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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 18 MANILA 000293 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP - CHRISTINE CHAN-DOWNER, G - LAURA PENA, 
EAP/RSP - JASON VORDERSTRASSE, INL, DRL PRM, AND USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KTIP KCRM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF
ELAB, KMCA, RP 
SUBJECT: TENTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT - 
PHILIPPINES 
 
REF: A. STATE 2024 
     ¶B. MANILA 0212 
     ¶C. 09 MANILA 2272 
 
MANILA 00000293  001.4 OF 018 
 
 
¶1. (U) This cable includes the Mission's input for the 2010 
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.  The information and 
statistics cover the period from mid-February 2009' to 
mid-February 2010, unless otherwise noted.  The Mission's TIP 
point of contact is Political Officer Doreen Bailey, 
BaileyDP@state.gov, tel. ( 63)(2) 301-5214, fax ( 63)(2) 
301-2472.  Rank of TIP action officer is FS-04.  Estimated 
completion time for report:  SFS officer: 2 hours; FS-01 
officers: 2 hours; FS-02 officers: 8 hours; FS-04 officers: 
50 hours; FSN: 60 hours. 
 
------------------------------- 
THE PHILIPPINES' TIP SITUATION 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The answers below are keyed to the format contained 
in ref A, para 25: 
 
¶A. SOURCES OF INFORMATION:  Sources of information in the 
preparation of this report include the following Philippine 
government agencies:  the Department of Foreign Affairs 
(DFA); the Department of Justice (DOJ); the Department of 
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); the Department of 
Labor and Employment (DOLE); the Department of Interior and 
Local Government (DILG); the National Bureau of Investigation 
(NBI); the Bureau of Immigration (BI); the Philippine 
National Police (PNP); the Philippine Overseas Employment 
Agency (POEA); and the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW). 
The following NGOs also provided significant input:  the 
Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF); International Justice Mission 
(IJM); The Asia Foundation (TAF); Coalition Against 
Trafficking in Women, Asia Pacific (CATW-AP); and the Trade 
Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).  Additional 
information stemmed from media reports. 
 
In December 2009, the Inter-Agency Council Against 
Trafficking in Persons (IACAT) launched the Philippine 
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Database (PATD), the first 
integrated, comprehensive, multi-agency database to 
standardize reporting on and track cases of trafficking, to 
include victim information, social service delivery to 
victims, and data from law enforcement on the status of case 
investigation and prosecution.  As the PATD was in its 
initial stage of implementation during the reporting period, 
data provided herein were obtained from databases of 
individual law enforcement agencies and NGOs that document 
cases of trafficking.  Many of these databases, however, did 
not focus exclusively on trafficking, making it difficult to 
disaggregate trafficking cases from other issues.  Various 
government agencies and non-governmental organizations also 
still employ a variety of non-digitized or -standardized 
methods to document and track trafficking cases, which often 
resulted in conflicting and under-reported data. 
 
¶B. TRAFFICKING OVERVIEW:  The Philippines is an origin, and 
to a lesser extent, a destination and transit country of men, 
women, and children trafficked internationally and 
domestically for sexual exploitation and forced labor. 
Foreign trafficking rings brought the victims to destinations 
worldwide, including throughout Asia, the Middle East, 
Europe, and North America.  DFA reported the majority of 
trafficking victims rescued in 2009 were in Malaysia and 
Singapore, while a smaller number of victims were rescued 
from various countries, including the United Arab Emirates, 
Syria, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Thailand, Saipan, Cuba, and 
Brazil.  Estimates of various non-governmental organizations 
(NGO) and international organizations (IO) vary 
significantly; some put the number of Philippine citizens 
trafficked annually in the thousands.  NGOs and the 
government agree that the majority of Filipino trafficking 
victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation, 
but others are trafficked for their labor as domestic 
servants and in unsafe and exploitative industries.  There 
were reports that international organized crime syndicates 
transited trafficked persons from mainland China through the 
Philippines to third country destinations. 
 
Endemic poverty, a high unemployment and underemployment 
rate, the cultural propensity to seek higher living standards 
 
MANILA 00000293  002.6 OF 018 
 
 
elsewhere, a weak rule of law environment, and a flourishing 
sex tourism industry all contributed to the continuation of 
trafficking in the Philippines.  Persons were trafficked from 
poor, rural areas throughout the Philippines to major urban 
areas within the country, especially Metro Manila and Cebu, 
but also increasingly to cities in Mindanao.  Manila, Cebu, 
and Zamboanga, and the Diosdado Macapagal International 
Airport (DMIA) in the Clark Freeport Zone served as the major 
exit points for persons being trafficked internationally. 
 
However, within this difficult environment, the Philippine 
government has consistently mobilized significant resources 
to combat trafficking. 
 
¶C. CONDITIONS OF TRAFFICKED PERSONS:  A significant number of 
men and women who migrated abroad for work were subjected to 
conditions of involuntary servitude in the Middle East, North 
America, and other parts of Asia.  Women were trafficked 
abroad for commercial sexual exploitation, primarily to 
Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan.  Both 
women and men were trafficked to Malaysia and throughout the 
Middle East for forced and exploitative labor in factories, 
construction sites, and as domestic servants.  Women and 
children were also trafficked domestically, primarily from 
rural areas to urban areas, for forced labor as domestic 
workers, small-scale factory workers, and for exploitation in 
the commercial sex and drug trafficking industry.  Child sex 
tourism continued to be a serious problem, with sex tourists 
coming from Northeast Asia, Europe, and North America to 
engage in sexual activity with minors.  There were reports 
that men were also trafficked internally, namely into forced 
and exploitative labor in sugarcane production, and boys were 
trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation.  Trafficking 
victims were often subjected to violence, threats, debt 
bondage, inhumane living conditions, non-payment of salaries, 
and withholding of documents. 
 
¶D. VULNERABILITY TO TIP:  The Philippines has a large, 
impoverished, and culturally diverse population, spread 
across over 7,000 islands, many of which experience annual, 
large-scale natural disasters.  Geographical barriers, the 
remoteness of some rural communities, and the lack of 
infrastructure and educational opportunities have for decades 
impeded economic development and the provision of basic 
government services to millions of Filipinos.  All these 
factors combine to make the Philippines a ripe location for 
human trafficking; these same factors also make human 
trafficking in the Philippines an extraordinary challenge to 
overcome. 
 
Women face a far greater risk of becoming victims of 
trafficking than men, and girls are more at risk than boys. 
In a DOJ study of 577 trafficking cases, 517 of the victims 
were female and over half of the victims were minors. 
Trafficking in children is generally internal: children and 
young women from poor farming communities in the Visayas (the 
central Philippines) and Mindanao (the southern Philippines) 
are brought to major urban centers and exploited as domestic 
helpers or prostitutes.  In 2009, 57 percent of the 
trafficking victims rescued by the Visayan Forum were from 
Mindanao.  Ethnic minorities, migrant workers, and other 
socially marginalized groups are more at risk than other 
groups due to the high prevalence of poverty among them; 29 
percent of the population lives below the Asian Development 
Bank's poverty benchmark of $1.35 a day.  A significant 
percentage of the victims of internal trafficking were from 
the Visayas and Mindanao and were fleeing poverty and the 
threat of continuing violent clashes between the military and 
the separatist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and 
attacks by the terrorist New People's Army (NPA) and the Abu 
Sayyaf Group (ASG).  Persons displaced by the Philippines' 
many natural disasters are also vulnerable to trafficking. 
 
Traffickers most often targeted the multitudes of workers 
seeking overseas and urban employment.  About 1.3 million 
Philippine workers departed the country to engage in 
temporary overseas work assignments in all parts of the world 
in 2009, leaving at the rate of approximately 3,500 per day. 
An estimated 11 percent of Gross Domestic Product came from 
workers' remittances, making overseas workers a cornerstone 
in the government's economic development plans. 
 
