Focus Human Rights

No. 13 / June 2015

Human Trafficking in the Philippines

Katharina Weber-Lortsch

Human trafficking is a grave reality in the Philippines. Women, children and men are being
trafficked into prostitution and forced labour within the country and all over the world.
Vulnerable sections of Filipino job-seekers run real risk of disappearing into modern day
slavery. The Liberal Party (LP) Government under Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III has pledged
to combat this. How fruitful have these efforts been so far?
Human trafficking is a major issue in the Philippines. Currently about 261,200 Filipinos are victims of sex trafficking and forced labour. 1 Of
these approximately 60,000 to 100,000 are children.2 Even though the Philippines fairs relatively well in the Asian context, these are alarming
figures. The Philippines is mostly a source country, although it serves as a place of transit and
destination as well. International and domestic
trafficking both exist. Even though Filipino men,
women and children can all fall victim to human
trafficking, most victims are women and girls.

Women are most at risk

The stereotype of groups of trafficking victims
crossing borders under cover of night, huddled
together in small boats or the back of trucks
holds some truth but is not the most prevalent
form of human trafficking from the Philippines
by a long shot. Trafficking mostly takes place in
the large and often hazy milieu of Filipino mi-

grant workers in which forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation are frequent. Labour
export is a major factor in the Philippines, making it one of the largest migrant countries in the
world, with overseas workers contributing to its
economy in a considerable way. There are 3.9
million temporary migrants, and more than
600,000 irregular migrants, says the Commission
of Filipinos Overseas.3 According to the Philippines Statistics Authoritys most recent report,
the number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)
who worked abroad at any time during the period of April to September 2013 was estimated at
2.3 million of the countrys 98.4 Million inhabitants. If you add the numbers of Filipinos who
actually emigrated, it is estimated that somewhere around 10% of the Filipino population are
living outside the Philippines.

http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/philippines
/
2

http://www.ecpat.net/sites/default/files/Factsheet_Phi
lippines.pdf

http://www.cfo.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_conten
t&view=article&id=1309:statistics&catid=110:freque
ntly-asked-questions&Itemid=858

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Human Trafficking in the Philippines N. 13 / June 2015

Worryingly, the same report also found that one

migrate legally, -at least initially- via official
out of two female overseas workers are unskilled
work placement or with student or internship
workers and as such mostly employed as housevisas. Once in the destination country however,
hold helpers and cleaners in Asia or the Middle
Overseas Workers might find that they have to
East, putting them at a high risk
of human trafficking. Female
Overseas Workers also tend to
be younger than their male and
overall more skilled counterparts. More than 50% of female
OFWs are between 25 and 34
years old. Even though men get
trafficked as well (mostly in the
form of forced labour and debt
bondage), this combination of
factors puts women at an especially high risk for human trafficking. (As an interesting aside,
many of the Filipino trafficking
perpetrators are women too.)
Inexperienced women and girls
who intend to work overseas in
the area of domestic help, hospitality or the like easily fall prey
Internal trafficking occurs as well as trafficking outside the Philippines to many
to traffickers who frequently countries in Asia, the Middle East, but also to Europe and North America for modpose as legitimate recruiters. ern day. Figure: FNF based on
Perfidiously these recruiters of- Data: http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2013/215544.htm
ten come from the circle of the
pay off exorbitantly high phoney recruitment
victims family or friends. Making matters worse,
fees, with no way of changing employers or
corrupt government officials regularly play a role
leaving the country, their passports having been
in the process too.
taken away; working in quite different jobs
than promised and under appalling conditions.
Lured into slavery by false promises
Some people are even being literally sold on into
Victims are sometimes smuggled via the hard to
modern day slavery. The women, including mimonitor islands in the border region of Southern
nors, might find that either the promised job
Philippines and the Malaysian State of Sabah by
does not exist at all and they are made to work
boat and then onwards. However, most victims
in the commercial sex industry as strippers or bar
girls instead; in the worst case forced into prosTrafficking in persons" shall mean the recruittitution. Or they do find the promised job waitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or
ing for them but they are forced to work for
receipt of persons, by means of the threat or
extremely low wages or without pay at all, withuse of force or other forms of coercion, of
out days off and under harsh conditions, often
abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse
including physical or sexual abuse by their emof power or of a position of vulnerability or of
ployers. All above mentioned varieties fall under
the giving or receiving of payments or benefits
the United Nations definition of human traffickto achieve the consent of a person having
ing (see boxed text). Faced with commercial
control over another person, for the purpose of
sexual exploitation, debt bondage and forced
exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a
labour these women often disappear off the
minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution
official radar. Male victims, although fewer in
of others or other forms of sexual exploitation,
numbers, do not fare much better, being conforced labour or services, slavery or practices
fronted with situations of forced labour and debt
similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of
bondage without a way out.
organs. (Protocol to prevent, suppress, and
punish trafficking in persons, especially women
and children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime)
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Human Trafficking in the Philippines N. 13 / June 2015

