Authorities
at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA 1) have intercepted ten
Filipino human trafficking victims before they could board a plane bound for
Russia. The ten victims claimed that they would be in Moscow to study the
Russian language and would thereafter seek employment. In the 2013 Trafficking
in Persons (TIP) Report prepared by the U.S Department of State, the
Philippines was placed in the Tier 2 rank which includes “(c)ountries whose
governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s [Trafficking Victims Protection
Act] minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves
into compliance with those standards." Since then the country has tried to
impress the U.S with its anti-trafficking drive in an effort to have Washington
increase the rank. The ten victims were intercepted when five of them were
initially called in for questioning as they were lining up to clear
immigration. All the passengers have been turned over to the Inter-Agency
Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for investigation.
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