Child Trafficking

Child Trafficking Child trafficking is one of the reasons why child labor is rampant in the Philippines. This is the process of recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring or receipt of persons with or without the victim’s consent or knowledge, within or across the national boarders by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person. Here in the Philippines the most disadvantaged regions of the country where poverty, unemployment, underemployment landless are the natural target areas for the dishonorable recruitment agencies Samar-Leyte, Negros, Bicol, Cebu Province, & Mindanao are the most particular places where these agencies operate. To win the hearts of the parents and the child, they use combination of deception, false promises and cash incentives, for then Manila and other major cities are symbols of success and opportunity. But as for the children, they end up as factory workers, domestic servants, and victims of prostitution on the streets. The DSWD documented 85 cases of trafficked children in 1999; 42 in 2000; and 12 in June to April 2001. Almost all of the profiled victims came from extremely poor families from impoverished areas in Visayas and Mindanao. Many are first timers in the city, often with only one-way ticket (Visayan Forum).