Overall, the most common recruits for trafficking were girls 
 
MANILA 00000293  003.8 OF 018 
 
 
and young women aged 13 to 30 from rural areas, mainly from 
impoverished families.  Girls from ethnic minorities as young 
as 10 years old also ended up as commercial sex workers. 
There were reports that in some cases, parents and guardians 
sold their children into bondage. 
 
¶E. TRAFFICKERS AND THEIR METHODS:  Traffickers usually sent 
local recruiters to their own neighborhoods or villages to 
recruit friends or relatives, providing the victims a false 
sense of security.  In many cases, trafficking syndicates 
used women in their mid-40s or older, taking advantage of 
many victims' perception that older women were less likely to 
harm them.  Traffickers often masqueraded as private 
employment recruiters or agencies, while actually cooperating 
with organized crime rings.  The most common method was to 
promise victims a respectable and lucrative job with good 
benefits, such as free room and board, transportation, and 
cash advances.  Parents and guardians were often supportive, 
believing that work in urban areas and abroad is the key to 
ascending the socio-economic ladder.  NGOs suggested that 
domestic and international organized crime syndicates were 
heavily involved in the sex industry in Manila.  Some of 
these agencies may have also undertaken legitimate 
recruitment of personnel, making it particularly challenging 
to identify illegal recruiters, as the line between 
legitimate and illegitimate agencies was blurred. 
 
Traffickers used land and sea transportation to transfer 
victims from island provinces to major cities within the 
country.  The system of ferries and barges connecting the 
islands from Mindanao to Luzon was the most common and 
cheapest mode of travel used to transport victims. 
Traffickers also took increasing advantage of budget airline 
carriers at airports outside the national capital region to 
transport victims out of the country.  Traffickers used fake 
travel documents, falsified permits, and altered birth 
certificates. 
 
--------------------------------- 
THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The answers below are keyed to the format contained 
in ref A, para 26: 
 
¶A. GOVERNMENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE PROBLEM:  The government, 
from the President and senior officials down to governors and 
local government units (LGUs), acknowledged trafficking as a 
serious problem and took active and concrete steps to combat 
trafficking in the country. 
 
¶B. AGENCIES INVOLVED IN COMBATING TIP:  The Inter-Agency 
Council Against Trafficking in Persons (IACAT) coordinated, 
monitored, and oversaw the implementation of the 
anti-trafficking law, Republic Act (RA) 9208 of 2003, and 
served as an umbrella organization to coordinate anti-TIP 
efforts.  The Secretaries of Justice and of Social Welfare 
and Development co-chaired the IACAT.  Other member agencies 
included the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of 
Labor and Employment, Philippine Overseas Employment 
Administration, National Commission on the Role of Filipino 
Women, National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of 
Immigration, and Philippine National Police.  Three 
non-government organizations representing women, children, 
and overseas workers were also part of the IACAT. 
 
Various government agencies were involved in efforts to 
combat human trafficking, including: 
 
-- The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) extended 
assistance to victims of trafficking abroad and oversaw the 
repatriation of victims.  It acted as the central 
coordinating unit for all bilateral, regional, and 
multilateral antitrafficking efforts.  DFA, through its 
Philippine embassies, took the lead in protecting the rights 
of migrant workers abroad, in coordination with the 
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).  Philippine 
Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs), the overseas operating arm of 
DOLE, served abroad under the supervision of the Philippine 
Chief of Mission or Ambassador. 
 
-- The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) chaired the 
inter-agency Presidential Task Force on Human Trafficking. 
 
MANILA 00000293  004.4 OF 018 
 
 
The Task Force was created by Presidential order to enhance 
the coordination between and among government agencies' 
anti-trafficking programs.  CFO also assists in the filing of 
cases against traffickers. 
 
-- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 
focused on the protection and social reintegration of victims 
of trafficking.  DSWD operated 42 temporary shelters for 
victims of abuse throughout the country, including for 
victims of human trafficking.  In addition to DSWD's services 
within the Philippines, social workers were deployed to the 
Philippine diplomatic missions in countries with high 
concentrations of Filipino overseas workers.  These social 
workers coordinated the provision of services with POLOs. 
 
-- The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), an 
attached agency of DOLE, had responsibility for protecting 
overseas workers and their dependents.  It provided 
counseling and legal assistance programs to overseas workers 
and conducted information dissemination and awareness 
campaigns on living and working overseas.  In countries with 
large numbers of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), an OWWA 
officer often served as Assistant Labor Attache. 
 
-- The Department of Justice (DOJ) continued to lead the 
government's anti-trafficking efforts.  In addition to 
co-chairing the IACAT, it housed and staffed the IACAT 
Secretariat.  The DOJ was responsible for protecting the 
rights of trafficking victims and prosecuting traffickers. 
DOJ's Task Force on Anti-Trafficking in Persons is a team of 
20 prosecutors who, in addition to their regular workloads, 
handle the preliminary investigation and prosecution of 
trafficking cases at the national level.  DOJ local 
prosecutors also prosecute cases. 
 
-- The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine 
National Police (PNP), and the National Police Commission 
(NAPOLCOM) worked to identify, investigate, and dismantle 
trafficking operations and prosecute offenders.  The NBI has 
a national task force focused solely on investigating 
trafficking allegations, a task force on the protection of 
women against exploitation and abuse, and a task force on the 
protection of children from exploitation and abuse.  The 
PNP's Women and Children's Protection Center (WCPC) is 
responsible for the enforcement of antitrafficking laws at 
the local level.  In 2009 Cebu's PNP Region 7 Division 
expanded its Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force from 
eight to 12 personnel. 
 
-- The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) implemented 
national development plans for women and provided technical 
assistance to strengthen the government's response to gender 
issues.  It formulated and monitored policies on trafficking 
in persons in coordination with relevant government agencies. 
 At the time of this report, it was continuing to develop a 
definitive guide for government agencies on the protection of 
trafficked women, which is scheduled for review by the IACAT 
in July 2010. 
 
-- The Bureau of Immigration (BI) administered and enforced 
immigration and alien administration laws while adopting 
measures to apprehend suspected international traffickers at 
key entry and exit points.  It ensured that Filipinos engaged 
or married to foreign nationals complied with the guidance 
and counseling requirements in the anti-trafficking law.  BI 
also controlled and monitored border points by deploying 
deputized marines to help enforce immigration laws. 
 
-- The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) 
was the primary administrator of licenses for recruitment 
agencies, which cannot solicit employees for overseas work 
without POEA authorization.  POEA had authority to place on 
probation or bar from recruiting new workers any agencies in 
violation of POEA standards.  POEA also administered 
pre-employment orientation seminars and pre-departure 
counseling programs to applicants for overseas employment, to 
include TIP awareness training. 
 
-- The Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) 
collected information for the effective monitoring, 
documentation, and prosecution of trafficking cases of 
foreign nationals. 
 
 
MANILA 00000293  005.4 OF 018 
 
 
-- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was 
responsible for coordinating the government's campaign 
against illegal recruitment, and for maintaining records of 
overseas Filipino workers.  It worked to ensure 
implementation of, and compliance with, the rules and 
guidelines on the employment of persons locally and overseas. 
 It also monitored, documented, and reported cases of 
trafficking in persons involving employers and labor 
recruiters.  In addition, DOLE officers worked as labor 
attaches at Philippine diplomatic missions and spent much of 
their time assisting overseas workers.  A total of 39 labor 
attaches served at 34 POLOs around the world at Philippine 
diplomatic missions. 
 
DOLE is the lead government agency responsible for the 
enforcement of child labor laws through the work of its labor 
standards enforcement offices.  DOLE led the "Sagip Batang 
Manggagawa" (Rescue the Child Workers, or SBM) program, an 
interagency quick action mechanism composed of DOLE, 
Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of 
Investigation (NBI), and DSWD.  For additional information on 
child labor and trafficking, see reftel B. 
 
