AUTHORITIES have rescued 15 persons, including a 14 year old boy and a senior citizen in Bongao, Tawi-tawi befor they could board a vessel to Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia, said the local anti-human trafficking group.
Rosabella Sulani, head of the Municipal Inter-Agency Committee Against Trafficking (MIACAT) in Bongao, said the 15 individuals were reportedly on their way to Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia via a backdoor channel without the necessary documents for legal work and travel abroad.
“Their lack of legal documents revealed that they were potential illegal entrants and vulnerable to human trafficking. They were reportedly promised job opportunities in the destination country,” Sulani said, citing the report from the Naval Forces in Western Mindanao (NFWM).
Of the 15 rescued persons, six were females and nine were males.
The MIACAT team along with personnel from NFWM’s Naval Intelligence Operatives, Tawi-Tawi police, Air Force Intelligence Operatives and the Local Council Against Trafficking and Violence Against Women and Children (LCAT VAWC), intercepted the potential victims on board the M/V Trisha Kerstine II, M/V Everqueen of Asia and P/B Lady Mera docked at Bongao port on June 20 and June 21.
Sulani said nine among the rescued individuals came from Sulu, one of them the 14-year old boy; three from Dipolog City including a senior citizen; one from Molave, Zamboanga del Sur: one from Butuan, Agusan del Norte and one from Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay.
Lt. Chester Cabaltera, NFWM spokesperson, said the June 20 and 21 rescue was the fourth this year and brought to 40 the total number of persons the anti-trafficking body had rescued.
