16 trafficking victims from Bohol rescued in Tawi-Tawi
GENERAL SANTOS CITY—At least 16 residents of Bohol who were lured by job recruiters were rescued in Tawi-Tawi province this month, the Ministry of Social Services and Development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MSSD-BARMM) said on Friday.
Jan Michelle Agata, who oversees an MSSD program on recovery and reintegration of trafficked persons, said the victims, including two minors, were trafficked to Tawi-Tawi six months ago after being paid P20,000 in advance, which they left to their families in Talibon town, Bohol, before the long trip to Mindanao.
An MSSD profiling showed that the victims were fishers in Talibon before they were lured to seek employment opportunities in the island town of Languyan in Tawi-Tawi.
According to Agata, the victims reported being subjected to oppressive working conditions, such as a lack of food. They were also threatened to dissuade them from leaving unless they could repay the money that they received in advance, she added.
“This is debt bondage, which is a form of human trafficking,” Agata said.
BARMM authorities only learned of the plight of the trafficking victims after some of them escaped or were rescued.
Escape
In a statement, MSSD information officer Jidday Lucman said that seven of the trafficked victims escaped from their unidentified employer and were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas region on June 16.
They were intercepted on their way to Pangutaran town, Sulu, and were provided assistance by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office of Sulu before they were flown to Cebu City for turnover to the DSWD in the region, Lucman said.
Agata said the rescued victims informed authorities that they still have companions left in Languyan, prompting a follow-up operation that led to the rescue of nine other victims.
MSSD personnel, led by Minister Raissa Jajurie, and assisted by the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Marines, rescued the nine fishers.
Agata noted the rescued victims were kept in a remote part of Languyan, which “requires at least P50,000 for fuel and other essentials” to reach from Bongao, the capital town of Tawi-Tawi.
The second batch of rescued trafficking victims were flown to Cebu City on June 21 and received by social workers of the regional DSWD.
The police, Agata said, filed charges of human trafficking against the yet to be identified employer and their recruiter.
Lucman said all the rescued victims had been turned over to the Talibon local government for psychosocial and livelihood support, and other reintegration services.