¶C. LIMITATIONS ON GOVERNMENT EFFORTS:  The Philippines 
remains one of the poorest countries in Asia, with a per 
capita gross domestic product of 1,620 USD.  The government's 
ability to address the trafficking problem and provide 
assistance to its victims remained limited by inadequate 
resources and government revenues.  There were an 
insufficient number of shelters and care facilities to care 
for the long-term needs and rehabilitation services of all 
victims.  Government and law enforcement agencies had few 
personnel dedicated solely to trafficking, instead relying on 
officials to engage the issue in addition to other duties. 
Some agencies reported the creation of redundant 
anti-trafficking committees and councils that repeatedly call 
on the same agencies has further strained the workload of the 
limited personnel working on trafficking issues and created 
confusing bureaucratic structures. 
 
The government's efforts were further hampered by an 
ineffective judiciary, which is burdened with large 
caseloads, limited resources, an 18 to 20 percent judgeship 
vacancy rate, and grossly inefficient procedures.  A 2005 UN 
Development Program (UNDP) and Philippine Supreme Court study 
found that the average trial takes over three years.  A 
subsequent World Bank study states trials take, on average, 
six years to complete.  Some government agencies and offices 
have not yet fully implemented the 2003 anti-trafficking law 
due to lack of training and orientation on the issue. 
 
Poverty and judicial inefficiency combine to create a 
situation in which victims are often unwilling to pursue 
criminal complaints, opting for financial settlement and 
return to their families over the prospect of a trial that 
could last for years and entail multiple court appearances. 
The same factors also serve to foster corruption and 
complicity among government officials. 
 
National and international NGOs and other foreign donors, 
including the USG, complemented official government programs. 
 NGOs focused antitrafficking resources primarily on 
prevention and protection for victims.  The strongest efforts 
existed in the areas of helping to prevent persons from 
becoming victims, repatriating victims in destination 
countries, and reintegrating them into Philippine society 
upon their return home. 
 
¶D. MONITORING ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS:  The Philippine 
government is working to improve its ability to monitor its 
anti-trafficking efforts through the development of the 
Philippine Anti-Trafficking in Persons Database (PATD). 
While the government's ability to collect and analyze data is 
hampered by limited resources and automation in rural areas, 
it regularly makes what data it has available to 
international organizations and foreign governments, 
including data used in this report.  The IACAT and other 
government task forces involved in antitrafficking activities 
met regularly to share information and coordinate policies. 
Government officials also met regularly with concerned NGOs, 
foreign donors, embassies, and regional and international 
organizations to share information and assessments, but all 
agreed solid data about the extent of the problem remained 
 
MANILA 00000293  006.4 OF 018 
 
 
difficult to obtain. 
 
The PCTC collected information on transnational crime 
activities to include trafficking, but its records were not 
comprehensive.  The CFO developed a database to monitor legal 
problems involving Filipinos overseas, but its system was not 
restricted to trafficking and also generated reports on other 
cases such as domestic violence and human smuggling.  The 
National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) maintained a database 
of national crime statistics, including trafficking cases, 
based on the quarterly reports from PNP.  As of this report 
writing, only one-fifth of nationwide criminal cases had been 
entered into the system.  The system is not yet a reliable 
source of trafficking data. 
 
¶E. ESTABLISHMENT OF IDENTITY OF LOCAL POPULATION:  Children 
born in rural areas, in conflict areas, or to indigenous 
groups remain less likely to have an attended birth and 
receive birth certificates and other identity documents.  By 
law, children and adults who lack birth certificates can 
receive a late-registered certificate, if they provide 
witnesses to vouch for their identities. 
 
The DFA acknowledges that close cultural, historical, and 
geographic ties and porous borders between islands in the 
Southern Philippines and the Sabah region of Malaysia have 
led to the migration of thousands of undocumented Filipino 
workers in Sabah, many of whom lack passports and birth 
certificates.  In cooperation with the government of 
Malaysia, the DFA established a task force in Sabah that, 
among other services, issued passports, helped to legalize 
the status of undocumented workers in the region, and worked 
with agencies in the Philippines to confirm birth records. 
The DFA issued approximately 35,000 passports through this 
task force from the late summer of 2008 until early 2010. 
 
On August 11, 2009, the Department of Foreign Affairs 
launched the Philippine electronic passport, or "e-Passport," 
with enhanced security features that reduce opportunities for 
passport fraud and tampering.  The modernization of the 
passport system complies with International Civil Aviations 
Organization (ICAO) standards requiring all countries to have 
machine-readable passports by April 2010. 
 
¶F. GAPS IN DATA GATHERING:  The Philippines is a developing 
country, with limited fiscal resources to gather data 
required for an in-depth assessment of law enforcement 
efforts.  The task is further complicated by the many remote 
regions in the archipelago, some of which lack electricity 
and telecommunications services.  The government actively 
collaborated with NGOs, international organizations, and 
foreign donors to help close gaps in data gathering. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The answers below are keyed to the format contained 
in ref A, para 27. 
 
¶A. EXISTING LAWS AGAINST TIP:  The Anti-Trafficking in 
Persons Act of 2003, RA 9208, is the Philippines' landmark 
legislation to protect its citizens from sexual exploitation 
and forced labor.  The law, the first such law passed in 
Southeast Asia and a model for the region, carries penalties 
not only against traffickers, but also against users or 
buyers of victims.  Under the law, the recruitment, 
transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a minor 
for the purpose of exploitation provides legal grounds for a 
case against a trafficker.  It is not necessary to show that 
such acts were made through threats, use of force, or other 
coercive measures.  The law penalizes both domestic and 
transnational trafficking. 
 
In addition to the anti-trafficking law, the government used 
several other laws to prosecute traffickers, including: the 
Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act (RA 8042), which 
gave the government the authority to combat illegal 
recruiting; the Mail-Order Bride Law (RA 6955), which made it 
unlawful for foreign men to marry Filipino women for the 
purpose of exploitation; the Inter-Country Adoption Act of 
1995 (RA 8043), which sought to protect Filipino children 
from abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and/or sale; the 
 
MANILA 00000293  007.4 OF 018 
 
 
Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, 
Exploitation, and Discrimination Act (RA 7610), which 
established penalties for child exploitation, including child 
trafficking; and the Anti-Child Labor Law (RA 9231), which 
guaranteed the protection, health, and safety of child 
workers and prohibited the employment of children below the 
age of 15, except with special permission from DOLE.  In 
November 2009, President Macapagal-Arroyo signed the 
Anti-Child Pornography Act, which carries penalties ranging 
from one month's imprisonment to a life sentence and fines 
from 50,000 pesos to 5 million pesos (approximately $1,050 to 
$105,000), depending on the gravity of the offense.  The law 
prohibits hiring, employing, using, persuading, inducing or 
coercing a child to participate in the production of any form 
of child pornography. 
 
¶B. PUNISHMENT OF SEX TRAFFICKING OFFENSES:  The 
anti-trafficking law imposed harsh penalties on persons 
engaged in human trafficking.  The law distinguished between 
three types of violations: direct participation in 
trafficking; acts that promoted trafficking; and more serious 
acts of trafficking, called "qualified" trafficking.  The 
penalty for a direct act was a fine of up to 2 million pesos 
($41,981) and a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.  Promotion 
of trafficking through falsification of documents and 
tampering with certificates carried up to 15 years' 
imprisonment and a fine of up to 1 million pesos ($20,990). 
The maximum penalty when the victim was a child, trafficking 
was conducted on a large scale, or the crime involved 
military or law enforcement agencies and public officials or 
employees, is life imprisonment and a maximum fine of 5 
million pesos ($104,953).  Those who engaged the services of 
trafficked persons for prostitution faced penalties of 
between six months of community service and a fine of 50,000 
pesos ($1,049) to a maximum of one year's imprisonment and a 
fine of 100,000 pesos ($2,099).  The law prescribes the same 
penalties for trafficking for purposes of sexual 
exploitation, prostitution, pornography, forced labor, 
slavery, involuntary servitude, or debt bondage. 
 
