage of Republic Act No. 9208 otherwise known as "the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003", which became effective on June 19, 2003. I can only conclude that, had it not for the consistent and persistent lobbying efforts made by various sectors particularly of those from the women and children sector, this law until now, would not have been enacted. Your efforts have proved the victory of passing one of the most, if not the most progressive legislation on trafficking in persons worldwide.

Indeed, the enactment of the Republic Act No.9208, has once again illustrated the government's commitment towards promoting the dignity of every human person and respect for individual rights particularly of women and children. It has also demonstrated that when the government and non-government sectors collaborate with each other, our objectives are not beyond reach and our work is not impossible to be done.

I would also like to give special mention to the men and women of our Congress particularly the authors of the law, who have heeded to the call of the time, and painstakingly worked for the immediate passage of the law. Of course, the President should likewise be accorded the same recognition for the certifying the bill on trafficking as urgent.

Second, I commend the efforts of the Visayan Forum Foundation, Inc. for spearheading and sponsoring this Strategic Planning for the National Taskforce Against Trafficking in Persons. I understand that as early as April this year, and perhaps, in anticipation of the enactment of the law on trafficking, they have already conceptualized the creation of this task force to provide direct action, build capacities of partners, advocate for policy reforms and network with local and international agencies.

The world rejoiced when slavery as a practice was forgotten and abolished through emancipation acts in the early 19th century, not knowing that the problem will even be worst in the 21st century.

As we ushered into the new millennium characterized by modern technology and fast-paced development, the world has practically shrunk. While it certainly brought positive effect on the world economy and in the relations between and among states and between and among the peoples, it however, spawned transnational organized crimes, one of which is trafficking in persons.

In the past, while women and children were targeted by slaves traders only in prostitution, trafficking in persons nowadays has been transformed into more complicated and sophisticated approach committed by organized crime groups operating across borders for purposes of exploitation, slavery and slavery-like practices. It is also disguised through some legitimate modes and forms and has maximized the use of information technology to perpetrate the crime.

It is fortunate, however, that the international community has quickly anticipated and recognized problems spawned by global developments. Thus, several international instruments came into being, reinforcing existing ones, the latest of which is the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols in Preventing, Suppressing and Punishing Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air. As everyone knows, the Philippine Senate has concurred the ratification by the Philippine Government of the said Convention and its Protocols.

Notably, even before the ratification of the said international instruments, efforts were already underway towards enacting a law that will address trafficking in persons particularly women and children. It, however, took several Congresses before our legislators and policy makers have recognized the problem and realized that necessity of passing a law that will address the alarming condition of our women and children.

In a country such ours, where a significant number of our population pin their hopes of a better life through overseas employment, is often the target of traffickers. The growing inability of the country's economy to generate enough jobs and provide better employment opportunities has resulted in migration flow to other countries. This makes the difficulty in determining whether a person is going out for legitimate purposes or one already in the process of process of being trafficked.

The Commission on Filippino Overseas (CFO) reports that there are about 7.41 million Filipinos overseas. Out of this number, 1.62 million were considered irregular migrants. It is believed that these irregular migrants were the most vulnerable which may include illegally recruited workers, undocumented migrants and smuggled persons by international syndicates. They are scattered in 90 countries worldwide.

In a combined report of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and CFO, there were 1, 013 recorded cases of trafficking in the Philippines from the period 1993 to December 2002. They have noted, however, that the clandestine character of trafficking makes it very difficult to establish definite figures as many trafficked women and children are kept in captivity and sexual slavery.

In a study done by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific in 2001, it revealed that poverty, lack of economic opportunities, low level of education and the lack of information about the process of recruitment were some of the factors which made women vulnerable to trafficking and sexual exploitation.

These facts and figures certainly cause alarm and concrete efforts should be undertaken to address the problem. This we hope to achieve with the implementation of the new law.

One of the features of the law is the establishment of the necessary institutional mechanism for the protection and support of trafficked persons, one of which is the creation of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking or IACAT for short, chaired by the Department of Justice, co-chaired by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment, the Bureau of Immigration, the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the National Commission of the Role of the Filipino Women, as members. In addition, three representatives of non-government organizations from the women, children and overseas Filipinos workers sectors, who shall be appointed by the President.

The Council has formally convened on June 20, 2003, a day after the law became effective. One immediate concern that the Council is attending to is the formulation of the rules and regulations implementing the law. The Technical Working Group (TWG), created by the Council has been meeting every week of August. It is our hope that we would be able to promulgate the rules and regulations within August to beat the deadline set by the law.

After promulgating the rules, the Council will attend to its other functions particularly formulating a comprehensive and integrated program to prevent and suppress trafficking in persons including a program for the reintegration of trafficked victims , and developing the mechanism to ensure timely, coordinated and effective response to cases of trafficking in persons.

While the Council is facing enormous tasks, we are, on the other hand, fortunate that there were already existing mechanism within and among agencies, existing programs and services for disadvantaged sectors and the existence of networks and linkages. Perhaps, all the Council would need to undertake is to synchronize, harmonize and enhance these initiatives and mechanisms, to be truly responsive to the needs of trafficked persons and made consistent with the law.

A month before the law passed, the Senior Government Working Group on Trafficking in Persons and People Smuggling was convened by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and adopted a national strategy against trafficking in persons. This National Strategy shall be adopted and carried out, hopefully, by the Council as soon as clarification is made with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Secretary of Justice has also immediately constituted a Task Force composed of a number of State Prosecutors who shall handle cases involving violations of the new trafficking law.

Our success, however, in our anti-trafficking efforts does not depend only in the hands of the Council. We need the support of whole governmental system, we need the support of the local government units, we need the support of the non-government organizations and the private sector, and we need the support of the community. In other words, we need all you.

We must strengthen community-based approaches. I believe that it is one strategy that we must harness as trafficking begins and ends there.

We must advocate for the local government units to support community-based initiatives and to be the watchdog or monitor of trafficking cases in their areas of jurisdiction.

We must mobilize wider support of NGOs particularly in undertaking programs and activities for the rescue, recovery and reintegration of the victims of trafficking and other support services for their families and assist government agencies in implementing policies, programs and other advocacy campaigns against trafficking.

We must encourage the private sector to broaden economic opportunities for trafficked persons.

We must move government agencies into action to fulfill their mandate under the law.

This is certainly the time for us to be one and all renew all our commitment for the promotion of the welfare and the protection of the rights of Filipino women and children.

We must synchronize, harmonize and complement our efforts. We cannot afford disintegration of efforts. There must be unity in efforts and in purpose. This is the time to strengthen our cooperation.

For I believe that the success of all our efforts against trafficking in persons lies in the hands of everyone.

Thank you and good day!

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