By JOSEPH ARNEL DELIVERIO BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi—They were arrested by authorities for illegally working in Malaysia, and detained for months in cramped cells where they were fed only twice a day. Yet the four Filipino deportees said they would give up everything for a chance to go back, even if it meant going through the whole
By JAKE SORIANO BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi—Tawi-Tawi authorities are alarmed at the growing number of fishermen from the Visayas who end up here after being recruited by human trafficking syndicates to engage in dangerous compressor diving. The latest case involves 13 fishermen rescued from a fishing village here on March 15 by a team composed of the
By JOSHUA LANSANGAN, CLTV 36 ANGELES CITY — Former home of giant American military bases, Central Luzon has become almost synonymous with human trafficking, especially for sexual exploitation, for decades. The opening of an international airport at the former US Air Force facility in Clark, Pampanga in recent years has kept anti-trafficking advocates in and out
By YEN BLANCO DELGADO ZAMBOANGA CITY—Human trafficking syndicates are preying on refugees displaced from their communities by the Moro National Liberation Front’s siege on Zamboanga City last September, taking advantage of the poverty and uncertainty that have gripped evacuation centers. Anti-trafficking groups said they have uncovered a prostitution operation within the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports
By MECHELLE FLORITA CEBU CITY—At least one passenger is being offloaded almost every day at the Mactan Cebu International Airport, all of them possible victims of trafficking, including some who could be victims of typhoon “Yolanda” seeking jobs overseas, the antitrafficking task force here said. From September to November this year alone, the Bureau of
