BY: FAYETTE C. RIÑEN
CEBU CITY, March 28 (PIA) --- A total
of 403 persons were rescued from human traffickers by various police units in
Central Visayas from 2011 until March this year, according to Police
Regional Office (PRO-7).
Of the total arrested, 54 are
minors.
During the presentation of its
accomplishment report in the campaign against human trafficking, PRO-7 reported
that since 2011 until present, a total of 30 operations have been conducted
resulting to the arrest of 56 human traffickers which also involved foreign
nationals.
“Those that were apprehended in
violation of human trafficking were Filipinos, Australians, and an American,”
said Senior Insp. Mark Gifter Sucalit of the PRO-7 Regional Intelligence
Division who presented the report during the recent ‘Talakayan sa Isyung Pulis’
or TSIP Forum.
PRO-7 Regional Director C/Supt. Danilo
Constantino said the police continue with its aggressive campaign against
human trafficking amid a recent raid of an English tutorial center by police
authorities in Pangasinan which served as a front for human trafficking.
“In fact, we are coordinating with
foreign language schools including English tutorial centers to provide tips on
foreign nationals how not to fall victims to crimes. We are also monitoring all
possible modus operandi by lawless elements,“ said Constantino.
Constantino said he plans to augment
the workforce of the Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (RAHTTF), which
at the moment has only 16 personnel.
“In case of additional recruitment for
non-uniformed police personnel, we will assign them to the RAHTTF but they must
be information technology (IT) savvy,” said the police regional chief.
The PRO-7 chief admitted the current
personnel at the RAHTTF are not really IT experts but they are continuously
undergoing training to enhance their skills in the continuing war against human
trafficking.
Constantino said they will soon launch
the “Dugang Pwersa” program which will tapped security guards to help police in
their anti-crime drive.
“The PRO-7 and Globe telecom have inked
a partnership in the fight against crimes,” said Constantino explaining that
Globe will give free SIM cards to the security guards where they are required
to text to the police any suspicious or illegal activities in their area.
Constantino said we need more force
multipliers in order to help police maintain peace and order as the number of
police personnel is really not sufficient to secure all people in Central
Visayas.
“We only have a total of 8,500 police
personnel in Central Visayas with about seven million population in Region 7.
The police-population ratio stands at 1:850,” said Constantino.
(rmn/FCR/PIA-7)