News Release
Blas F. Ople Policy Center
March 25, 2009

Ople Center seeks end to trafficking of Filipino women to Malaysia

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a non-government organization engaged in the fight against human trafficking and illegal recruitment, urged the Philippine government to take serious steps in addressing the illegal recruitment and trafficking of Filipino women to Malaysia where they are made to work as modern-day slaves.

The Center issued the call in response to the repatriation of a new batch of illegal recruitment and trafficking victims that arrived in Pampanga last Monday. The victims included nine women who were recruited by a notorious syndicate led by a Singaporean trafficker based in Malaysia who uses the alias, “Alfred Lim.”

“The victims have done their share. Assisted by our Center and the Department of Justice with the support of the Philippine Embassy, they bravely filed charges against their illegal recruiters here and in Malaysia. They have extended full cooperation and have in fact even filed complaints against immigration agents who escorted them out of DMIA. The ball is now in the government’s court,” former labor undersecretary Susan Ople, who heads the Center, explained.

She urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to elevate cases of human trafficking for discussion during the next round of the RP-Malaysia joint bilateral consultations. She also urged the Philippine Embassy particularly its Police and Immigration Attache to be more aggressive in pursuing the case against Lim. “Nakalaya na pala si Lim pero ni hindi kami nasabihan. Nalaman lang namin ito mula sa kanyang mga nabiktima,” Ople said. (“We were not informed that Lim had already been freed on bail. We only found about it when we met some of the repatriated victims.”)

Ople also railed against a provision in the Anti-Trafficking Act of 2003 that provides for the right of privacy of the accused on equal footing with that of the victims. “This confidentiality clause prevents us and even the government from warning more women about Lim and his cohorts despite outstanding warrants for their arrest.” RA 9208 states (underscoring supplied):

EC.7 Confidentiality – At any stage of the investigation, prosecution and trial of an offense under this Act, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, court personnel and medical practitioners, as well as parties to the case, shall recognize the right to privacy of the trafficked person and the accused. Towards this end, law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges to whom the complaint has been referred may, whenever necessary to ensure a fair and impartial proceeding, and after considering all circumstances for the best interest of the parties, order a closed-door investigation, prosecution or trial.

The name and personal circumstances of the trafficked person or of the accused, or any other information tending to establish their identities and such circumstances or information shall not be disclosed to the public.

The NGO expressed dismay that Lim’s syndicate continues to recruit and deploy women workers to exploitative jobs in Malaysia with some of the victims ending up as prostitutes. Ople surmised that the said trafficker has already victimized more than a hundred Filipino women workers.

“He uses scouts, mostly women, in an elaborate scheme to recruit jobless Filipino women who are promised good jobs, quick deployment, and the freedom to switch employers if they are unhappy. But once the victims arrive in Malaysia, the syndicate confiscates their mobile phones and passports, and chooses their employers. The workers who returned to Lim by dissatisfied employers are maltreated and abused. No matter how hard they work, the victims don’t get salaries because the employers would say that they have already paid a full amount to Lim.”

“We urge the government to take this case seriously and to show to the world our fervent commitment to end human trafficking and modern-day slavery.”