Trafficking, OSAEC

DSWD-10 Social Worker Grace Dael said Northern Mindanao still record high cases of trafficking
where both adults and children are victims.

Agency records Dael provided showed that while forced labor topped in 2020 at 76.7 percent,
trafficking in the form of OSAEC was prevalent in 2019 and 2021, at 42.4 and 44 percent,
respectively.

As of November 2021, OSAEC-related violations stood at 36 cases in Region 10, comprising 43.9
percent of all trafficking incidents reported.

Other forms of trafficking of the said year include forced labor, at 25.6 percent with 21 cases; other
forms of sexual exploitation at 18.2 percent with 15 cases, illegal recruitment at 2.4 percent with two
cases; and children in armed conflict at 9.7 percent with eight cases.

In the same year period, most OSAEC victims are children at 72.2 percent.

Janine Mae Guibone, a DSWD-10 social worker who works with agency data, said younger children
tend to use social media and engage in unsupervised online engagements.

"The same goes for sexual exploitation wherein 66.66 percent of the victims are children who have
been rescued from pimps or sex slavery," Guibone said.

Lastly, from January to November 2021, the majority of the victims-survivors rescued or referred in
DSWD-10 were females at 67 percent while 33 percent were males.

Guibone said a more gender-sensitive and responsive approach is needed in handling human
trafficking cases.

Meanwhile, a recent case documented by IJM in Northern Mindanao was the conviction of a female
sex trafficker for 23 years, handed down by the Regional Trial Court in Iligan City.

The woman pleaded guilty to the abuse of six females -- four of them adults, and some were
relatives -- using online platforms to perform sexual acts.

In a ruling issued on Sept. 21 this year, the court said the woman violated RA 9208 or the Anti-
Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, RA 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse,
Exploitation and Discrimination Act, and RA 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009
concerning RA10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Recovery, role of LGUs

Maj. Joann Navarro, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-10, underscored the importance of
helping victims of OSAEC and other forms of abuse recover.
An essential requirement, she said, is the protection of the victims' identities, especially if the victims
were minors.

"Even in the media, we have to protect their identities and even the places they live in because if
people will know, it's traumatic for the victims," Navarro said.

Navarro also said even names of relatives were withheld, more so in cases where perpetrators were
also related to the victims.

Daisy Ramos, DSWD-10 sectoral unit chief, said the involvement of local government units (LGUs)
remains important, especially in providing interventions and case management not only in cases of
trafficking but also in terms of protecting children from other forms of abuse.

Ramos said Iligan City has the most number of trafficking cases in the region with 76, while this city
and the town of Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte each have six recent cases.