How do people migrate?

Country case study (Asia): Initiatives to counter human trafficking in the Philippines

Major impacts on populations In July 2022, for the seventh year in a row, the Philippines was ranked Tier 1 in the US Department of State’s trafficking in persons (TIP) report, which acknowledges high levels of compliance with the minimum standards to eradicate the trafficking of human beings set out under the United States Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. The Philippines has introduced effective counter-trafficking initiatives in order to quell labour and sex trafficking present in the country. National counter-trafficking legislation was adopted in 2003, in the form of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, and the subsequent establishment of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking. The legislative framework severely penalizes perpetrators of all forms of trafficking and formally recognizes the vulnerability of those trafficked.

In 2022, the Philippines identified 1,802 victims of trafficking, of whom nearly 70 per cent were female (1,251) and 31 per cent (551) were male. According to the TIP report for 2022, trafficking over the course of the last five years has had a propensity to target not only the most vulnerable within the Philippines, but also Filipino nationals abroad. Women and children are often recruited into trafficking networks as sex workers, domestic workers and in other forms of forced labour, while men and boys tend to be recruited into forced labour in the agricultural, fishing and construction sectors.

Key challenges for authorities and practitioners

Specific challenges that authorities and practitioners face in the fight against trafficking include effective criminalization of traffickers and trafficking operations, as well as ensuring that sufficient resources are provided to both government authorities and organizations that are leading the charge of civil society actors against trafficking.

The 2022 TIP report recommends the overall expansion of resources dedicated to law enforcement, as well as the widening of judicial facility and capacity, so that traffickers can be promptly convicted and thus indicted for their crimes. Impediments to convicting traffickers were traced to slow-moving courts, lack of effective training of court officials and a limited number of prosecutors to try cases. Additional recommendations include putting greater emphasis on inter-agency and inter-organizational collaboration to provide support, including funding, to NGOs in their specialized programming and reintegration efforts. These include job training and placement for adult victims, as well as psychological and physical support for all victims.

Good practices

While the defence and support of victims has always been central to rehabilitation and reintegration, the 2022 TIP report found the Philippines to have advanced in this regard as compared to past years. First, victims who served as witnesses to trials and suffered further trauma were provided specialized support and assistance throughout the entire criminal justice process. In 2020 and 2021, 11 trafficking victims (in 2020) and 1 (in 2021) were placed into witness protection programme to ensure their physical safety and as recognition of the risks associated. Second, police and prosecutors continued to prioritize recorded rather than live testimony in courtrooms, to ensure that benevolence is foregrounded towards victims of trafficking. Furthermore, the use of other forms of evidence, such as digital tracing and financial records have been incorporated into court proceedings that once depended heavily on testimony from victims.

Having been approved by law in December 2021 and put into effect in February 2022, the Department of Migrant Workers is a new government agency that has been created as a result of the merging of seven previous agencies. Its main task is the employment and reintegration of Filipino workers. The department will become fully operational in 2023 and will serve to maximize job opportunities for Filipino citizens upon their return from abroad and to stimulate national development after a two-year, COVID-19-induced slump. This may in the future facilitate the implementation of the TIP report recommendation regarding support for labour market reintegration for victims of human trafficking.

— Excerpt from WMR 2024, Ch. 5