Task force on lookout for gangs preying on survivors

An anti-trafficking task force is monitoring the evacuees of typhoon-hit areas in eastern Visayas who are housed in Cebu City evacuation centers due to concerns that they are vulnerable to prostitution.

Cebu City Prosecutor Ma. Luisa Ratilla of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) in Cebu City said they received some reports that teenage evacuees have fallen prey to traffickers.

“We’ve been receiving reports that some evacuees have become victims of trafficking but we still have to verify them,” she said.

Ratilla said they’ve confirmed one case of a minor who was offered a job related to prostitution.

“We talked to him, he told us somebody approached him and told him that they will adopt him and give him a job. He was told to go to an address here, but we advised him not to,” Ratilla said

The boy aged 15 years old, was orphaned when his parents died during the supertyphoon.

With the closure of the Guadalupe evacuation center, Ratilla said they have lost contact with the boy.

She said they will continue to visit and monitor the remaining evacuation sites.

Ratilla said they have been mandated by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to check on evacuation centers to monitor cases of human trafficking. Correspondent Jose Santino S. Bunachita