Police investigators handling cases involving crime against women and children are undergoing a two-day seminar on human trafficking under the auspices of the American government.

The two-day training aims to enhance the investigative capability of the PNP Women and Children Concerns Desks in handling Trafficking In Person (TIP) cases that have now become a global crime concern.

DILG Secretary Angelo T Reyes and PNP Chief, Director General Arturo C Lomibao formally opened the two-day seminar in Camp Crame participated by some 60 PNP personnel, mostly policewomen from the different WCCD units in Metro Manila and the Regional Offices.

The seminar is sponsored by the USAID and the US Embassy in Manila as technical assistance by the US government for the PNP Transformation Program supervised by the Program Management Office (PMO).

According to PDDGen Avelino Razon Jr., PNP Deputy Chief for Operations and concurrent Executive Director of the PMO, this seminar on human traficking is among a series of foreign-sponsored training programs that will be made available to the PNP in cooperation with foreign missions in the country.

The PMO is the overall supervisor and implementor of all activities under the PNP Transformation Program.

According to Senior Superintendent Yolanda Tanigue, Chief of the WCC Division of the Directorate for Investgation and Detective Management (DIDM), the seminar is designed to familiarize WCCD personnel with provisions of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, particularly on the elements and evidence required to establish cases against offenders.

In his remarks, Lomibao noted that due to the highly clandestine nature of the crime of human trafficking, many human traffickers associated with international criminal syndicates are difficult to prosecute.

He assured, however, that the Philippine government acknowledges the problem of trafficking in women and children and has carried out activities through the collective efforts of various national and local government units, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and international donors.

According to Lomibao, the PNP, under the DILG, is a member of the Inter-Agency Council mandated to implement RA 9208 along with the DOJ, DSWD, and DFA.

Apart from this, there is also a Multi-Sectoral Alliance against trafficking in persons established in November 2003, with 24 partners from government, law enforcement agencies, religious and business groups, non-governmental organizations, and the media, Lomibao said.

At the international level, the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, which was agreed upon in 2000, specifically calls upon nations to address protection of the human rights of victims and to provide measures for the physical, psychological, and social recovery of victims of trafficking.