¶C. PUNISHMENT FOR LABOR TRAFFICKING OFFENSES:  The 
anti-trafficking law clearly states it is illegal to recruit, 
transport, transfer, harbor, provide, or receive a person by 
any means, including under the pretext of domestic or 
overseas employment, training, or apprenticeship, for the 
purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, 
forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude, or debt 
bondage.  Activities that promoted or facilitated labor 
trafficking could result in imprisonment of up to 15 years 
and fines of up to 1 million pesos ($20,990). 
 
The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 
regulates the recruitment and deployment of Filipinos for 
overseas work.  The law imposes a jail term of six to 12 
years and a fine of up to 500,000 pesos ($10,495) for 
recruiters and placement agencies not registered with the 
POEA, and for recruiters, whether registered or not, who 
place workers in jobs harmful to health and morality, or 
alter employment contracts to the detriment of the worker. 
 
¶D. PENALTIES FOR RAPE OR SEXUAL ASSAULT:  Under the Anti-Rape 
Law of 1997 (RA 8353), the penalty for rape is life 
imprisonment.  Under the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 
(RA 7877), those persons convicted face imprisonment of not 
less than one month and no more than six months, fines up to 
20,000 pesos ($420), or both a fine and imprisonment. 
 
¶E. LAW ENFORCEMENT STATISTICS:  According to the Department 
of Justice, 20 traffickers have been convicted since the 
passage of the 2003 anti-trafficking law.  During the 
reporting period, Philippine courts convicted eight 
individuals in five cases under RA 9208, compared to four 
people convicted in three cases in 2008.  In September, a 
regional trial court in Manila sentenced two human 
traffickers--including a police officer--to life in prison 
and fined them two million pesos (approximately $41,981) for 
trafficking minors in 2005.  The convicted police officer was 
the country's first public official convicted for human 
trafficking.  In October, a trafficker was convicted and 
sentenced to over 30 years' imprisonment for three counts of 
sexual abuse and violation of the anti-trafficking law for 
recruiting minors for commercial sex.  In November, a 
trafficker pled guilty to acts that promote trafficking, a 
 
MANILA 00000293  008.2 OF 018 
 
 
crime under the antitrafficking law, and was sentenced to 15 
years' imprisonment and fined one million pesos 
(approximately $20,991).  In a November labor trafficking 
case, three traffickers were convicted and sentenced to life 
imprisonment and fined two million pesos (approximately 
$41,981) each for attempting to traffic a minor in 2006 under 
the pretext of an overseas job offer.  In December, a 
trafficker was convicted and sentenced to eight to 10 years' 
imprisonment in a 2006 case involving illegal recruitment of 
a minor for employment in Manila as an entertainer.  The five 
successful prosecution cases involve trafficking of twelve 
minors and nine adults.  All convicts are serving the time 
sentenced. 
 
In 2009, the DOJ received 228 new trafficking cases for 
review and filed 206 cases for prosecution, an over 100% 
increase in the number of cases filed.  The PNP reports it 
investigated 192 trafficking cases, of which 149 cases were 
filed in court, 23 were still under investigation, 14 were 
settled and six referred to other agencies.  The NBI's 
Anti-Human Trafficking Division and its regional offices 
investigated 189 complaints of trafficking, of which 84 were 
filed with DOJ for potential prosecution.  Inconsistent 
reporting mechanisms at local prosecutor offices led to 
understated numbers of cases filed for prosecution. 
 
Despite the DOJ's intensified efforts to prosecute and 
convict traffickers, the majority of cases filed for 
prosecution remained in process due to the overburdened and 
inefficient judicial system.  The judicial process takes, on 
average, three to four years from the filing of charges to 
resolution of a case.  This judicial inefficiency is not 
limited to trafficking cases; all court cases in the 
Philippines take an average of four to seven years to 
complete. 
 
Under certain circumstances and with approval of the court, 
Philippine law permitted private attorneys to prosecute cases 
under the direction and control of a public prosecutor. 
These "private prosecutors" serve on behalf of the victims in 
court proceedings.  To help address the country's trafficking 
problem, the DOJ used this provision to partner with IJM and 
other NGOs to more effectively investigate and prosecute 
trafficking cases.  IJM's offices in Manila and Cebu have 
partnered with the DOJ to prosecute a total of 81 criminal 
cases of trafficking, including 28 new cases filed in the 
reporting period.  Three of the five nationwide trafficking 
convictions in 2009 were a result of cases filed by IJM for 
the victims in three separate cases of human trafficking. 
 
The government actively investigated cases of trafficking and 
trafficking-related offenses, but its efforts remained 
hampered by scarce resources.  In 2009, the PNP investigated 
192 cases of trafficking involving 381 women and children 
victims.  In 2009, law enforcement units and IJM also 
partnered to conduct 25 raids and rescue operations in Cebu, 
Manila, Ilocos Norte, and Palawan.  As a result of these 
operations, 69 perpetrators were arrested and 100 minors and 
129 adults rescued.  Other government agencies, including 
DOLE, Local Government Units (LGUs), and law enforcement 
agencies, also partnered with IJM lawyers to help former 
victims pursue administrative sanctions against traffickers, 
including the closure of businesses that participate in 
trafficking activities.  Acting on closure petitions filed by 
IJM, DOLE closed four establishments that employed minors for 
prostitution and sexual exploitation in 2009. 
 
Other government agencies also assisted in the investigation 
of trafficking and trafficking-related cases.  During the 
reporting period, the Task Force Against Trafficking at Ninoy 
Aquino International Airport in Manila, an inter-agency task 
force composed of DOJ, BI, Customs, Airport Police, and the 
Manila International Airport Authority, referred 28 
trafficking cases to the DOJ and arrested eight suspected 
traffickers.  The majority of these cases were referred after 
September 2009, when the DOJ assigned a prosecutor to work 
full-time for the task force in order to assist its law 
enforcement agents in the identification of and evidence 
handling for trafficking cases.  During the year, POEA filed 
173 administrative cases against licensed labor recruiters 
who used fraudulent and deceptive offers to entice jobseekers 
or imposed inappropriately high or illegal fees on 
prospective employees and assisted trafficking victims in the 
 
MANILA 00000293  009.2 OF 018 
 
 
proper filing of cases at the DOJ prosecutor's office and 
filed three cases of sex trafficking.  POEA also assisted in 
the arrest of approximately 82 individuals involved in 
illegal recruitment.  DOLE conducted 16 rescue operations 
involving 79 minors, the majority of whom were trafficked for 
commercial sexual exploitation. 
 
Criminal cases against traffickers and illegal recruiters 
were assisted by an improved intelligence network at the 
barangay (neighborhood or borough) level, in part achieved 
through a significant expansion of POEA training to Public 
Employment Service Managers in communities throughout the 
country. 
 
¶F. TRAINING FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS: Government agencies 
continued their efforts to train police, prosecutors, and 
other officials on RA 9208.  Programs included three PNP 
seminars for police and social workers on anti-trafficking 
investigation techniques and the inclusion of anti 
trafficking elements in other courses, IACAT-run training for 
109 prosecutors in three regions, and POEA training for local 
officials and Public Employment Service Managers that 
included identification of the warning signs of illegal 
recruitment and human trafficking. 
 
With the government's own resources severely limited, it 
actively sought partnerships with foreign donors and 
internationally funded NGOs to supplement its efforts to 
train law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and 
other government officials.  Partnering with UNICEF, DOJ 
trained 110 prosecutors from three regions on the trafficking 
law, the practical applicability of the Manual on Law 
Enforcement and Prosecution of Trafficking in Persons Cases, 
and the handling and treatment of trafficking victims, 
especially children, with particular reference to the 
Philippine Guidelines for the Protection of Trafficked 
Children and Labor Trafficking.  Through the same grant, 68 
airport police and personnel were trained on the trafficking 
law and Standard Operating Procedures for task forces against 
TIP in international airports.  PNP and DOLE partnered with 
IJM to train approximately 602 police officers and 62 labor 
inspectors on investigation techniques and the 
anti-trafficking law. 
 
