Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Friday lauded the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking after the Philippines kept its Tier 1 status in the US state department’s assessment and monitoring of the global fight against human trafficking.
But the United States noted the Philippine government’s failure to pursue the investigation of labor trafficking incidents and to secure the conviction of public officials involved in such crimes.
“Forced labor and sex trafficking of men, women and children within the country remains a significant problem,” said the Trafficking in Persons report, which US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made public on Thursday.
“Although the government meets the minimum standards, it did not convict any officials for complicity in trafficking crimes and did not vigorously investigate labor trafficking crimes that occurred within the Philippines,” it added. —Marlon Ramos