15 December 2014 – Representatives of the Philippine Embassies and Consulates General in the Asia-Pacific region renewed their commitment to combat human trafficking at the closing of the third Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Regional Workshop on Anti-Trafficking in Persons for Foreign Service Posts (FSPs).

The Regional Workshop, which was held in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) from December 11 to 15 in Osaka, Japan, was aimed at improving the institutional capacity of the 28 FSPs in the region to assist Filipinos who are victims of or vulnerable to human trafficking.

"We will work towards eliminating demand for trafficked persons. We will enhance protection to persons vulnerable to being trafficked. We will assist victims, and ensure their full reintegration to society," the 55 Workshop participants vowed.

The Workshop modules discussed, among others: the elements of trafficking in persons (TIP) that distinguish TIP from other crimes, such as people smuggling and illegal recruitment; the international and Philippine legal frameworks in combating human trafficking; proper victim identification and protection; international and national referral systems; available aid to victims; psycho-social counselling; and the link between gender and trafficking.

The participants benefited from the experiences and insights of esteemed experts, including IOM-Tokyo Programme Manager Naoko Hashimoto and Project Coordinator/Case Worker Carina Morita.

Officials from the member-agencies of the Philippine Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking in Persons (IACAT) also enriched the discussions. They were Senior State Prosecutor Lilian Doris Alejo, Assistant City Prosecutor Nilo Peñaflor and Associate Prosecution Attorney Benjamin Samson from the Department of Justice; Director Priscilla Razon from the Department of Social Welfare and Development; Labor Attaché David Des Dicang from the Department of Labor and Employment; Director Rosemarie Gondranios-Duquez from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration; Assistant Secretary Wilfredo Santos from the DFA-Office of Consular Affairs; Executive Director Reynaldo Catapang from the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA); Atty. Jose Maria Paras from DFA-Office of Personnel and Administrative Services; and Ms. Angella Gilberto Alfafara from the DFA-Office for the United Nations and Other International Organizations and representing the DFA Gender and Development Secretariat.

The Philippine Embassies in Bangkok (Thailand), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Islamabad (Pakistan), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), New Delhi (India), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Singapore, Tokyo (Japan) and Yangon (Myanmar), as well as the Philippine Consulates General in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Sydney, presented a snapshot of the human trafficking situation in their areas.

Consul Brian S. DaRin, the head of the Political and Economic Section of the US Consulate in Osaka, deliver a presentation on the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report.  

The Regional Workshop was spearheaded by DFA-OUMWA, headed by Undersecretary Jesus I. Yabes, with the support and cooperation of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and the Philippine Consulate General in Osaka, led by Ambassador Manuel Lopez and Consul General Maria Teresa Taguiang, respectively.

This Workshop follows the training programs organized for FSPs in the Middle East and Africa, held in Turkey last April in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and IOM, and for the FSPs in the Americas, held in partnership with UNODC last September in Mexico. The last in the series of Regional Workshops will be organized for FSPs in Europe next year. Each Workshop produces a DFA Regional Anti-TIP Action Plan that identifies the gaps and challenges in anti-TIP governance, implementation and regulation; recommended actions to address the gaps and challenges; and key performance indicators to help monitor the efficacy of the anti-TIP measures.

In 2013, the DFA assisted 2,947 Filipino victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment. Of this number, 2,201 came from the Middle East and Africa, 432 from the Americas, 298 from Asia and the Pacific and 16 from Europe. 

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