Job search ending in forced labour and

prostitution

allegedly paying to watch live streaming of children being sexually abused in the Philippines. An
Australian National who videoed horrific acts
committed with children as young as one year
old for the cyber-sex trade was arrested in
March 2015 by Philippine authorities, and the
victims rescued. These examples will however
just be the tip of the iceberg.

Internal trafficking also occurs in the Philippine

archipelago with its mosaic of over 7000 islands
and is in fact thought to be more large scale
than international trafficking. Domestic trafficking mostly takes place from rural areas to one of
the urban centres and within urban areas. While
men are mostly subjected to
debt bondage and forced
labour in e.g. the agriculture and fishing sectors,
women tend to end up as
domestic helpers or in the
commercial sex industry.
Children too are trafficked
into these sectors or coerced into begging. Again,
the prevalent practice is
that recruiters bait poor
persons or childrens families with the prospect of job
opportunities. Some impovAccording to the Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 the Philippines are at rank 85 of 175. In
erished families however 2013 they were at rank 94. Thus an improvement of the situation is visible.
also sell their children for Source: http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results
labour or sexual exploitation. Forced prostitution is a significant problem
Human trafficking finds a fertile ground
in places like Manila and Angeles City, where
in the Philippines
prostitution, despite being illegal in the PhilipA number of factors, some of them universal
pines, is widespread and caters to both nationals
phenomena, others more uniquely Filipino, comand foreigners alike. Domestic trafficking is even
bine to make a fertile ground for human traffickharder to track than international trafficking
ing in the Philippines:
since no borders are crossed and what is going
First among them of course is poverty which
on in private homes or small sweatshops is hardhelps drive people into the hands of traffickers
ly visible.
like no other factor. Unemployment and high
A particularly heinous aspect of domestic trafunder-employment rates in the country push
ficking is the trafficking of minors, girls and boys
vulnerable people into job-migration. National as
alike, for child sex tourism, child pornography
well as international and it propels families to
and child cyber-sex. The Philippines still is a
sell their children. According to the Philippines
major destination for child sex tourists and also
Statistics Authority, despite the impressive
increasingly catering to the growing child cybergrowth of recent years, the unemployment rate
sex market, also known as webcam child sex
in the country hovers around 7% and the undertourism (WCST), a mix of child prostitution and
employment rate was still a worrying 17.5% as
pornography. Tens of thousands of children are
of January 2015.5 The roots lie partly in high
estimated to be victims of WCST in the Philippopulation growth and partly in a legacy of bad
pines alone, according to TERRES DES HOMMES
governance (e.g. the burdens placed on estabdata.4 It is impossible to determine the actual
lishing and running small and medium enterprisnumbers of child sex trafficking as children are
es), as well as the fact that 40% of the workgenerally not able to turn to the authorities and
force are engaged in the hazy informal sector.
their families are usually part of the scheme.
Another major force in the country is the weak
Police in Denmark recently arrested 10 men for
implementation of existing laws, together with
4

http://terredeshommesnl.org/_media/documents/FAQ
_English.pdf

http://web0.psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/labor-force

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Human Trafficking in the Philippines N. 13 / June 2015

