In today’s launch of the Trafficking in Persons Exhibit, DSWD Field Office Eight Assistant Regional Director for Operations, Restituto Macuto, mentioned the essential 3 Cs in counter-trafficking, as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Philippines made its way to Tacloban for the mobile exhibit. Proper Communication, strong coordination, and sustained collaboration among the humanitarian actors are what he called as necessary, so efforts to combat trafficking will succeed. However, he mentioned that underlying all said factors are trust and acceptance by each agency. The DSWD Field Office Eight chairs the Regional Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Trafficking – Violence Against Women and Children (RIACAT-VAWC) in the region, with the IOM as one of the members.
Meanwhile Tacloban City Councilor, Cristina Gonzales lauded the team “for being on top of all these.” She said that the “exhibit is a reminder that we still need to be alert, even beyond Yolanda.”
“The IOM Philippines worked with Vicente Jaime (Veejay) Villafranca, a multi-awarded photojournalist, to collect the stories of super typhoon Yolanda that fell prey to human trafficking, rescued and are now on their journeys toward recovery and re-integration. The collection, entitled Deeper Scars, seeks to increase awareness on preventing human trafficking through the use of creative images and highlight the need for recovery and re-integration assistance to victims of trafficking, not only in the form of livelihood support to the victims, their families and their communities.”
The event was held at the Robinson”s Place – Tacloban. The IOM said the exhibit will then be moved to the city’s airport for a few days.