UP leads use of DNA analysis to eradicate child trafficking

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines took the first step in joining the international initiative called “DNA-PROKIDS,” a measure to fight human trafficking through the use of DNA technology and the establishment of an international network of forensic DNA laboratories.

This was accomplished through the forum “DNA-PROKIDS: Using DNA to Help Fight Child Trafficking” organized by the DNA Analysis Laboratory of UP Diliman’s Natural Sciences Research Institute (NSRI), in cooperation with the Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development.

Held recently at UP Diliman’s Malcolm Theater, the forum featured lectures by both local and international DNA experts.

The forum, which sought to gain world alliance against human trafficking using new technologies, was attended by UP officials, scientists, members of international organizations and non-government groups, heads of security forces, and judicial experts.

Maria Corazon de Ungria, head of the DNA Ana­lysis Laboratory of the NSRI, was a participant from the Philippines of the DNA-PROKIDS meeting in Granada, Spain recently.

The NSRI’s DNA laboratory is one of only four operational DNA laboratories in the Philippines.

In support of the international initiative, De Ungria invited international experts to the Philippines.

Dr. Jose Lorente, a professor of legal and forensic medicine at the University of Granada, and Dr. Arthur Eisenberg, professor and chairman of the Department of Forensic and Investigative Genetics and co-director of the Health Science Center of the University of North Texas, were the international DNA experts invited by De Ungria as resource speakers. Lorente stressed that human trafficking is a worldwide epidemic exacerbated by disorganized and decentralized efforts of government and non-government organizations.

A database with international links must be set up to contain lists of unidentified children, suspected victims and relatives of missing children. 

Eisenberg elaborated on the benefits of a centralized database and discussed the Combined DNA Index System (CoDIS) as a prototype.

The CoDIS is a computer system that stores DNA profiles.

Created by federal, state and local crime labs in the United States, the database can assist in the identification of crime suspects.

Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral, who was present to express her support, said she was positive that DNA-PROKIDS would help prevent crimes committed against children.

Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, acting chairman of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, also expressed his support for the initiative. 

The other reactors to the lectures were Jenny Lind Delorino, assistant court administrator of the Supreme Court, senior state prosecutor Deana Perez, and Amihan Abueva, regional coordinator of Asia Against Child Trafficking.

UPD Chancellor Sergio Cao, who attended the forum, said he considered the forum to be in line with UP’s role as a “public service university.”