slow court proceedings, resulting in a backlog of

cases, and inadequate witness protection, all
stemming from an overall weak rule of law environment. A big driving force connected to this is
widespread corruption of immigration officers,
police and even judges and embassy personnel,
which makes human trafficking possible on a
broad scale. In 2013, for example, accusations
arose and were later substantiated that several
Philippine embassy officials in Kuwait were involved in the human trafficking trade. Parallel to
that the so called sex for flight scandal came
to light: Some Filipino embassy officials in Kuwait reportedly offered free flight tickets back to
the Philippines to female OFW in distress in exchange for sexual favours. Disturbingly, these
cases do not stand alone. More incidents in Jordan and Saudi Arabia embassies emerged recently, where embassy officials have been proven to
be involved in human trafficking. So far the actions taken by Filipino authorities in such instances have not been decisive enough. Furthermore state agency employees and citizens alike
often simply either do not recognize the signs of
human trafficking or they turn a blind eye. Another, perhaps at first glance less obvious, factor
which plays a significant role in the Philippines
though is the countrys propensity for natural
disasters. 2013s Typhoon Haiyan alone -at least
temporarily- displaced the staggering amount of
4 million people and effectively destroyed the
livelihoods of many more. Amidst the chaos of
aftermath, these people, having lost everything,
are then very vulnerable to trafficking.
An additional aspect is the existence of conflictafflicted areas in the country and the consequences for displaced people, particularly for
children. Even though a peace agreement has
been signed between the Philippine Government
and the Muslim separatist group Moro Islamic
Liberation Front in May 2014 conflict is still
present in parts of Mindanao.6 The Muslim sepa6

For more than 40 years civil war has raged in the

southern island group of Mindanao between autonomy/secession seeking armed groups of the Muslim
minority and (catholic majority) Filipino armed forces.
100,000s of deaths and over 2 Million internally displaced people have been the disastrous consequence.
In 2012 a peace process has finally been successfully
initiated. The MORO ISLAMIC LIBERATION FRONT and the
Filipino Government signed the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement. However, some extremist splinter
groups do not recognize the peace negotiations and
cease fire. This still results in occasional skirmishes
and acts of violence in the region.

ratist armed groups in Mindanao are known to

draft children as combatants and noncombatants. Furthermore, people, displaced by
the conflicts are more prone to fall victim to
trafficking. Government has little to no control
in far-flung, rebel controlled areas, making law
enforcement impossible.
Last but not least sex tourism is widespread in
the Philippines, creating a large demand for
prostitution, a demand that is at least partly met
through human trafficking. A few years ago the
remark of the US Ambassador to the Philippines
that 40% of male tourists to the country visit for
sex tourism sparked outrage in the Philippines.
However he might just have spoken an inconvenient truth, even if there are no reliable studies, merely estimations, to back him up. The data
that is available does suggest that for many
tourists, easily available prostitution is still a
reason or at least a welcome add-on- to travel
to the Philippines.

Is the Liberal Party effectively combating

modern day slavery?
The picture painted above is bleak. However,
steps are being taken to improve the situation.
Since its inauguration in 2010, the LIBERAL PARTY
(LP) government under President Aquino has
vowed to intensify the countrys
efforts of combatting human
trafficking.
In
2011 President
Aquino
even
personally
pledged to end
human trafficking.7 It is time to
take a look at
what measures
have been and
are taken to this President Benigno Aquino at the
awarding of the Friedrichend.
Naumann-Medal in Berlin.
Photo: FNF

The Philippines
has signed and ratified the UN Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime (2000),
and its supplemental protocols, the Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the
Protocol against Smuggling of Migrants by Land,
7

https://opinyonista.wordpress.com/tag/aquinovows-to-end-human-trafficking/

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Human Trafficking in the Philippines N. 13 / June 2015

Sea and Air. As a signatory to these treaties, the

Philippines are required to enact corresponding
domestic law targeted at fighting human trafficking. In 2003 the country did just that, by
adopting the Republic Act No. 9208, generally
known as The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of
2003. The Act follows the United Nations definition of human trafficking, and its prescribed
penalties for human trafficking are steep. Acts of
trafficking incur 20 years in prison; acts of qualified trafficking carry a life-sentence. In 2013 an
amendment, the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in
Persons Act (RA 10364) was enacted which further expands the scope of the original Act. In
2013 the Domestic Workers Act, prohibiting recruitment fees and providing for days off; among
other things, came into effect. Additionally the
Philippines has drafted the Special Protection of
Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Bill
which has gone through the House of Representatives recently. The country thus has a comprehensive body of anti-human trafficking law in
place.

