23 October 2014 – The Philippines co-sponsored two (2) well-attended side events on October 9 at the 7th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations (UN) Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
In the first side event co-sponsored by the Philippines with the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), Chief State Counsel Paras highlighted the various efforts of the Philippine government in combating trafficking in persons, such as expanded legislation, capacity building through trainings of foreign service personnel and publication of manuals and the introduction of wide ranging institutional reforms in law enforcement. At the same time he emphasized that success requires both domestic and international efforts.
“Sustained success can only come with an effective international cooperation regime to combat trafficking in persons, given the transnational character of this problem and of the uncivil elements that perpetuate this crime,” noted head of the Philippine delegation Chief State Counsel Ricardo V. Paras III in his opening remarks at the launch of the policy paper by the entitled “Preventing Trafficking in Persons by Addressing Demand.”
Chief State Counsel Paras was joined at the panel by other experts from various international agencies.
The pioneering efforts of the Philippines in increasing the capacity of consular officials in addressing the issue of human trafficking was the theme of the second side event sponsored by the Philippines with Indonesia.
Ambassador and Permanent Representative Lourdes O. Yparraguirre, in her opening remarks, expressed her appreciation to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for the invaluable assistance they provide in training workshops on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs for its foreign service personnel and hoped that the side event “will be a first step in bringing the issue into the mainstream COP-UNTOC agenda.”
Executive Director Reynaldo Catapang of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrants’ Workers Affairs gave a presentation on the Philippine experience in providing consular assistance to victims of human trafficking and the training workshops in capacity building for foreign service personnel organized and conducted this year.
Within the framework of Prevention, Protection and Prosecution, the 3 P’s of the Philippines’ anti-TIP measures, Executive Director Catapang shared how the UNODC-assisted workshops are conducted. He concluded by underscoring the important role of foreign service personnel in combating TIP and the vital role of training and sustained capacity building to end it. END
