03 August 2016 — Some 20 representatives of various Filipino community organizations joined the personnel of the Philippine Embassy in Rome in a forum organized by the Embassy on July 28.  The aim of the forum was to intensify public awareness of the problem of trafficking in persons.

Philippine Ambassador to Italy, Domingo P. Nolasco, opened the forum with an outline of the Philippine government policy to combat human trafficking and the importance of cross-sectoral cooperation in addressing the problem.

The Embassy’s Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) staff, Ms. Bernice Santayana, gave an overview of Philippine government’s commitment to address the problem, the legislation passed by the Philippine Congress to combat it and the number of convictions achieved so far by the Philippine courts against the offenders.

Ms. Priscila Razon, Social Welfare Attache, emphasized the role of the Inter-agency Committee Against Trafficking (IACAT) created by the Philippine government to bring together the whole-of-government approach in combating trafficking in persons. She also stressed the importance of psycho-social counseling for victims of human trafficking.

The participants observed that trafficking in persons was not a major concern to the Filipino community in Italy but there was a need to increase their vigilance for unscrupulous individuals who are eager to take advantage of Filipinos who are vulnerable to various illegal recruitment schemes.

The participants also agreed to further strengthen the partnership between the Embassy and the Filipino community to address the problem of trafficking in persons. The Embassy welcomed individual suggestions to strengthen further its efforts to safeguard the interest and welfare of Filipino workers in Italy. END