This was the statement made yesterday by Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta as she said new legislation to protect women and children from sexual exploitation and human trafficking syndicates is "imperative."
Oreta made this statement after the United States State Department classified the Philippines as a "Tier 2" country in terms of fighting the sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and children.
This US State Department classification means that although the Philippines has taken significant steps to curb this menace, the measures were not enough to stop the trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children.
Oreta said Senate Bill 867, the proposed Anti-Trafficking Act of 2002, should be passed immediately by Congress because it squarely addresses the social problem of sexual exploitation of women and children by slapping stiffer penalties on syndicates or individuals engaged in the flesh trade and trafficking of women and minors.
SB 867 slaps a minimum prison sentence of six to 12 years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and, in extreme cases, capital punishment, on persons found guilty of the forced or fraudulent migration of women and minors, Oreta said.
Oreta, SB 867’s author, said the maximum penalty should be slapped on persons found guilty of qualified trafficking – trading in children aged 12 years and below and mail-order brides – that leads to the victims’ sexual abuse, prostitution or forced labor.
According to a US report, Filipinos from poor communities most often wind up victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation or forced labor under sweatshop conditions in unsafe or exploitative industries.
The report also said these Filipinos, often lured by promises of lucrative work abroad, are smuggled as illegal workers or prostitutes into Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Greece and the US.