¶G. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION: The government cooperated with 
other countries in the investigation and prosecution of TIP 
cases, particularly with Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong, New 
Zealand, and the United States.  It assisted U.S. authorities 
in the December 2009 conviction in Florida of an American 
citizen who traveled to the Philippines for sex with minors. 
In February 2010, the NBI and U.S. law enforcement officials 
cooperated on a case that involved the sexual exploitation of 
minors by foreigners over the internet.  Four children were 
rescued and the local trafficker arrested in this operation, 
and the investigation is ongoing.  The government actively 
pursued the case against a Singaporean national based in 
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, who victimized hundreds of Filipino 
women in 2008.  The Malaysian government initially charged 
the man with a visa violation, but filed trafficking charges 
again him in 2009 after the Philippine DOJ flew victims to 
Malaysia to testify against the trafficker. 
 
The Philippines participated in other international efforts 
to prevent, monitor, and control trafficking.  DSWD is one of 
the partner agencies in the implementation of an 
International Labor Organization (ILO) project that addresses 
the lack of systematic documentation of trafficked victims, 
absence of an effective referral system, and inadequate 
capabilities on the part of service providers in providing 
recovery and reintegration services for victims.  Philippine 
law enforcement agencies actively cooperate with U.S. Mission 
officials on investigations of visa fraud schemes perpetrated 
by fixers, smugglers, and human traffickers. 
 
¶H. EXTRADITIONS:  Philippine law permits extradition.  The 
Philippines had extradition treaties with Australia, Canada, 
the Federated States of Micronesia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, 
Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United 
States.  Under the terms of the 2003 anti-trafficking law, 
trafficking in persons is considered an extraditable offense. 
 The government received no extradition requests for 
trafficking offenders during the reporting period. 
 
 
MANILA 00000293  010.2 OF 018 
 
 
¶I. GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT AND/OR TOLERANCE:  While there was 
no evidence that the government, as an institution, 
tolerated, permitted or allowed trafficking crimes, 
widespread corruption at all levels of government permitted 
many organized crime groups, including traffickers, to 
conduct their illegal activities.  Corruption among law 
enforcement agents remained pervasive.  At the street level, 
it was not uncommon for officers to demand petty bribes for 
minor offenses, real or alleged.  Law enforcement officers 
often extracted protection money in exchange for permitting 
businesses to conduct legitimate operations without necessary 
permits, or for allowing illegitimate businesses, such as 
brothels or gambling dens, to operate.  It is widely believed 
that some government officials are involved in, or at least 
permit, trafficking operations within the country. 
 
¶J. EFFORTS TO INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS 
FOR INVOLVEMENT IN TRAFFICKING:  The government significantly 
increased its efforts to investigate and prosecute government 
officials' involvement in trafficking in the reporting 
period.  Police officer Dennis Reci, charged in June 2005 for 
allegedly trafficking minors for sexual exploitation at his 
nightclub in Manila, was convicted and received a life 
sentence in September 2009, the first known conviction of a 
public official for a trafficking-related offense in the 
Philippines (see reftel C.)  In 2009 the DOJ charged an 
immigration official with labor trafficking for her role in 
facilitating the illegal movement of domestic workers through 
Clark Freeport Zone's Diosdado Macapagal International 
Airport (DMIA) to Malaysia, the first such case brought 
against an immigration official in the Philippines. 
Information received through her arrest led to 15 other 
immigration officials being relieved of their duties at DMIA 
on February 12, 2010.  The 15 officials were transferred to 
the BI's main office in Manila pending an investigation into 
their alleged role in the movement of trafficked persons 
through DMIA by a joint DOJ, BI and NBI task force. 
 
In January 2009, the Office of the Ombudsman formalized the 
Tanodbayan (Ombudsman) Against Government Employees Involved 
in Trafficking (TARGET), composed of six special 
investigators and two prosecutors tasked to investigate cases 
against government officials engaged in trafficking in 
persons or trafficking-related corruption.  During the 
reporting period, TARGET conducted fact-finding 
investigations into four government personnel allegedly 
involved in trafficking cases. 
 
To improve its capacity to combat corruption in human 
trafficking cases, the Office of the Ombudsman, VFF, IJM and 
Ateneo Human Rights Center signed a Memorandum of Agreement 
in February 2010 to jointly prosecute corrupt government 
officials and train government employees in agencies 
vulnerable to trafficking-related corruption. 
 
¶K. INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING TROOPS: The Philippines 
deployed over 1,000 military and police personnel in United 
Nations peacekeeping missions.  During the reporting period, 
there were no reports of Philippine peacekeepers engaging in 
or facilitating trafficking, or exploiting trafficking 
victims. 
 
¶L. CHILD SEX TOURISM: Child sex tourism remained a serious 
problem for the Philippines.  Sex tourists reportedly came 
from Asia, Europe, North America, and Australia to engage in 
sexual activity with minors.  In 2009, the Bureau of 
Immigration deported two foreign sex offenders and 
pedophiles, and in a joint program with the Australian 
Federal Police denied entry to 19 Australian sex offenders 
upon their arrival in the Philippines.  The government also 
cooperated with the U.S. in prosecuting American nationals 
under the terms of the U.S. PROTECT Act of 2003, which 
criminalized the commission of child abuse by American 
nationals overseas, including child pornography and other 
sexual offenses against a minor. 
 
------------------------------------ 
PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) The answers below are keyed to the format contained 
in ref A, para 28. 
 
 
MANILA 00000293  011 OF 018 
 
 
¶A. VICTIM AND WITNESS PROTECTION: Under the Witness 
Protection, Security, and Benefit Program, the DOJ offered 
protection to witnesses from reprisals and economic 
dislocation by providing security protection, immunity from 
criminal prosecution, housing, livelihood expenses, travel 
expenses, medical benefits, education for dependents, and job 
security.  Due to lack of funds, many who would have liked to 
participate could not and some applications for witness 
protection were still pending with a regional DOJ office more 
than a year after being filed. 
 
¶B. ACCESS TO FACILITIES: The Philippines has shelters 
accessible to trafficking victims, including some shelters 
that over time have become exclusively dedicated to TIP 
victims, even though the shelters are not officially 
designated as such.  DSWD maintained 42 residential care 
units; of these, 13 centers were for girls, 13 centers were 
for women, and the remaining for men, boys, and the elderly. 
Substitute homes, or havens, served the needs of female 
victims of trafficking and other forms of abuse.  Twelve 
substitute homes provided shelter for over 1,400 women and 
their children.  The DSWD's Residential Care unit provided 
24-hour residential group care to children on a temporary 
basis to facilitate healing, recovery, and reintegration with 
their families and communities.  The DSWD also referred cases 
of abuse to accredited NGOs for women and children, which 
provided temporary shelter and community services to women 
and children in crisis, including victims of trafficking. 
While DSWD's efforts to protect victims were impressive, 
government funding for DSWD's programs remained inadequate, 
and some NGOs sought to augment the TIP services and 
capabilities of the DSWD-operated shelters through training. 
 
Women and Children Protection Units in Department of Health 
(DOH) hospitals offered medical services and psychological 
counseling to victims of violence.  The Philippine General 
Hospital in Manila evaluated and treated TIP victims on 
behalf of the government. 
 
The government cooperated well with NGOs to support and 
provide services to trafficking victims.  The Philippine 
Ports Authority works closely with the Visayan Forum 
Foundation (VFF) and enables it to operate halfway houses for 
victims and potential victims of TIP.  The Philippine Ports 
Authority's Gender and Development Focal Point Program, an 
agency under the Department of Transportation and 
Communication (DOTC), provided the building and amenities for 
a halfway house for dedicated use by trafficking victims. 
Under an agreement with the Manila International Airport 
Authority, VFF runs an airport halfway house for trafficking 
victims. 
 