The IACAT initiated a National Strategic Plan on

Trafficking in Persons, 2012 - 2016, which targets
four key areas:
1. advocacy and prevention;
2. protection, recovery, rehabilitation and
reintegration;
3. prosecution and law enforcement; and
4. partnership and networking.
The IACAT is currently (since 2009) compiling a
comprehensive database off trafficking cases,
something that did not exist before but is necessary in order to further hone and fine-tune the
anti-trafficking approach .
Additionally, the IACAT created a National AntiTrafficking Task Force together with the Department of Justice and funds regional and
local inter-agency anti-trafficking teams stationed at air- and seaports and other trafficking
hotspots.

Anti-trafficking awareness raising and the training of public officials have also been intensified.
The Inter-Agency Council against TrafAnti-trafficking awareness trainings for immificking and its initiatives
gration staff, Police, Foreign Service Officers,
As part of a multi-angled, comprehensive apProsecutors and Civil Society Groups have been
proach, the permanent INTER-AGENCY COUNCIL
conducted by the IACAT, the Department of JusAGAINST TRAFFICKING (IACAT) was created, still
tice (DOJ), the Police and NGOs since 2010.
under the previous government. The IACAT is
Information campaigns targeting the public and
made up of representatives of a number of govthe service sectors have been launched as well.
ernment agencies (Departments of: Foreign AfApart from government endeavfairs, Labour, Interior, Overours major efforts of this kind
seas Filipinos, Immigration;
are undertaken by NGOs too.
Commission on Women;
State and civil society actors
Center for Transnational
agree that the consolidated
Crimes; National Police) as
efforts of IACAT have been cruwell as NGO representatives
cial in the fight of human trafThe IACATs mandate is to
ficking. Fragmentation (too
prevent human trafficking
many government agencies in
and help victims reintegrate
too many provinces, each not
into society via recovery
knowing what the others are
and rehabilitation processdoing) used to seriously hamper
es. Since 2011 the IACAT
efforts to combat modern day
also operates a 24/7 hotline Inter-Agency Council against trafficking
slavery in the Philippines. Finally
for victims of human traf- Source: http://iacat.gov.ph/
there is one Agency that brings
ficking. The liberal Governall actors to the table for a comprehensive apment step by step significantly increased its
proach. The recent significant increases in fundfunding and thereby gave more teeth to the
ing have made a real impact. However, in the
Agency. In 2014 the funding for IACAT and its
face of the sheer size of the human trafficking
initiatives was increased to US$2.4 million (from
challenge and the far flung geographic of the
US$1.2 million in 2012 and US$500,000 in
archipelago the allocated funds are not enough
2011).
yet for the IACAT to be truly effective and able
to unfold its full potential.

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Human Trafficking in the Philippines N. 13 / June 2015

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) runs temporary shelters, rehabilitation and reintegration projects, including therapy and job-training and other programmes for
human trafficking victims. A number of international and domestic NGOs too are active this
way. The overall number of shelters and programmes is still quite low though and there are
not enough facilities for male victims of trafficking.

Measures targeted at Overseas Workers

Another step taken is the initiation of PreEmployment Seminars by the Philippine Overseas
Employment Agency. These are now mandatory
for all Filipinos seeking employment abroad and include information to evade illegal recruitment and prevent becoming a
trafficking victim. As an additional
safety precaution, all OFWs have
to register with the Commission of
Filipinos Overseas. The Philippine
Government has furthermore created 15 multi-agency Filipino
workers resource centres to assist
workers in 36 countries with
populations of 20,000 or more
Filipino workers in 2013. Their
services comprise post-arrival
orientation, legal and welfare
assistance, shelter and assistance,

