BI calls on barangay executives to fight human trafficking

MANILA, Philippines - Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said yesterday the fight against human trafficking should start at the barangay level and not when the illegal recruiter is already at the airport and about to leave the country.

Libanan said barangay officials could intercept those recruiting victims in their communities and report them to the police.

He noted that while the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is considered as the country’s line of defense against human trafficking, immigration officers assigned at the airports only have a limited time of 45 seconds to profile a person, and assess if a traveler is into illegal recruitment.

“Sometimes, we feel like we are the Don Quixote fighting the windmills, the human trafficking,” he said.

Yesterday, the BI met with foreign diplomats and representatives of non-government organizations to give them insights on the bureau’s efforts to combat the problem of human trafficking.

For the second straight year, the Philippines has been classified under the “Tier 2 Watch List,” an indication that the country does not fully comply, but is making significant efforts to meet the standards of the US State Department’s 2010 Human Trafficking Report.

“The Philippines is a source country, and to a much lesser extent, a destination and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor,” the report said.

Other government agencies such as the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Department of Foreign Affairs are also involved in the campaign against human smuggling.