VZCZCXRO1499
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #2035/01 2420935
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 290935Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1711
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 002035 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP, G/TIP, INL, DRL/ILCSR 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
JUSTICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND CRIMINAL DIVISIONS 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KWMN ELAB RP
SUBJECT: PHILIPPINE STAKEHOLDERS UNITE AGAINST HUMAN 
TRAFFICKING 
 
REF: MANILA 951 (STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS TO COMBAT 
     TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS) AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  On August 20, Ambassador joined civil society 
groups, as well as Philippine government and private sector 
partners, to inaugurate an aggressive campaign against human 
trafficking.  The event, held at Manila's North Harbor, 
attracted a diverse crowd to mark a renewed and expanded 
initiative to combat the root causes that make Filipinos -- 
especially women and children -- vulnerable to being 
trafficked internally and globally.  The campaign will also 
expand public-private partnerships by enlisting further 
support of private companies from the fields of 
transportation, staffing and recruitment, and media.  The 
Ambassador used the occasion to honor the Embassy's longtime 
civil society partner, Visayan Forum Foundation President 
Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, as a "2008 Hero Acting to End 
Modern-Day Slavery," as designated by the 2008 Department of 
State TIP report.  END SUMMARY. 
 
A COORDINATED CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT TRAFFICKING 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  The Philippines has been a leading source of migrant 
labor in the world since the 1970s, resulting in a domestic 
economy today that depends on its eight million overseas 
workers for at least ten percent of the GDP.  While the 
economic benefit has been profound, this emphasis on migrant 
labor has also created conditions that foster human 
trafficking.  The Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF), which 
hosted the event, is a nongovernmental organization 
established in 1991 that works to protect marginalized 
migrants and especially trafficked women, children, and 
domestic workers.  The VFF has established a network of 
partner organizations, which helps VFF provide assistance to 
potential and actual victims of trafficking.  With the help 
of multiple U.S. grants through G/TIP and USAID, the VFF had 
assisted more than 32,000 people as of June 2008. 
 
¶3.  Delivering the keynote address, Ambassador emphasized 
that strong partnerships -- particularly public and private 
cooperation -- give greater leverage to advocates in the 
fight against human trafficking.  She noted that the 
Philippine Port Authority's partnership with the Visayan 
Forum Foundation dates back to 1999, when the Port Authority 
constructed the first halfway house for trafficking victims 
at Manila's North Harbor and tapped VFF to manage the 
facility.  VFF now runs a total of seven halfway houses at 
strategic ports throughout the country (Manila, Batangas, 
Davao, Iloilo, Sorsogon, Surigao, and Zamboanga), and its 
partnership with the Port Authority has proven to be an 
enormous success. 
 
EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS 
---------------------- 
 
¶4.  On hand to mark the occasion were key Philippine 
officials from the Office of the Ombudsman (a national office 
that fights corruption), the Port Authority, and the Manila 
International Airport Authority.  Corporate representatives 
from Microsoft Philippines; Manpower, Inc.; international 
public relations firm OgilvyOne Worldwide; and media 
enterprise Probe Productions also showed support for 
Ambassador and VFF President Cecilia Flores-Oebanda's signing 
of the covenant.  VFF President Flores-Oebanda noted in her 
remarks the thousands of migrant workers who are trafficked, 
lured by promises of a better life in the urban centers of 
the Philippines and abroad.  She stressed the urgent need to 
work together in tightening and effectively enforcing border 
controls. 
 
¶5.  Ambassador took the opportunity to recognize the 
compassion, dedication, and zealous advocacy against 
trafficking that Flores-Oebanda has shown and presented her 
with a plaque commemorating Flores-Oebanda's selection by the 
Department as a "Hero Acting to End Modern-Day Slavery" -- 
one of only 17 worldwide.  Noting that the award also 
highlighted Flores-Oebanda's "groundbreaking work to 
collaborate government and NGO efforts to combat 
trafficking," the Ambassador reminded the audience that the 
success of the covenant signed that day, just like VFF's past 
achievements, would hinge on the strength of our 
partnerships. 
 
 
MANILA 00002035  002 OF 002 
 
 
FORGING NEW ALLIANCES 
--------------------- 
 
¶6.  Not only did stakeholders commit to redoubling existing 
efforts, the covenant signing allowed supporters to celebrate 
new developments in innovative anti-trafficking cooperation: 
The Manila International Airport Authority is constructing 
the Philippines' first airport-based halfway house and 
expects to open the shelter in late 2008 at Ninoy Aquino 
International Airport under the management of VFF.  Also, the 
Office of the Ombudsman has established a program called 
TARGET that is now prosecuting human trafficking cases that 
implicate government officials.  Finally, advertising firm 
OgilvyOne supplied pro-bono design services to VFF that have 
resulted in new advocacy materials in various media formats 
for VFF's critically important awareness campaign. 
 
¶7.  The joint covenant also shows strengthened support of 
innovative programs.  VFF underscored commitment to its 
partnership with Microsoft Philippines to provide information 
technology training to victims of trafficking at VFF shelters 
and other community centers throughout the Philippines.  The 
VFF-Microsoft partnership led in 2006 to the "Stop 
Trafficking and Exploitation of People through Unlimited 
Potential" (Step-UP) Project, and since then has provided 
basic computer training to more than 5,000 victims and 
potential victims of trafficking.  VFF continues to partner 
with private shipping and land transport companies to train 
their personnel to identify and report possible human 
trafficking cases.  The Philippine Airlines ground and cabin 
crew are set to undergo the same training in the coming 
months. 
 
 
 
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