Boat owner faces raps for transport of human trafficking victims

ZAMBOANGA CITY ,Philippines  – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will file charges against the operator of a motorboat for allegedly transporting human trafficking victims.

Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, chief of the PCG district in southwestern Mindanao, said M/L Wendelene was intercepted by Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and PCG personnel, carrying some 200 trafficking victims off Taganak Island, Tawi-Tawi while heading towards Sabah on Saturday.

Evangelista said that apart from the illegal transport of people, the vessel also violated maritime laws for overloading as it was ferrying more than 200 passengers, way above its authorized capacity of 58 passengers.

The vessel skippered by Rogelio Anas, is owned and operated by a certain Bernaida Julwadi, based in this city.

He said the would-be-trafficking victims – 23 males, 74 females, and 55 children – boarded the vessel in Basilan.

“It was intercepted following an intelligence information. It was obvious that the vessel was carrying excess of passengers,” Evangelista said.

The victims arrived here yesterday morning. They are temporarily housed at Center for Displaced Persons of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.