18,000 Pinoys barred from leaving RP from 2007-2009

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has prevented some 17,946 Filipinos from leaving the country during the period of 2007 to 2009 in an effort to help the government fight human trafficking.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), however, admitted yesterday that much remains to be done in the campaign against human trafficking despite significant strides it has achieved in prosecution of cases given their limited resources.

Of those prevented from leaving, the bureau has placed some 2,888 suspected victims of human trafficking in the BI watchlist to prevent them from being further party to such illegal activities.

The bureau has been doing its share of work in the government’s initiative to fight human trafficking through the Inter-Agency Council Against Human Trafficking (IACAT) that prevented around 20,000 ill-documented Filipinos from leaving the country in the past three years.

Aside from the BI, other agencies composing the IACAT are the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW). – Edu Punay