RP, Malaysia map out measures to curb human trafficking

A Philippine oversight body on transnational crime has began coordinating with Malaysian authorities to address the rampant illegal entry of undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia using the southern backdoor.

This after various complaints of unabated human trafficking in neighboring Malaysia have reached the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime (PCTC), according to its chief, police Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco.

Velasco also urged the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the immigration bureau and the labor department to strengthen their respective campaigns against illegal recruiters who use Mindanao as a jump-off point to sneak out job applicants to nearby countries.

The PCTC is in close communication with police attaché Superintendent Diego Hipolito and social welfare officer Parisya Tajarandi — both based at the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur — to address the numerous cases of illegal recruitment there.

Velasco cited as an example the case of two Filipino women who were sold as sex workers by an illegal recruitment syndicate in Kota Kinabalu.

The 25-year-old woman identified as Nita and another Filipina named Claire were sent to Malaysia via Zamboanga City last Feb. 17.

Claire and Nita were sold as sex workers to the owner of California salon in Kota Kinabalu for 2,500 ringgits each, or roughly P36,000.

The victims managed to escape from their living nightmare on March 1 and sought help from the Filipino community in Malaysia.

Both were eventually repatriated some two weeks later.

Their recruiters were identified as Cristina Macapagal, Jocel Magallanes, Richard Reyes and their Malaysian cohorts only known as Badrol and Mr. Wong.

Zamboanga City was also the jump-off point for at least 10 male job seekers who were stranded for several months last year in Binlulu, Sirawak after they were promised work by their Filipino employers.

The victims, who hail from Laguna and Manila, were brought to Zamboanga City last November and "trafficked" to Malaysia via the passenger sea vessel M/V Danica Joy.

Realizing they were waiting in vain for the work promised to them, the Filipinos sought out fellow Filipinos who helped them contact Philippine embassy officials until they were sent back home.

These victims shared something in common, Velasco noted. "They were all able to leave the country and were deployed abroad undocumented by the POEA without the agency approved contracts and using tourist visas."

"Job seekers abroad should deal with licensed recruitment agencies and avoid using tourist visas so as not to fall victim to illegal recruitment in various locations abroad," he said.

As of May this year, Velasco said the PCTC has recorded 350 cases of illegal recruitment victimizing overseas Filipino workers in Lebanon and Syria.

Twenty such cases were also discovered in Brunei and 51 in South Korea.

There were also reports of illegal recruitment in the United States, Italy and Palau.

The PCTC was created under Executive Order No. 62 in 1999 to implement "a concerted program of action of all law enforcement intelligence and other agencies for the prevention and control of transnational crime."

It is also tasked to provide the "critical link" between local and international agencies and organizations in "forging agreements, concretizing cooperation and harmonizing action" against transnational crimes.