The number of convictions in human trafficking

cases has gone up considerably under the Aquino
Administration. During the previous government
there were a meagre 29 convictions for human
trafficking in the time span of 2005 mid-2010
(so over the course of five and a half years). By
comparison, the LP Governments reign has so far
seen a total of 150 convictions from mid-2010 Feb 2015 (so in less than 5 years).9 Under the
current administration the number of convictions has also steadily risen from year to year.
However, this number is still very low when
compared to the number of cases lodged. The
overall number of investigations and convictions
still remains disproportionately low when com-

including repatriation services, to The number of convictions because human trafficking highly increased since
victims of abuse and human traf- President Aquino entered his office in 2010.
ficking, and skills trainings. There Figure: FNF
Data: http://iacat.gov.ph/index.php/human-trafficking-related-statistics
is also a black-list of currently 14
pared to the extent of the human trafficking
countries that Filipinos are banned from working
problem, and the length of the trials that do take
in due to those countries not offering adequate
place is worrisome. The average length of trafrights and protections to Overseas Workers.
ficking cases is still three-and-a-half to five
Among them Nepal, Afghanistan, Lebanon and
years despite endeavours, commenced in 2010,
Kenya.-Even South Korea and Taiwan have tem8
to expedite trafficking cases. On the upside, reporarily found themselves on that list.
gional human trafficking prosecutor task-forces
Another fairly new measure is the mandatory
have been continuously built up and expanded
verification of employment contracts before
across the Nation, although prosecutors have to
deployment, by the Philippine Labour Office and
shoulder these duties on top of their regular
the Philippine Overseas Employment Administrawork-load. Witness protection is still sketchy at
tion and carried out by Filipino Embassies on the
best.
ground. Contracts have to adhere to a minimum
wage and age and guarantee holidays among
other things.

http://www.filipinosabroad.com/tag/deploymentban/

http://iacat.gov.ph/index.php/human-traffickingrelated-statistics

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Human Trafficking in the Philippines N. 13 / June 2015

Evaluation of the LP Governments efforts

and conclusion
The US State Department in its most recent report10 ranked the Philippines at Tier 2; the same
as it was in the last report in 2011 but better
than its rating before that under the previous
Government (Tier 2 Watch List). The report states
that: The Government of the Philippines does
not fully comply with the minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. It acknowledges some of the Aquino administration's actions against human trafficking. The 2nd edition
(2014) of the Global Slavery Report by the Walk
Free Foundation, an Australia-based global human rights organization, has ranked the Philippines as best in Asia, number three in AsiaPacific and number 29 globally, out of 167 countries, in terms of governments efforts and programs, especially regarding the response of the
criminal justice system against human trafficking.11 It acknowledges that the government has
taken significant steps to combat human trafficking. The Philippines has excellent anti-human
trafficking laws in place. As so often though,
implementation proves to be the challenge. Efforts have been stepped up under the current
administration but a blind eye is still being
turned by too many and the number of convictions remains too low. The best laws are of no
use if they can be circumvented and effectively
rendered useless through practices of corruption
or through a judiciary that is excruciatingly slow
or does not offer adequate witness protection.
Despite marked improvements, most cases filed
still do not lead to convictions. These factors
continue to discourage victims from reporting to
the authorities. The IACATs multi-agency consolidated effort and its increased funding can be
seen as a real step in the right direction. The
increased number of awareness raising campaigns and trainings are another valuable tool in
preventing and detecting human trafficking although not enough on their own.

laws and holding all human trafficking perpetrators responsible. More economic opportunities
mean lower vulnerability to human trafficking. In
order for that to happen, obstacles to small and
medium enterprises growth have to be removed
among other things to create more job opportunities within the country, preferably also in the
provinces and not just in urban centres. The current Government won the 2010 elections on a
clear anti-corruption ticket and has since taken
real measures in that direction. This has already
shown some effect in the fight against human
trafficking. Despite these efforts however, corruption is still widespread and continues to aid
human traffickers to a large degree. The LP Government has done significantly more to combat
human trafficking than any administration before. However, the best targeted anti-human
trafficking laws and measures can never be
enough if the underlying causes, namely poverty,
corruption and a weak criminal justice system
are not tackled. Structural change is needed.
There is reason for optimism as the country has
consistently improved its anti-human trafficking
efforts. It remains to be seen however, how the
next administration -2016 is election year and
Aquino will not be able to run again - will tackle
this issue

___________________________________
Katharina Weber-Lortsch is programme
officer, currently in the FNF office Manila

Prevention is key. The Philippines are in the challenging position of having to tackle human trafficking on two fronts: International and domestic. The best way forward is to target the root
causes of poverty and corruption while simultaneously and rigorously enforcing the existing
10

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/22684
8.pdf
11
http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/
Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom | Focus Human Rights

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