THE Philippine National Police (PNP) headed by General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. has fully partnered with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) to smash local and foreign syndicates involved in trafficking in persons in the country, the Journal Group learned yesterday.

Particular target of the PAOCC-initiated police rescue operations are human trafficking victims in many parts of the country who are being smuggled abroad thru the so-called Mindanao backdoors. There have been many recorded cases in which Filipina victims of these syndicates have ended up as prostitutes in brothels in some Asian countries.

On Tuesday last week, a PAOCC-initiated police anti-human trafficking operation in Mindanao resulted in the rescue of 19 persons including one minor and two toddlers set to be smuggled to Malaysia by a syndicate.

Last January 17 to 20, the PAOCC also initiated a series of similar operations which led to the rescue of 41 Trafficking in Person or TIP victims bringing to 60 the number of Filipinos saved by the government from the hands of human traffickers since the start of the year.

Members of the PNP Special Action Force under Major General Edgar Alan O. Okubo rescued the 19 at the Bongao Port in Poblacion, Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday afternoon.

The rescue operation led by commandos from the SAF’s 51st Special Action Company was orchestrated by the PAOCC headed by Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, according to its Executive Director, retired Major Gen. Gilbert DC Cruz.

Officers from the Marine Brigade Landing Teams 7 and 12, PNP Maritime Group, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Municipal Inter-Agency Committee against Trafficking in Persons and Tawi-Tawi Provincial Mobile Force Company were also involved in the operation as part of PAOCC’s ‘whole-of-government’ approach to battle crime, terror and corruption in the country, Cruz said.

Under its Coplan: Fishnet, officers rescued the victims composed of seven females and nine males, majority of them residents of Zamboanga del Norte while others are from Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga City while about to be brought to Sabah, Malaysia via the so-called Southern backdoors.

Also rescued were a boy and a girl, both two-years old and a toddler. The youngest of the rescued females is 17-years old. Another is 18-years old while the eldest is 48.

Of the adult males, the youngest is only 18 while the eldest is 50-years old. No arrests were made during the operation.

The PAOCC said the victims were all from Zamboanga peninsula who were about to be transported to Malaysia and other nearby countries thru the Tawi-Tawi backdoor without any protection from the government.

“Some will be forced to work as GROs (Guest Relation Officers) in local nightclubs or construction workers without any permit,” said Executive Director Cruz.

The Tawi-Tawi Maritime Police Station took temporary custody of the rescued victims for proper documentation and disposition.

Last week, Gen. Azurin cited the country’s gains in its serious campaign against human trafficking which has earned the nod of the international community.

Speaking at the 24th Interpol Asian Regional Conference in Abu Dhabu, United Arab Emirates, the top cop presented to his global counterparts the PNP accomplishments when it comes to fighting syndicates involved in trafficking in persons.

According to the PNP chief, the Philippines fully meets, if not exceeds, the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and that the country demonstrates a serious and sustained effort during the reporting period.

“For seven consecutive years, the Philippines has maintained its Tier 1 status in the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. The State Department recognized Manila’s assistance to a total of 6,772 potential trafficking victims and around 1,143 Filipino trafficking survivors from the Middle East and Asia,” Gen. Azurin said.

“It lauded the country’s efforts to convict and punish traffickers and the increased use of prosecution procedures, reducing further harm to the victims,” he added.

Citing a report from the PNP Women and Children Protection Center, the PNP chief said that with an estimated 10 million Filipinos working overseas in nearly 170 countries, approximately three percent work without a contract.

He agreed that The Philippines is among the source-countries of citizens falling prey to human trafficking with cases of labor trafficking prevalent in countries in the Middle East, such as household or construction workers.

Cases of OFWs being killed or sexually abused by their employers in some Middle East countries is not a rarity, the latest of them involving 35-year old Jullebee Ranara who was raped and impregnated by the 17-year old son of her employer before being run over by the suspect’s car twice, burnt and left for dead in the desert.

To curb these crimes, Gen. Azurin emphasized the strengthened collaboration of the PNP- WCPC with other government agencies through the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) which serves as the coordinating and monitoring mechanism for all anti-human trafficking efforts of the government.

He added said that the government through the IACAT mobilized the Overseas Filipino Workers or OFW Task Force.

He bared that the PNP has also forged a partnership with the Anti-Money Laundering Council and other private financial institutions, local and abroad, to help track suspicious transactions between foreign or local individuals believed to be involved in purchasing or soliciting child abuse materials.

“Over the past years, the synergies of the international community have achieved remarkable results which the Philippines will continue to support to fully address the crimes that transcend national boundaries,” Gen. Azurin said.

The president of Interpol, Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi commended the PNP for its efforts in human trafficking and migrant smuggling as he encouraged other Interpol member-countries to imitate the initiatives of the Philippines.