Expanded Trafficking News Today

The Philippine constitution protects the right of every Filipino to travel. Thanks to the new departure procedures that the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) will roll out in a few days, our constitutionally protected right to travel is about to become illusory. Netizens have already started lambasting the new protocols. In…

The main proponent of a tougher law against human trafficking has joined the outcry against new departure rules for Filipino international travelers imposed by an inter-agency council and being enforced by the Bureau of Immigration (BI). Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros, as the author and sponsor of the Expanded…

THE Court of Appeals has issued a writ of habeas corpus ordering the immediate release from detention of four Chinese nationals who were among those arrested in the June 27 raid by the Philippine National Police Anti-Cyber Crime Group (PNP-ACG) of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) service provider hub…

BANGUED, Abra – The whole Pilar town of this province has been placed under Commission on Election (Comelec) control as 30 personnel of the Pilar Municipal Police Station have been relieved in connection with the shooting incident on March 29 between the Vice Mayor and the police. Photo courtesy

(Screengrab from Pilar, Abra LGU Facebook video) MANILA - The Philippine National Police (PNP) has filed charges against Pilar, Abra Vice Mayor Jaja Josefina Disono and four others following a standoff between the police and her bodyguards after they ignored a checkpoint at the town center last March 30. In a statement on Thursday, PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said complaints for violation of the Expanded Trafficking in Persons Act were filed against Disono and her brother, Pilar town Mayor Ma...

Five persons allegedly involved in the operations of Heart of Siam and Spa Aichi were arrested. NBI officer-in-charge Director Eric Distor said the operations were conducted by the NBI Anti-Human Trafficking Division (NBI-AHTRAD) along with the Department of Justice Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (DoJ-IACAT). Two were arrested at the Heart of Siam – a man identified as Robert Que Garcia and a male minor who has been turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DS...