VFF ran the Multi-Sectoral Network Against Trafficking in 
Persons (MSNAT) to promote cooperation and sustain 
partnership among government, NGOs, the private sector, and 
civil society.  Government partners included the DOJ, DOLE, 
DFA, DILG, DSWD, National Police Commission, Philippine Ports 
Authority, and the Commission on Human Rights. 
 
DSWD provided limited funding to accredited NGOs to help meet 
the basic needs of victims, such as food, clothing, medicine, 
and legal services.  With assistance from DFA, DSWD 
established arrangements with NGOs in other countries to 
provide distressed OFWs with temporary shelter, counseling, 
and medical assistance. 
 
¶C. GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE TO TRAFFICKING VICTIMS: The 
government assisted victims by providing shelter, and access 
to legal, medical, and psychological services.  Medical and 
psychological services include physical examination, dental 
check-ups, and psychiatric evaluation.  For trafficking 
victims overseas, the DFA provides emergency shelter, medical 
care, and legal assistance.  In countries with 20,000 or more 
overseas workers, these services are rendered through the 
government's multi-agency Filipino Workers Resource Centers 
(FWRC).  To advance advocacy for the legal rights of overseas 
workers and prosecution of traffickers and abusive employers 
abroad, DFA had a 60 million peso ($1.26 million) budget to 
fund legal assistance and hire local legal representation. 
The government allocated 150 million pesos ($3.15 million) to 
DFA for emergency assistance to trafficking victims and 
overseas workers. 
 
 
MANILA 00000293  012 OF 018 
 
 
Recognizing that victim care is a key element in successful 
prosecution of traffickers and the prevention of 
re-trafficking, the government also partnered with NGOs that 
provide assistance for and shelter to trafficking victims. 
In 2009, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation 
(PAGCOR), a government agency under the Office of the 
President, donated 10 million pesos ($209,908) to the IACAT, 
which in turn donated 6 million pesos ($125,944) to five NGOs 
that provide victims assistance domestically and abroad and 
also partnered with the DOJ on case prosecution. 
 
¶D. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN TRAFFICKED VICTIMS: The 
Anti-Trafficking Law provides that foreign trafficked victims 
or trafficking victims who transit the Philippines are 
entitled to the same assistance and protection as Philippine 
citizens.  The government provides temporary residency 
status, relief from deportation, shelter, and access to 
legal, medical, and psychological services to foreign victims 
of trafficking.  Additional protective services included 
telephone hotlines for reporting abused/exploited cases of 
women and children.  There were no reported foreign national 
victims of trafficking during the reporting period. 
 
¶E. LONG-TERM BENEFITS: Although long-term housing is not 
provided to trafficking victims, DSWD does provide victims 
with livelihood skills development and self-employment 
assistance, including training in entrepreneurial skills and 
the provision of capital.  DSWD also offers after-care 
services to reintegrate trafficking victims into their homes 
and communities.  Victims of trafficking rescued within the 
country went under the custody of the DSWD for proper 
treatment.  For cases overseas, consular officers and 
personnel from the POLO conducted visits to the jail, work 
site, or residence of the victim, and then provided temporary 
shelter as well as legal, financial, and repatriation 
assistance to the victims.  Upon arrival in the Philippines, 
victims were referred to DSWD for social and medical services. 
 
¶F. REFERRAL PROCESS: The government referred trafficking 
victims to short-term and long-term care institutions, 
including both government and private institutions.  The 
referral process varied depending on the location of the 
trafficking victim and the nature of the relationship between 
the government agencies and NGOs on anti-trafficking issues. 
 
¶G. TOTAL NUMBER OF TRAFFICKING VICTIMS: There are no reliable 
government statistics on the total number of trafficking 
victims and the total number assisted with government 
services.  In the reporting period, DSWD served 428 
trafficking victims, 78 victims of child labor, 53 victims of 
illegal recruitment, and 121 victims of sexual exploitation 
-- including through prostitution, pedophilia and 
pornography.  Due to inconsistent reporting mechanisms at 
DSWD field offices, the data may understate the number of 
victims serviced.  During the reporting period, Philippine 
Foreign Service Posts reported a total of 78 cases of 
trafficking involving 182 victims, the bulk of them in 
Malaysia, the UAE, and Singapore.  These cases were referred 
to the NBI and to the IACAT for investigation and, where 
warranted, the filing of complaints of human trafficking. 
Other government programs, some in cooperation with NGOs, 
referred victims to government or private services. 
 
¶H. SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY TRAFFICKING VICTIMS: The implementing 
rules of the 2003 anti-trafficking law outlined procedures to 
identify and refer victims of trafficking, whether the 
incident occurred inside or outside of the country.  NGOs 
noted that training by the government and NGOs during the 
year continued to improve public and private awareness and 
understanding of trafficking and the ability to identify 
traffickers, rescue victims, and investigate cases. 
 
¶I. THE RIGHTS OF TRAFFICKING VICTIMS: The 2003 
anti-trafficking law recognized trafficked persons as victims 
and did not penalize them for crimes related to the acts of 
trafficking or for obeying traffickers, regardless of their 
consent to exploitation.  Police sometimes brought charges of 
vagrancy against prostitutes, some of whom were trafficked. 
 
¶J. VICTIM COOPERATION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT: The government 
actively encouraged victims to assist in the investigation 
and prosecution of trafficking and related crimes and to file 
criminal cases against traffickers and unscrupulous 
 
MANILA 00000293  013 OF 018 
 
 
recruiters.  Victims can file civil suits or seek legal 
action against traffickers in the Philippines, but DFA noted 
many countries' employment laws restrict the ability of 
Filipinos trafficked overseas to seek legal redress, 
particularly in the Middle East.  Some victims declined to 
participate in legal proceedings because of the financial or 
emotional cost of going to trial or because they settled out 
of court.  This is particularly true in labor trafficking 
cases, as labor laws facilitate the settlement of cases 
through payment of financial compensation to victims. 
Victims who agree to testify as witnesses are allowed to 
obtain other employment and are allowed to leave the country 
pending trial proceedings.  During the year, DOJ allocated 
four million ($83,963) of the PAGCOR donation to fund the 
travel of victims testifying in trafficking cases, including 
the transport to Malaysia of two victims for testimony 
against a trafficker that proved critical to the successful 
filing of trafficking charges in Malaysian courts. 
 
Victims testified in four of the five convictions made in the 
reporting period.  In the fifth case the victim had vanished 
two years prior, but testimony from law enforcement 
officials, social workers, and the victim's family resulted 
in the government's first successful conviction of a 
trafficking case without direct victim testimony.  In another 
2009 conviction, the government and victims accepted a plea 
bargain agreement that included payment of financial 
restitution to the victims. 
 
¶K. TRAINING FOR OFFICIALS TO IDENTIFY AND PROTECT VICTIMS: 
The government, through IACAT and with funding from USAID and 
other donors, conducted regular training seminars for 
government officials, including those from DSWD, PNP, DOJ, 
BI, DOLE, Commission on Human Rights, and various NGOs, on 
victim identification and gender-sensitive and child-friendly 
handling of trafficking cases.  The BI also conducted 
periodic training on basic immigration laws and procedures 
for immigration officers and agents in the field and other 
personnel involved in operations.  DFA trains Foreign Service 
officers en route to foreign missions, attaches and consular 
personnel to recognize and respond to trafficking cases; 182 
victims were identified at Philippine embassies and 
consulates abroad in the reporting period.  The POEA also 
trained diplomatic staff, overseas labor officers, and social 
welfare officers in methods for assisting trafficking victims 
abroad. 
 
