Prosecution
R.A. 9208, specifically criminalizes trafficking for the purposes of exploitation. The punished overt acts include trafficking under the guise of arranged marriage, adoption, sex tourism, prostitution, pornography, or the recruitment of children into armed conflict. Trafficking of children is made a “qualified” offense, and higher penalties of life imprisonment and a fine of 2 million to 5 million pesos (USD 36,085 to 90,212) are imposed. Use of services of trafficked persons is penalized by 15 years imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 to 1 million pesos. Additional penalties are provided for government employees offenders. Sec 10 (c) provides for the maximum penalty for qualified trafficking under Section 6: life imprisonment and a fine of not less than 2 million pesos (P2,000,000.00) but not more than 5 million pesos (P5,000,000.00).
As complementary legislation, slavery and forced labor are also punished under Articles 272 and 274, Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, and Republic Act No. 7610, the "Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act." This law protects children under 18 years from all forms of abuse, cruelty, and exploitation and prohibits child prostitution and child trafficking.
The US report scored there was only 1 conviction under the 2003 anti-trafficking law during the reporting period, but the government made some improvement in arresting, prosecuting, and convicting traffickers. Penalties imposed for trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation are commensurate with those for rape. A Zamboanga City RTC sentenced a member of a trafficking syndicate to life imprisonment in March 2007 for having recruited 6 victims and peddled them to a brothel in Sandakan, Malaysia. The case was the 5th conviction under R.A. 9208 which resulted in a jail sentence. In 2006, the public prosecutors filed 60 new trafficking cases with the Department of Justice (Philippines), and more than 107 pending prosecutions of trafficking crime. The government appointed 17 DOJ anti-trafficking prosecutors, and 72 additional Fiscals in its regional offices.
In Northern Mindanao, however, the report of the Sub-Committee on Human Trafficking (SCHT) submitted to the Executive Committee of the Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Council (RLECC), Region 10 states that lack of access to legal information, aid or protection tops the list of issues and problems in the implementation of Republic Act No. 9208.
Read more about this topic: Anti-Trafficking In Persons Act Of 2003
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