BY: LEANDRIA P. PAGUNSAN
DUMAGUETE CITY, Sept. 1 (PIA) – Domestic and international recruitment for kasambahay, sugar industry workers, deep sea fishing and construction workers are the top four human trafficking trends in Negros Oriental.
This was confirmed by Romualdo “Dondee” Seneris of Visayan Forum during the briefing-orientation on Anti-Human Trafficking Updates in a meeting of the Association of Negros Oriental Public Information Officers (ANOPIO) at the PIA office recently.
Seneris said that victims of illegal recruitment and their parents get enticed on modus of recruiters with a promise of decent and safe jobs, use of mobile communications with trusted recruits as recruiters and giving of advance payments to parents of prospective recruits.
Known as modern day slavery, Seneris added that human trafficking ranks second to drug trafficking and fluctuates from second to third along with illegal arms industry.
According to Seneris women are subjected to small scale factory workers, begging, and commercial sex exploitation while men are into debt bondage and forced labor in agriculture, fishing and maritime industry
.
Seneris said that other forms of trafficking happening locally and internationally are in armed activities, organ and sex trafficking.
"Climigration" have also become prevalent in disaster and post conflict-hit communities where victims are forced to permanent migration due to severe climate change effects on their essential infrastructure, thus, they become vulnerable to trafficking activities.
With efforts to curb human trafficking cases in Negros Oriental Visayan Forum with members of the composite team from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) were able to detect and stop the possible deployment of four undocumented deep sea fishing workers from Negros Oriental, according to Seneris.
Seneris cited the expanded law against human trafficking which is Republic Act 10364. He quoted that retaining the confidentiality clause of the victim’s identity, victim’s past behavior becomes irrelevant and inadmissible as evidence in the prosecution of the case, and prohibiting affidavit of desistance have been strictly enforced in handling trafficking cases in the courts.
He also encouraged members of the ANOPIO to support the campaign and efforts to stop human trafficking in the province by reporting to him any illegal recruitment activities known to them in their respective communities. (mbcn/lpp/PIA-7/Negros Oriental)