Three girls suspected to be victims of human trafficking were rescued by port police. The parents of two of the girls who were minors sought the help of the port police to rescue their children.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
AT least three girls were rescued at the Cebu Port Terminal 1 on Tuesday afternoon on suspicion that they were victims of human trafficking.
An 18-year-old and two minors were just about to board a vessel going to Manila when they were intercepted by port police.
The port police said the minors were promised jobs in Manila.
Chief Insp. Felix Angelo Quianzon said the parents of the minors went to their office seeking assistance to rescue the minors, who came from Lapu-Lapu City.
Quianzon said that the minors told them that they were already of legal age but however failed to produce documents attesting to their age, which made them suspicious.
“We have a policy if they are minors and do not have a guardian at all, they will be the last one to board,” Quianzon said.
Quianzon said that someone from the ticketing office at the pier told the parents that their children were about to board a vessel.
“It turns out that the ticketing officer was their neighbor. The officer alerted the parents and the parents went here at the port,” he said.
The minors were rescued at the boarding gates already.
The port police believe that the minors might be victims of human trafficking because they were promised jobs in an unknown place, without the knowledge of their parents.
Quianzon said that the parents did not know that their children were already gone from their house. The minors were turned over to their parents yesterday.