President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has urged the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and related government departments to bolster their stance against human trafficking.

This directive aims to retain the Philippines’ Tier 1 ranking by the US State Department, a top classification signifying a nation’s active compliance with measures to counteract trafficking, said Mico Clavano, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ), on Saturday, August 26.

The announcement came ahead of the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, scheduled for the first week of September, where Asean leaders are anticipated to discuss the human trafficking issue.

Clavano, who is also part of the DOJ’s IACAT, confirmed during a news forum on Saturday in Quezon City that the President is thoroughly briefed on the extent of the trafficking problem in the nation.

“Yes. We have given the President a situationer previously on the area of human trafficking and he understands very clearly the depth and how wide-spread this problem is,” Clavano stated.

President Marcos Jr. has expressed explicit intentions to maintain the Tier 1 status.

“In fact, he has given specific instructions to maintain our Tier 1 ranking. That means he will support all the facets and all the programs that the IACAT has already put in place and he would like to enhance those programs,” Clavano said.

Recent efforts to confront the issue include the 2023 Revised Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking Guidelines on Departure Formalities for International-bound Filipino Passengers. These revised guidelines, Clavano mentioned, could equip authorities to better combat human trafficking.

Highlighting the unique challenge for the Philippines, Clavano remarked, “We have to understand that our population is a very migratory population. Around 10 percent of our population seeks to travel abroad and find their opportunities abroad.”

To counteract potential trafficking risks linked to this migratory trend, solutions proposed involve creating more job opportunities within the Philippines and restricting trafficking avenues, measures that the 2023 guidelines address.

Further, in collaboration with Asean allies, the IACAT and the DOJ are focusing on transnational trafficking through coordination meetings and summits. They have pinpointed specific hotspots for human trafficking.

“The international nature or the cross-boundary or trans-boundary nature of the crime is something that we are really looking into,” Clavano said, listing Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos as known trafficking hotspots for Filipinos.