VZCZCXRO1975
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #2324/01 2830923
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 090923Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2020
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 002324 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP, INL, DRL 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
JUSTICE FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION, OPDAT 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KWMN EAID RP
SUBJECT: MANILA AIRPORT OPENS NEW SHELTER FOR TRAFFICKING 
VICTIMS 
 
REF: A. MANILA 0951 (STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS) 
     ¶B. MANILA 0333 (ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS IN MINDANAO) 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Anti-trafficking efforts at the country's 
foremost international airport took a step forward with the 
October 7 inauguration of the Manila International Airport 
Authority's first halfway house for victims of human 
trafficking.  The Ambassador, in her keynote address at the 
event, joined Philippine officials and NGOs in praising the 
opening of the halfway house as another advancement in the 
fight against trafficking, and she expressed the continued 
support of the U.S. government in anti-trafficking efforts in 
the Philippines.  The NGO Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF) will 
manage the facility with the support of U.S. government 
funds, providing more outreach, services, and protection to 
victims who are intercepted and rescued at the Ninoy Aquino 
International Airport. This public-private anti-trafficking 
partnership replicates a successful formula that the VFF has 
employed at eight port facilities across the country.  This 
latest halfway house project demonstrates the government's 
ongoing commitment to fight trafficking in persons.  While 
challenges remain, increasing official awareness of the 
trafficking problem is leading government agencies like the 
Manila International Airport Authority and the Department of 
Justice to become more aggressive in combating TIP.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
A STRONGER PARTNERSHIP LANDS AT MANILA'S AIRPORT 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Seventeen months after groundbreaking, on October 7 
the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), in 
cooperation with anti-trafficking NGO Visayan Forum 
Foundation (VFF), inaugurated the first halfway house for 
victims of human trafficking at Ninoy Aquino International 
Airport.  The VFF, with support of U.S. government funds, 
will manage the facility, providing more outreach, services, 
and protection to victims intercepted at the airport.  The 
new structure has dormitory capacity for 20 persons and will 
serve as a processing center and temporary shelter for 
victims and potential victims of human trafficking who are 
rescued at the airport.  After short stays at the facility, 
victims will be transferred to VFF's primary safehouse, which 
is being enlarged to accommodate the growing need for safe 
spaces for trafficking victims.  While the new airport 
shelter did not officially open until this week, the 
airport's Task Force Against TIP has already been 
coordinating with VFF and other NGOs since early 2007 on the 
rescue and protection of victims.  This year alone, 70 
trafficking victims were rescued in anti-trafficking 
operations at the airport and referred to the VFF for support 
services. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The new halfway house replicates a successful 
partnership model already in place in ports across the 
country: at Manila's North and South Harbors; in Batangas and 
Sorsogon in southern Luzon; in Iloilo in western Visayas; and 
in Mindanao in the cities of Davao, Surigao, and Zamboanga. 
The halfway house at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 
is the first shelter for trafficking victims at an airport in 
the Philippines, and is believed to be the first dedicated 
trafficking shelter at any airport in the Asian region. 
Looking toward the future, the VFF is developing plans for 
new halfway houses at the airports in the city of Angeles 
(Clark), north of Manila, and in the city of Zamboanga in 
Mindanao. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In her keynote address, the Ambassador praised the 
opening of the halfway house as an important event in the 
ongoing fight against human trafficking.  She called 
attention in particular to the relentless dedication of VFF's 
Executive Director, Cecile Flores Oebanda, who has inspired 
all of VFF's partners in the anti-trafficking community.  The 
Ambassador also lauded the hard work and contributions of the 
Manila Airport Authority under the direction of General 
Manager Alfonso Cusi, whose office funded the construction of 
the halfway house.  She went on to note that the Airport 
Authority and the airport's Task Force Against TIP, through 
their partnerships with other government agencies and NGOs, 
are at the forefront of the fight against trafficking and are 
making important strides in rescuing victims.  The Ambassador 
underscored the importance of prosecutions as an essential 
component of anti-trafficking efforts and expressed the hope 
 
MANILA 00002324  002 OF 002 
 
 
that there will be more successful prosecutions in the future. 
 
AIRPORT AUTHORITIES ALERT TO TRAFFICKING 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) VFF has been working closely with the staff at the 
Manila airport to train them on anti-trafficking approaches. 
Through this training as well as U.S. government material 
support, the airport's Task Force Against TIP has become more 
efficient at sharing information and resources between 
members since its inception in February 2007.  Their efforts 
have achieved some success.  In September, authorities 
rescued at Ninoy Aquino International Airport 17 minors who 
were bound for the Middle East and arrested an immigration 
employee as a trafficking suspect.  Concern for victims 
remains paramount for authorities.  Bureau of Immigration 
Commissioner Marcelino Libanan noted that 161 trafficking 
victims were rescued at Ninoy Aquino International Airport 
between May and August, his first four months in office. 
However, while authorities have made headway in rescuing 
victims, there remain tough challenges in turning trafficking 
arrests into convictions.  The Bureau of Immigration employee 
arrested for suspected involvement in the trafficking of 17 
minors was eventually released from police custody, according 
to a Department of Justice (DOJ) official, because the 
airport's Task Force acted prematurely and did not acquire 
enough evidence before the arrest.  Lack of evidence is still 
a common reason for the failure to prosecute traffickers in 
court. 
 
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE EXPANDS ANTI-TIP WORK 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Despite ongoing challenges, the government as a 
whole is increasingly committed to anti-trafficking efforts. 
The DOJ has stepped up its anti-trafficking efforts by 
increasing the number of prosecutors dedicated to anti-TIP 
from 17 to 20 at the national level, with 95 additional 
prosecutors at regional, provincial, and municipal levels. 
The DOJ has filed in court or gone to trial on 40 new cases 
this year, while it has more than doubled the total number of 
trafficking cases under investigation, from 123 to 305 as of 
September.  The DOJ, as chair of the Interagency Council 
Against Trafficking (IACAT), is expanding outreach and 
education efforts to seaport and airport immigration and 
police officers at venues around the country.  It is also 
developing standard operating procedures for anti-trafficking 
task forces at ports of entry.  A DOJ official noted that 
Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor was working hard to get a 
budget allocation for IACAT in the next fiscal year.  A 
regular budget stream would permit IACAT to undertake more 
anti-TIP initiatives and more effectively fulfill its mandate 
as a the government's principal anti-trafficking coordinating 
body. 
 
KENNEY