TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte, Aug. 15 (PIA): The Department of Justice (DOJ) is stepping up efforts to strengthen the building up of evidences in cases involving human trafficking.
Regional Prosecutor Antonio Arellano of DOJ XI said police authorities and even local government units are now being taught to handle a case build-up on human trafficking to gather strong evidences that authorities can present in court.
DOJ directs its effort on the “legal aspect of the case” to improve investigation and eventually gather strong evidence as conviction rates of human trafficking remain low.
In the Davao Region, DOJ has recorded only six conviction since 2003 when Republic Act 9208, known as Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 was signed into law.
Prosecutor Arellano revealed that four of these convictions were decided at Davao City courts; one in Tagum City and one in Davao del Sur.
Since 2003, a total of 41 human trafficking cases were filed in various courts in the Davao Region but seven of these cases were dismissed; 12 were archived. Only 16 are currently under litigation in courts.
Authorities in the region, however, made several efforts to check human trafficking. They conducted 11 operations, intercepted 103 instances of human trafficking and arrested nine suspected perpetrators.
In a recent press conference, Prosecutor Arellano admitted that conviction of human trafficking cases is hard to clinch as witnesses, who usually are the victims, tend to give up and won’t go through the entire litigation process.
“They’re vulnerable. They no longer have money. That’s why we have psycho-social interventions,” he said. “We are giving them livelihood assistance and skills training,” he added.
Arellano was referring to support services of government agencies involved in the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) created through Republic Act 9208, known as Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
The secretary of the Department of Justice chairs the IACAT with the secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as the vice-chairperson.
Among the mandated members of the Council are the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Bureau of Immigration (BI), PNP and the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW).
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is among the mandated agencies to provide intervention programs on human trafficking.
Arellano signed last Monday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy, bringing in the city government of Tagum as a member of the Regional Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (Riacat)-Regional Integrated Action Network (RIACAT-RIACTION).
Meanwhile, DSWD-XI Assistant Regional Director Priscilla Razon during the MOA signing ceremony said DSWD 11 served 43 clients in 2011 and reached out 105 clients as of July 2012.
DSWD-XI was also part of providing psycho-social interventions to 75 victims rescued at Juna Subdivision in Matina, Davao City in an operation spearheaded by RIACTION XI in June this year.
Only one of the rescued victims was a resident of the Davao Region as the rest of the rescued individuals come from Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, General Santos City, DSWD XI said. (PIA-11/ Jeanevive D. Abangan)
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