¶L. ASSISTANCE FOR REPATRIATED TRAFFICKING VICTIMS: The 
government allocated 150 million pesos ($3.15 million) to DFA 
for emergency assistance to trafficking victims overseas 
workers, including repatriation costs and, as required by 
some Middle Eastern countries, payment of compensation costs 
to employers in order to secure an exit visa.  Following 
repatriation, victims were referred to law enforcement 
agencies for investigation of their cases and DSWD for social 
assistance.  DSWD, working with DOLE and DOH, provided 
protective custody, recovery, and healing services for 
victims.  Services included organization of support groups, 
psychological and psychiatric interventions, medical, legal 
and livelihood services, provision of limited financial 
assistance, and educational assistance.  The Overseas Workers 
Welfare Administration (OWWA) Halfway Home program provided 
temporary shelter, transport services, financial assistance, 
and counseling services through a network of NGOs. 
 
¶M. GOVERNMENT COOPERATION WITH NGOS: The government 
maintained active partnerships with the vibrant local and 
international NGO community in the Philippines.  The most 
active contributors included: 
 
-- Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Asia Pacific 
(CATW-AP) brings attention to trafficking in women and girls, 
prostitution, pornography, sex tourism, and bride selling 
through media campaigns and policy advocacy.  It provides 
preventive education program on migration and trafficking at 
the community and grassroots level and conducts dialogue with 
government agencies such as the POEA, DOLE, and DSWD on 
preventive and curative measures.  Its services include 
referring trafficking cases to member and partner 
organizations for legal, counseling and support services and 
documentation of trafficking cases based on the Human Rights 
Information and Documentation System. 
 
 
MANILA 00000293  014 OF 018 
 
 
-- Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF) focuses on the promotion of 
child welfare, especially migrant working children, and is 
active on the issue of domestic trafficking of women and 
children.  It provides 24-hour services for victims, 
including the operation of several temporary shelters, 
counseling, employment referrals, training, and advocacy. 
Staff positioned at ports identify and intercept probable 
victims of trafficking as they disembark ships.  Through 
funding assistance from The Asia Foundation and the USG, VFF 
spearheaded the creation of the Multi-Sectoral Network 
Against Trafficking in Persons (MSNAT), a national network 
committed to provide immediate and appropriate response 
mechanisms to prevent trafficking, investigate and prosecute 
offenders, and protect, rescue, recover, and reintegrate 
victims, especially women and children. 
 
-- The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is the 
largest trade union network in the Philippines.  The TUCP 
forges coalitions with various labor groups in its efforts to 
promote and protect the rights and welfare of workers and 
other disadvantaged groups, including women, youth, children, 
and migrant workers.  TUCP's Women's Bureau is particularly 
active in anti-trafficking initiatives, such as public 
information and media campaigns, database collection and 
documentation, provision of legal assistance to victims 
through public attorneys' offices, and networking.  With 
funding support from the American Center for International 
Labor Solidarity and the USG, TUCP completed a government 
database housed with the Commission on Filipinos Overseas 
(CFO) to provide a uniform reporting mechanism that conforms 
to National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) standards.  In 
February 2009, TUCP, in cooperation with the Bataan 
provincial government, launched the Bataan Task Force against 
Trafficking, that province's interagency body on 
anti-trafficking issues. 
 
The TUCP sustains information, data basing and 
survivor-servicing activities through its TIP-dedicated 
website and help lines.  These communication channels enabled 
TUCP to respond to a number of inquiries and requests for 
intervention.  Sustained collaboration with the CFO 
facilitated quicker action on victim and family tracing; 
provision of immediate reintegration services; safe return of 
victims; and case filing, development, and monitoring. 
Through this collaboration, a Filipina domestic worker was 
repatriated after more than a month of forced labor in Koror, 
Palau.  Information about the victim's case was sent to TUCP 
via email.  TUCP referred the case to the CFO, which 
immediately contacted the Philippine Embassy in Palau for 
appropriate action. 
 
-- Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) addresses the 
concerns of Filipino women migrants in Japan as well as the 
growing number of Japanese-Filipino children (JFCs).  Almost 
90 percent of Filipino OFWs in Japan are female entertainers, 
making them vulnerable to trafficking and sexual 
exploitation.  In coordination with its DAWN-Japan 
volunteers, DAWN-Philippines assists JFCs abandoned by their 
Japanese fathers. 
 
-- Women's Legal Bureau (WLB) is a feminist legal NGO 
composed of lawyers, academics, and members of other 
professions.  It provides legal services to trafficking 
victims and survivors of violence against women and conducts 
education and information campaigns to raise public awareness 
on women's issues.  Other programs include representation of 
women in judicial proceedings, training of law enforcement 
officials and lawyers on gender sensitivity, empowering 
communities to respond to gender issues such as violence 
against women. 
 
-- Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women 
(TWMAEW) addresses the needs of children and women in 
prostitution and other victims of sexual exploitation through 
shelters and support centers.  It offers skills training, 
livelihood assistance, and psycho-social intervention.  In 
collaboration with UNICEF and DepEd, it conducted 
awareness-raising campaigns on sexual abuse for 13,291 
elementary school pupils.  Social workers, educators, and 
victims of sexual abuse facilitated the workshops. 
 
-- Kanlungan Center Foundation (KCF) works with OFWs and 
their families to address the problems of migrant workers. 
 
MANILA 00000293  015 OF 018 
 
 
It provides legal and welfare assistance, psycho-social 
counseling, temporary shelter, education, and training.  It 
teaches courses on migrant rights, legal remedies, and gender 
awareness and sensitivity. KCF also creates partnerships at 
the grassroots level to address the psycho-social and 
economic sides of migration that can impact communities. 
Through an ILO grant, KCF provided assistance to 60 
trafficked women.  Of the 60 trafficked victims, DFA 
repatriated 49 from Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South 
Korea, Lebanon, Doha Qatar, Jordan and United Arab Emirates. 
Eleven women still await repatriation. 
 
-- End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the 
Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) campaigns 
to raise general public awareness in tourism, the travel 
industry, and high-risk communities on sexual abuse and 
commercial sexual exploitation of children.  ECPAT is a 
member of the Special Committee for the Protection of 
Children under the DOJ and works with local government units 
in major provinces and cities, other NGOs, and church-based 
organizations. 
 
---------- 
PREVENTION 
---------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The answers below are keyed to the format contained 
in ref A, para 29: 
 
¶A. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS:  Government agencies, with 
help from and cooperation with NGOs and bilateral 
international donor agencies, increased the frequency of 
their TIP information and education campaigns in the 
reporting period, including: 
 
-- IACAT distributed hundreds of standard orientation modules 
on trafficking in persons to city and municipal mayors at an 
annual conference in Manila. 
 
-- To reduce the demand for commercial sex acts in the 
Philippines, in June 2009 the Bureau of Immigration 
introduced a warning message against human trafficking, abuse 
and exploitation of women and children, and drug trafficking 
in airport immigration arrival/departure forms used by 
thousands of international passengers daily. 
 
-- POEA conducted 659 pre-deployment orientation seminars, 
which includes information on trafficking and workers rights, 
for 23,400 departing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in 
¶2009.  These seminars sought to educate the OFWs on the risks 
and rewards of overseas employment, and to empower them to 
seek assistance if they are trafficked or abused. 
 
-- In 2009, the Department of Transportation and 
Communication (DOTC) partnered with the VFF and eight major 
transport groups for joint public information campaigns, 
capacity-building for staff and key officers and the 
development of an industry-wide Code of Conduct against human 
trafficking.  A total of 347 officers and crew members from 
transport companies were trained during the reporting period. 
 
-- The VFF, with the support of The Asia Foundation, also 
worked with the PROBE Team, a Philippine public affairs 
program aired on a major television network, for the 
production of an infomercial on human trafficking.  Partners 
from transport groups, port and airport authorities are using 
the infomercials to warn passengers against trafficking. 
 
