Courage to fight human traffickers: Tacloban lady prosecutor is 24th Aquino fellow

Assistant city prosecutor Maria Liza Miscala-Jorda is awarded the Aquino fellowship by US Ambassador Philip Goldberg and Ballsy Aquino Cruz at the US Embassy in Manila on June 20.

When abused women and children tell her their problems, “their pain becomes my pain,” said assistant city prosecutor Maria Liza Miscala-Jorda.

Jorda, back from a study trip to the United States, said she was ready to continue the legal battle to protect this vulnerable group after learning from U.S. counterparts “more sophisticated approaches” to addressing human trafficking .

Jorda, who spent eight years in Tacloban City as a prosecutor of the Department of Justice, spoke in award rites on Friday in the United States Embassy in Manila where she received the 24th Aquino Fellowship Award for Public Service.

She said prosecutors and the police in the Philippines need to work closely together and develop other types of evidence to  prosecute offenders so they don’t have to rely alone on the accounts of victims of modern-day slavery.

In her three-week study tour in April, Jorda said she was most interested in  the ways used to prosecute a case “without depending on the testimony of the victim who is too traumatized to testify in court and discuss intimate details of her abuse.”

“We should not abandon a case because a victim is too damaged to testify in court,” she said.

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg and Ballsy Aquino Cruz, who chairs the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation, handed Jorda a plaque that recognizes her “selfless dedication to uphold the dignity of women  and children in the Philippines.”

“In going after the evil and lucrative trafficking  of persons in Region 8, her passion has earned her death threats from the criminal perpetrators,” said Cruz.

“I am awed by your courage and dedication, Liza. You are a true public servant deserving of this recognition,” said the eldest daughter of the late president Cory Aquino.

Jorda, who is married with a son in college, had to transfer to Cebu after typhoon Yolanda severely damaged their home in Tacloban City in November 2013.  She is temporarily assigned in the Regional State Prosecutor’s Office in Cebu City.

“My eyes were opened to many international best practices for responding to needs of victims and prosecution of abusers,” she said of her three-week tour of the US where she interacted with law enforcement agencies, judges, NGOs and prosecutors from different counties.

Jorda said some practices were already adopted in the Philippines, but there were “more sophisticated approaches” that can be pursued such as the “victim-centered approach” that focuses on getting help for the survivor  and treating each incident in trafficking as a crime scene.

She visited Washington D.C., New York, Reno in Nevada and Miami, Florida.

The Aquino Fellowship, an exchange program established in 1988 under the  International Visitor Leadership Program of the US government, honored the work of  Benigno Aquino Jr. and was later renamed to the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Fellowships for Professional Development.

Cruz, their eldest daughter, said  Cory had a “special affection for the program” and would choose the awardees from a short list, a task she enjoyed until she became ill and died in 2009.

This year, only one instead of two awardees were named.  There was no awardee for journalism.

Another change: this year’s fellow already traveled to the US for her study tour before the actual award ceremony.

Jorda submitted a “comprehensive report and recommendations on how the Philippines can address modern-day slavery,” and presented a copy later to Justice Secretary  Leila de Lima after the program.

“She’s already on  the case,” said Ambassador Goldberg with a chuckle.

In her acceptance speech, Jorda said  that in Tacloban city, she would listen to children and women tell her about their harrowing experiences, and take the problem “home”, to give more thought to how to help them.

She thanked social workers in Tacloban as the “unsung heroes”,  NGOs “who risk their lives, and the Tacloban mayor for providing a security detail when she needed it.

She made special mention of her “Focalare family who stood by me,  prayed for me.”

The international movement, primarily Catholic, was founded in Italy  and promotes unity and universal brotherhood.

Jorda said she was guided by the words of Jesus Christ: “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me.”

“And that is my strength, my light, my everything,” she said.

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