By Edu Punay, The Philippine Star
MANILA - Human trafficking remains to be a serious problem in the country, victimizing 450,000 Filipinos every year, a non-government organization said yesterday.
Call to Rescue, a group dedicated to preventing human trafficking and rescuing its victims, said women and children who are abandoned are being targeted by international syndicates involved in human trafficking because they easily fall into their traps.
“We have around 450,000 Filipinos who fall prey to human traffickers every year precisely because we have a lot of vulnerable women and children in the country,” television host-entrepreneur Anthony Pangilinan, head of the organization, said.
Pangilinan said the transnational crime continues to be widespread because of the economic condition as well as the lack of proper parental guidance to children.
He said the abandoned women and children, who come from broken or dysfunctional families, lack parental guidance or have no strong support from friends and family are being targeted by international syndicates.
“Some are recruited in public places, streets, bars, restaurants, through social media. Many are abducted while some are sweet-talked. They promise them some form of escape from their problems and that starts their journey towards being trafficked for sex and prostitution or hard labor. Many victims are forced into sham marriages where they are held as prisoners so they could provide children to their so-called husbands and are subjected to all kinds of abuse,” Pangilinan said.
He added even those belonging to the middle and upper economic classes have also been victimized into human trafficking.
“Human trafficking does not only happen to those who need money but those who have it. They are vulnerable because syndicates would pay for victims who come from well-off families so kidnapping now is not only for ransom but also for trafficking. Some would be victimized because they have personal or family problems and so they find their way into syndicates,” Pangilinan said.
The best way to fight trafficking, according to Pangilinan, is to have solid support from the family and strong law enforcement to arrest syndicate members.
More on Philippine Star.
Call to Rescue, a group dedicated to preventing human trafficking and rescuing its victims, said women and children who are abandoned are being targeted by international syndicates involved in human trafficking because they easily fall into their traps.
“We have around 450,000 Filipinos who fall prey to human traffickers every year precisely because we have a lot of vulnerable women and children in the country,” television host-entrepreneur Anthony Pangilinan, head of the organization, said.
Pangilinan said the transnational crime continues to be widespread because of the economic condition as well as the lack of proper parental guidance to children.
He said the abandoned women and children, who come from broken or dysfunctional families, lack parental guidance or have no strong support from friends and family are being targeted by international syndicates.
“Some are recruited in public places, streets, bars, restaurants, through social media. Many are abducted while some are sweet-talked. They promise them some form of escape from their problems and that starts their journey towards being trafficked for sex and prostitution or hard labor. Many victims are forced into sham marriages where they are held as prisoners so they could provide children to their so-called husbands and are subjected to all kinds of abuse,” Pangilinan said.
He added even those belonging to the middle and upper economic classes have also been victimized into human trafficking.
“Human trafficking does not only happen to those who need money but those who have it. They are vulnerable because syndicates would pay for victims who come from well-off families so kidnapping now is not only for ransom but also for trafficking. Some would be victimized because they have personal or family problems and so they find their way into syndicates,” Pangilinan said.
The best way to fight trafficking, according to Pangilinan, is to have solid support from the family and strong law enforcement to arrest syndicate members.
More on Philippine Star.