Roque to Duterte: Combat human trafficking not just drugs

Lawyer Harry L. Roque.(file)

WHILE the Philippines has gained international recognition for its strong anti-trafficking efforts during the previous year, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte must continue to step up its efforts to tightly enforce the country’s anti-trafficking laws while ensuring that the perpetrators are put in jail.

This was the call of Kabalikat ng Mamamayan (Kabayan) Partylist representative Herminio “Harry” Roque to the Duterte administration following Wednesday’s capture of 23-year-old child-trafficker Liezyl Margallo.

Roque, a former University of the Philippines law professor and human rights advocate, said that the country’s anti-trafficking law needs no amendment but needs consistent reinforcement.

“We have the law pero ang problema (but the problem) is naging complacent po tayo (we’ve grown complacent). The law is fine, it’s the implementation. Napakakaunti ng convictions natin pagdating sa human trafficking (we have a very low conviction rate when it comes to human trafficking),” Roque said.

Last June 30, 2016, on the day that former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III stepped down as the highest chief executive of the land, the US State Department announced that the Philippines has moved up to Tier 1 of its yearly Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP).

Countries falling under Tier 1 of the annual ranking have completely met the standards set for the eradication of human trafficking under the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000.

The Philippines was the only Southeast Asian Country in this rank which also included USA itself. The Philippines was under Tier 2 in the last five years before 2016.

The report went on to cite the achievements of the country which included the conviction of 42 human traffickers, including five for online child sex trafficking and two for forced labor, the conviction of two immigration officers, the charging of five officials allegedly complicit in trafficking and the government’s assistance to over 1,500 trafficking victims.

While this had been a stellar achievement for the country, Roque said that the Philippines must not rest on its laurels and Duterte must sustain the anti-trafficking efforts.

He called on the Duterte administration to draw its attention to human trafficking and enlist it under their priority campaigns other than the combat of illegal drugs.

The arrest of Margallo, dubbed a “savage girl” by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for her atrocities committed against her child victims, alarmed Roque, stating that Duterte must be more aggressive in totally eliminating cases like this in the country.

The congressman labeled the gruesome crimes committed by Margallo as the “worst crime that could ever be committed.”