¶B. IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION PATTERNS:  The government 
continued its efforts to increase its capacity to monitor 
immigration patterns for evidence of trafficking.  During the 
year, the BI offloaded 9,947 passengers at Manila and Clark 
Freeport Zone international airports who were not properly 
documented and believed to be at risk for illegal recruitment 
and trafficking, a 100 percent increase from 2008.  The Task 
Force Against Trafficking at Ninoy Aquino International 
Airport in Manila intercepted and offloaded 228 passengers 
bound for Dubai, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Kuwait, Abu 
Dhabi, Jordan and Syria with questionable travel documents. 
 
Despite efforts to guard major port areas, the government did 
not have sufficient resources to adequately monitor the 
coastlines of the Philippines' more than 7,000 islands.  In 
 
MANILA 00000293  016 OF 018 
 
 
2009, approximately one million passengers transited Manila's 
North Harbor, the country's largest port; as many as half 
were in search of employment opportunities.  The Philippine 
Coast Guard, under the Department of Transportation and 
Communication, randomly intercepted ferries to search for 
trafficked victims and illegal recruiters.  The Maritime 
Police conducted investigations upon the disembarkation of 
passengers and referred victims of trafficking to government 
agencies or local NGOs for further assistance.  The VFF, 
which in cooperation with local government and port officials 
had response centers at or near several major ports, 
intercepted potential victims of trafficking at major 
seaports and on seafaring vessels and rescued over 2,650 
potential victims of trafficking. 
 
¶C. COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GOVERNMENT 
AGENCIES: The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking in 
Persons (IACAT), through its regular monthly meetings, 
coordinated, monitored, and oversaw the implementation of the 
Anti-TIP Law, and served as an umbrella organization to 
coordinate anti-TIP efforts in the Philippines.  The DOJ and 
DSWD Secretaries co-chaired the IACAT, which also included 
representatives from DFA, DOLE, POEA, NCRFW, NBI, BI, PNP, 
and three NGOs representing women, children, and overseas 
Filipino workers. 
 
In addition to the national-level IACAT, the government 
continued to create local and regional inter-agency councils 
against TIP.  The local IACATs similarly included various 
government agencies, local government units, and NGOs. 
Alongside the local IACATs, local task forces in some areas 
coordinated law enforcement and prosecution efforts. 
 
The DFA's Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) chairs the 
interagency Presidential Task Force on Human Trafficking, 
which conducts surveillance and entrapment operations in 
coordination with law enforcement and immigration agencies, 
conducts community education, and provides legal and 
psycho-social services to trafficking victims.  In 2009, 
three traffickers were convicted in one case filed and 
coordinated by the CFO. 
 
In recognition of its leadership role in efforts to fight 
trafficking and protect the rights of migrant workers, the 
Philippines chairs The Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
(ASEAN) Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime 
(SOMTC) Working Group on Trafficking in Persons.  The group 
worked to increase regional cooperation on trafficking issues 
and is currently drafting the ASEAN Instrument on the 
Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. 
 
¶D. NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION TO ADDRESS TRAFFICKING: The 
government maintained its national action plan to address 
TIP, originally developed with NGO input.  IACAT leads the 
implementation of the plan, involving DOJ, DSWD, DOLE, and 
other government agencies.  All agencies involved in IACAT 
shared responsibilities for developing and implementing 
anti-trafficking programs.  As co-chair of IACAT, DOJ ensured 
the protection of persons accused of trafficking, provided 
access to free government or NGO legal assistance, and 
trained prosecutors in handling trafficking-related cases. 
DSWD took the lead in implementing rehabilitative and 
protective programs for trafficked persons and providing 
victims with counseling and temporary shelter.  DSWD also 
developed a system for accreditation of NGOs to establish 
centers and programs for intervention at the community level. 
 
¶E. GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO REDUCE DEMAND FOR COMMERCIAL SEX 
ACTS:  The government, given its limited resources, did not 
have specific programs aimed at reducing the demand for 
commercial sex acts, but worked with several NGOs, including 
the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, that sponsored 
demand-reduction programs targeting teenage males. 
 
¶F. GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO REDUCE PARTICIPATION IN 
INTERNATIONAL CHILD SEX TOURISM BY NATIONALS: As a 
destination country for child sex tourists, the Philippine 
government focused its limited resources on fighting child 
sex tourism inside the country. 
 
¶G. INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING TROOPS: The Philippines 
deployed over 1,000 military and police personnel in United 
Nations peacekeeping missions.  No reports of Filipino 
 
MANILA 00000293  017 OF 018 
 
 
peacekeepers' involvement in trafficking-related incidents 
were received by the AFP or DFA.  Before deploying troops to 
peacekeeping operations, the Department of National Defense 
and the PNP conducted seminars and training for peacekeepers, 
including a training module on trafficking in persons.  The 
DFA also provided pre-departure orientation seminars to 
Foreign Service officers and other government personnel, 
including military and police, before being assigned abroad. 
 
--------------- 
PARTNERSHIPS 
--------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The answers below are keyed to the format contained 
in ref A, para 30: 
 
¶A. GOVERNMENT'S ENGAGEMENTS WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTS, CIVIL 
SOCIETY, AND/OR MULTILATERAL ORGANIZATIONS:  The Philippine 
government engaged with other governments, civil society, 
and/or multilateral organizations to focus on and devote 
resources to addressing human trafficking.  During the 
reporting period, the IACAT worked with the Asia Regional 
Trafficking in Persons Project by the Australian Agency for 
International Development (AusAid) to conduct TIP case 
analysis and data collection and management and to develop 
and deliver "train the trainer" training for specialist 
prosecutors. 
 
During the reporting period, Local Government Units partnered 
with the Visayan Forum, MTV-Exit Philippines and the United 
States Agency for International Development (USAID) on the 
MTV EXIT Philippine concert tour, attended by over 25,000 
people, which featured popular local artists and bands 
advocating against human trafficking.  Regional concerts in 
the cities of Cebu and Davao were held in October and 
November 2009, respectively.  These regional initiatives 
mobilized the support of Philippine government and private 
sector partners, and complemented the nationwide awareness 
campaign. 
 
Additional information about the Philippine government's 
extensive partnerships with other foreign governments, 
donors, NGOs, and IOs are discussed in greater detail in 
various sections of this cable. 
 
¶B. INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED TO OTHER COUNTRIES:  The 
Philippine government, due to limited funding, has not 
provided international assistance to other counties to 
address trafficking in persons. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
REQUIREMENT FOR THE CHILD SOLDIERS PREVENTION ACT 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The answers below are keyed to the format contained 
in ref A, para 31-33: 
 
During the year the terrorist New People's Army (NPA) and the 
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) targeted children for recruitment as 
combatants and noncombatants.  The NPA claimed that it 
assigned persons 15 to 18 years of age to self-defense and 
noncombatant duties; however, there were reports that the NPA 
continued to use minors in combat.  During the year, the AFP 
reportedly rescued 15 child soldiers, 12 of whom were 
allegedly recruited by the NPA.  The ASG recruited teenagers 
to fight and participate in its activities. 
 
A 2007 study commissioned by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 
found that children as young as 10 years old were used as 
soldiers or recruited by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front 
(MILF).  Most of the children were volunteers in noncombat 
roles, often with the support of their families.  During the 
December 2008 visit of the Special Representative of the UN 
Secretary General, the MILF agreed to stop the recruitment 
and use of children in its ranks.  On July 31, UNICEF and the 
MILF signed an action plan to prevent the recruitment and use 
of child soldiers and to release children from all MILF 
units.  The Philippine government supported and facilitated 
UNICEF's negotiations with the MILF. 
 
During the year, the Department of Social Welfare and 
Development (DSWD) assisted seven child soldiers rescued from 
rebel groups.  Government reporting mechanisms for children 
 
MANILA 00000293  018 OF 018 
 
 
in armed conflict were inconsistent between agencies and 
regions, making it difficult to evaluate the scope of the 
problem. 
BASSETT