VZCZCXYZ0004
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHML #0333/01 0380648
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 070648Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9682
INFO RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS MANILA 000333 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, DRL, AND EAP/MTS 
JUSTICE FOR OPDAT, ICITAP AND CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION 
PASS TO USAID FOR ANE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN RP
SUBJECT: ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS IN MINDANAO: HALFWAY 
HOUSE, TIP CONVICTION 
 
REF: A. 07 MANILA 2459 (TIP CONVICTION IN CEBU) 
     ¶B. 07 MANILA 2405 (AMBASSADOR BREAKS GROUND ON TWO 
        TIP SHELTERS) 
     ¶C. 07 MANILA 1043 (NEW TIP CONVICTION IN ZAMBOANGA) 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: This trafficking in persons (TIP) update includes 
two significant milestones in the anti-trafficking efforts in 
Mindanao.  On January 11, the Ambassador joined NGO and 
government partners to cut the ribbon for a newly constructed 
halfway house for trafficking victims at the Zamboanga port, 
a historic passageway for migrant workers to and from the 
Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia and a hot spot for 
trafficking.  While Zamboanga City in western Mindanao has 
been a leader in TIP prosecutions, with two convictions so 
far, Davao City in eastern Mindanao registered its first TIP 
conviction in July. END SUMMARY. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Expanding Protection Efforts to Zamboanga 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. On January 11, the Ambassador joined Visayan Forum 
Foundation (VFF) Executive Director Cecilia Flores-Oebanda 
and Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat to inaugurate a newly 
constructed halfway house for trafficking victims at the 
Zamboanga International Seaport in western Mindanao.  This 
halfway house, the fifth to be constructed under a 
partnership between VFF and the Philippine Ports Authority, 
will provide temporary shelter and counseling services to 
victims and potential victims of trafficking who are 
intercepted by port employees, law enforcement officers, or 
shipping operators.  VFF will also conduct extensive training 
with its port and law enforcement partners on how to identify 
and intercept victims and traffickers aboard vessels.  The 
Zamboanga port is considered the Philippines' backdoor to 
Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, with regular ferries to the 
southernmost islands of the Sulu Archipelago, as well as to 
Sandakan, Malaysia. 
 
¶3. Media attendance at the event was extensive, leading to 
prominent articles in regional and national newspapers, 
featuring the Ambassador's remarks and detailing U.S. 
assistance to combat trafficking in the Philippines. 
Multiple grants from USAID and the State Department's Office 
to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons have supported 
the outreach efforts of VFF at its shelters.  A visiting 
Senate staff delegation from the Appropriations Subcommittee 
on Foreign Operations, led by Paul Grove, also participated 
in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. 
 
¶4. The Ambassador praised the Zamboanga City government and 
the local civil society groups for their relentless 
commitment to combat TIP in Mindanao.  Ongoing collaborative 
efforts between government and NGOs in Zamboanga led to the 
country's first conviction under the anti-TIP law in December 
¶2005.  In March 2007, a Zamboanga City court handed down 
another conviction against a member of a criminal syndicate 
who trafficked victims to a brothel in Sandakan, Malaysia 
(ref C).  The judge and prosecutors in these two cases 
attended the January 11 ceremony to show their support for 
victim protection efforts at the Zamboanga port. 
 
¶5. The partnership between the Philippine Ports Authority and 
VFF dates back to 1999 when the authority agreed to construct 
VFF's first halfway house at Manila's North Harbor.  Since 
this first successful collaboration, the authority has built 
additional shelters at the ports of Davao, Batangas, 
Sorsogon, and most recently, Zamboanga.  The shelters have 
become centers for information sharing and advocacy against 
TIP, as well as places of temporary sanctuary for thousands 
of victims intercepted each year.  Two additional shelters 
are expected to open by the summer at the ports in Iloilo in 
the western Visayas and in Surigao in northeastern Mindanao. 
The Manila International Airport Authority is also 
constructing a VFF halfway house that will serve victims at 
Manila's airport (ref B). 
 
---------------------------- 
TIP Conviction in Davao City 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. Ongoing anti-TIP efforts by government and NGO partners 
are leading to convictions of traffickers.  On July 27, a 
Davao City trial court judge sentenced a woman to life 
imprisonment for conspiracy to traffic a minor for sexual 
 
exploitation.  The judge also ordered the defendant to pay a 
fine of two million pesos (USD 50,000) and to pay the victim 
10,000 pesos (USD 250) in restitution fines.  This case was 
the third trafficking conviction in 2007, following 
convictions in Zamboanga City (ref C) and Cebu City (ref A). 
 
¶7.  In the Davao City case, the victim's aunt recruited the 
child in August 2003 when the child was only 13 years old. 
She was sexually exploited for more than two years before she 
escaped from a brothel in October 2005.  After her escape, 
she immediately went to the police and filed charges against 
the three perpetrators.  Because the victim's family was 
involved in her abuse, the Department of Social Welfare and 
Development maintained custody of the child and provided 
shelter and assistance to her throughout the investigation 
and trial period.  However, two of the three accused in this 
case, including the aunt of the victim, remain at large. 
 
¶8. Since the passage of the 2003 Anti-Trafficking in Persons 
Law, eight people have been convicted in five separate cases. 
 In 2007, police investigators, private prosecutors, and 
victims themselves submitted 59 cases of alleged trafficking 
in persons to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Task Force on 
Anti-Trafficking in Persons.  DOJ prosecutors found 
sufficient evidence to file charges in court in 29 of these 
cases.  Since 2003, DOJ has filed 161 cases of trafficking in 
persons in court, but the majority of these cases continue to 
drag on because of the overburdened Philippine judicial 
system. 
 
 
Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/ 
 
KENNEY