MIAA builds shelter for trafficking victims

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF) broke ground yesterday to start the construction of a halfway house for victims of human trafficking and other abuses at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) complex.

United States Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney, as the guest of honor during the groundbreaking ceremony, laid the time capsule for the Bahay Silungan sa Paliparan. 

MIAA general manager Alfonso Cusi and VFF president Ma. Cecilia Oebanda joined her in announcing how a special place for human trafficking victims will soon rise on a 510-square meter lot within the NAIA.

Once completed, the VFF will operate and manage the facility as well as provide the social services staff and counseling experts who will help human trafficking victims.

The MIAA, on the other hand, shall be responsible for enforcing the laws and regulations banning the trafficking of persons. The agency shall also enlist frontline airport personnel and the private sector in the aviation industry to enforce the provisions of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

In a speech, Cusi said the establishment of the halfway house "proves our government’s compassion and concern for victims of human trafficking. Here in the shelter victims of human trafficking can find temporary refuge and start on their road to recovery."

Cusi said gender and development funds of the MIAA have been earmarked for the construction of the Bahay Silungan, which will be like the halfway house built by the Philippine Ports Authority under then General Manager Cusi with the cooperation of the VFF. 

The PPA-VFF halfway house is well known all over the world for helping trafficked persons at the Philippines’ premier seaport.

The Philippines has been identified as among the world’s centers of transit and destinations for illegal trafficking of persons. 

Many of the Filipinos illegally transported or trafficked for labor and entertainment purposes are reportedly destined for countries like Malaysia, Hong Kong, Brunei, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

According to the US government’s Trafficking in Persons Report of 2003, around 600,000 to 800,000 people were trafficked across borders worldwide and more than 80 percent of them were women and girls, with 70 percent forced into sexual servitude.

Recently, NAIA’s Task Force against human trafficking announced that it has rescued some 21 would-be victims in an operation spearheaded by Airport Police Department – Police Intelligence and Investigation Division (APD-PIID) personnel.