Bad marks in child abuse and slavery

President Gloria Arroyo has the power, strength and ability to address one of the most serious challenges of her presidency—the significant curtailment of human trafficking and sex slavery in the Philippines.

Both can be shut down if there were the political will and commitment to do so. As yet these are absent.

Not long ago with the Preda child rescue team I was searching for a young girl trafficked into the sex business. In a public park the pimps offered to text a trafficker and women and children would be delivered. We found trafficked 13-year-olds in a provincial sex bar for sale. They mysteriously disappeared just before the police arrived—a tip-off.

In Manila, Cebu and Angeles City the big bars have hundreds of youth for sale to foreign sex tourists all apparently permitted by the local politicians and all acting with impunity.

Protecting the most vulnerable is the duty and purpose of government. The challenge facing this powerful woman president and her government is to rise above the criminal syndicates that corrupt and cripple the police and government officials and crush the sex mafia.

The President may indeed have many fine achievements but victory over the pimps and pedophiles, sex tourists and traffickers of persons is not among them. But we live and work on in hope.

The Church and civil society are ready to help protect and empower the rescued teenage victims so they can testify against their traffickers and abusers. But few are rescued and without witnesses there are no convictions. The good and honest people in government are not in high enough positions to act against the entrenched sex industry.

The President must act. Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan has shown determination and commitment to investigate the suspected foreign abusers and traffickers.

But he needs to stop his confidential letters and files being given to suspects, which undermine his investigations.

According to the Trafficking of Persons report of the US State Department, there is rampant trafficking of persons from the Philippines to other countries for sexual enslavement but also in the Philippines itself. Convictions are much too few. It says: “However, the [Philippine] government demonstrated weak efforts to prosecute trafficking cases and convict trafficking offenders.”

The President has much to do and we are ready and waiting to help. –Fr. Shay Cullen, The Manila Times