Eight-year wait for the anti-trafficking law is over

THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER MALAYA
Tuesday, May 27, 2003

President Arroyo yesterday signed into law the Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act of 2003 (RA 9208) which had languished in Congress for eight years.

Arroyo says during the bill signing at Malacañang's Ceremonial Hall, the new law is " a moral decision because the trafficking of women and minors is immoral." The new law was co-authored by Senate President pro tempore Juan Flavier, Senators John Osmeña III, Teresa Aquino-Oreta, Manuel Villar, Rodolfo Biazon, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Panfilo Lacson, Francis Pangilinan and Ramon Revilla. It was sponsored by Senate President Franklin Drilon, Majority leader Loren Legarda and Sen. Luisa Ejercito-Estrada.

Under the anti-trafficking law, anyone found guilty of qualified trafficking will be meted life imprisonment and a fine of up to P5 million if the victim was a child, if he died or contracted the human immuno-deficiency virus; if the offender was related to a victim or is a member of a government law enforcement unit.

So-called "users" or "buyers" of trafficked prostituted women will get a six-month imprisonment and a find of up to P50,000 for first time offenders, and P100,000 with a one-year imprisonment for second-time offenders.

The provision addresses the lopsided application of existing laws, which punishes only the pimps and the prostitutes, but not the users or customers.

The law also contains a provision on confidentiality, which prohibits the disclosure of the identity of trafficked persons.

It expressly prohibits so-called sex tours in the country and criminalizes the use of the Internet to promote prostitution and sexual exploitation.

The law also addresses the illegal sale of organs, which uses trafficked persons as donors.

The law creates a trust fund out of the properties confiscated from offenders, which would be managed by an inter-agency council.

The council will be co-chaired by the justice and social welfare departments. Membership consists of the labor and foreign affairs departments, the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Bureau of Immigration, PNP, and three representatives from the women, children, and OFW sectors.

Aurora Javata de Dios, who chairs the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, said UN figures estimate the global incidence of sex trafficking is one to two million, mostly in South and Southeast Asia.

Jean Enriquez, deputy director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia (CATW-Asia), called particular attention to "military prostitution."

She cited a research in January in which some 50 trafficked women in Cotabato City were being used by military men.

Enriquez said that women were kept in beer houses around the Awang airport in Cotabato City and the practice is tolerated by military commanders.

The CATW-Asia also urged Congress to give better priority to the bills on reproductive health, abuse of women in intimate relationships, and anti-prostitution instead of the anti-terrorism bill.