NBI raises alarm on child-organ trafficking

The National Bureau of Investigation alerted the public on Sunday over the rampant smuggling of human organs in the Philippines. The NBI said smugglers are now targeting childen who are kidnapped and taken abroad where their organs are sold to foreign nationals.

The human smugglers, whose usual buyers are Middle Eastern nationals, allegedly abduct children and house them somewhere in Mindanao.

Lawyer Ferdinand Lavin of the NBI’s Human Trafficking Division said the victims are provided with vitamin supplements to keep their internal organs healthy. He said the victims will then be transported outside the country to undergo surgery for organ transplants.

“Children are being kidnapped and they are housed somewhere in the south, papainom ng mga vitamins para gumanda ang mga organs, then they will be transported outside the country for organ sale, kina-cannibalized ‘yung tao,” the official said.

He said that the selling of human organs has become uncontrollable. He cited instances when parents themselves give their children to organ smugglers in exchange for money.

“We have an increasing trend. It’s no longer a person-to-person transaction, it also advertised in the Internet,” Lavin said.

Lavin said that aside from children, Filipinas seeking domestic jobs abroad are sometimes duped by their recruiters for slavery and prostitution. –With a report from Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News