Republic of the Whilippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Se

8534
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.

AN ACT
TO COMBAT THE CRIME OF INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING AND TO
PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF VICTIMS

The Constitution, Article XII, Section 14, provides:

The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building and shall ensure
the fundamental equ y before the law of women and men.

The fastest growing international trafficking business is the trade in women, where
women and girls seeking a better life, a good marriage, or a lucrative job abroad,
unexpectedly find themselves in situations of forced prostitution, sweatshop labor,
exploitative domestic servitude, or battering and extreme cruelty.

We need to improve government measures, including legislative measures, to provide
better protection of the rights of women and girls in trafficking, to address the root factors
that place women and girls at risk to traffickers, and to take measures to dismantle the
national, regional and international networks on trafficking.

Hence, this bill seeks to combat the crime of international trafficking and to protect the
rights of victims by providing them humanitarian and legal assistance.

Ad
LUIS RAY! “| 7 fF. VILLAFUERTE, JR.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Queson City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 8534

introduced by HON. LUIS RAYN

IND “LRAY” F, VILLA

AN ACT
TO COMBAT THE CRIME OF INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING AND TO
PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF V

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as “International Trafficking of Women
and Children Victim Protection Act.”

SECTION 2. Purposes. — The purposes of this Act are to condemn and to combat the
international crime of trafficking in women and children and to assist the victims of this
by —

(A) Authorizing and funding an interagency task force to carry out such evaluations and
to issue an annual report of its findings to include the identification of foreign
governments that tolerate or participate in trafficking and fail to cooperate with
international efforts to prosecute perpetrators;

(B) Assisting trafficking victims in the Philippines and those Filipinos victimized abroad
by providing humanitarian and legal assistance;

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. — For the purpose of this Act, the term:

(A) “Trafficking” means the use of deception, coercion, debt bondage, the threat of force,
or the abuse of authority to recruit, transport, transport within or across borders,
purchase, sell, transfer, receive, or harbor a person for the purpose of placing or holding
such person, whether for pay or not, in voluntary servitude, or slavery or slavery-like
conditions, or in forced, bonded, or coerced labor.

(8) “Victim of trafficking” means any person subjected to the treatment described in


paragraph (A).
SECTION 4. interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking. —

(A) Establishment.
(1) in General. — There is established an interagency Task Force to Monitor and
Combat Trafficking (referred to as the “Task Force” in this section). The Task Force
shall be co-chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development and the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights.

(2) Appointment of Members. — The members of the Task Force shall be appointed
by the President. The Task Force shall consist of no more than twelve members.
The Task Force shall include representatives from agencies and non-governmental
organizations working for the protection of women and children.

(3) Staff. - The Task Force shall be authorized to hire up to five staff members to
prepare the annual report described in paragraph (B) and to carry out additional
tasks which the Task Force may require. The Task Force shail regularly hold
meetings on its activities with nongovernmental organizations.

(8) Annual Report to Congress. — Not later than March 1 of each year after the

enactment of this Act, the Task Force, shall submit a report to Congress describing the

status of international trafficking, including—

(1) An assessment of the efforts by the government to combat trafficking. Such an
assessment shall address—

(a) Which governmental authorities are involved in anti-trafficking activities;
(b) What steps the government has taken towards ending the participation of its
officials in trafficking;
(c) What steps the government has taken to prosecute and investigate those
Officials found to be involved in trafficking;
(d) What steps the government has taken to prohibit other individuals form
participating in trafficking, including the investigation, prosecution and
conviction of individuals involved in trafficking, the criminal and civil penalties of
trafficking, and the efficacy of those penalties on reducing or ending trafficking;
(e) what steps the government has taken to assist trafficking victims, including
efforts to prevent victims from being further victimized by police, traffickers, or
others, grants of stays of deportation, and provisions of humanitarian relief,
including provision of mental and physical health care and shelter;
(f) Whether the government is cooperating with governments of other countries
to extradite traffickers when requested;
(g) Whether the government is assisting in international investigations of
transnational trafficking networks;
(h) Whether the government takes necessary steps to help and assist Filipinos
who were victims of trafficking in other countries;
(i) Whether the government refrains from pross \g trafficking victims or
refrains from other discriminatory treatment towards trafficking victims due to
such victims having been trafficked, or the nature of their work, or their having
left the country illegally; and



() Whether the government recognizes the rights of victims and ensures their

access to justice.
(2) Contacts with Nongovemmental Organizations. — In compiling data and
assessing trafficking for the Inter-Agency Task Force to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking Annual Report, the task force shall seek out and maintain contacts with
human rights and other nongovernmental organizations, including receiving reports
and updates from such organizations and, when appropriate, investigating such
reports.

SECTION 5. Trafficking Victim Regulations. — Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Department of Justice shall jointly promulgate regulations of
law enforcement personnel, immigration officials, and Foreign Service officers requiring
that—

(A) Law enforcement, immigration officials, and Foreign Service offenders shall be
trained in identifying and responding to trafficking victims;

(B) Trafficking victims shall not be jailed, fined, or otherwise penalized due to having
been trafficked, or the nature of their work;

(C) Trafficking victims shall have access to legal assistance, information about their
rights, and translation services;

(D) Trafficking victims shall be provided protection if, after an assessment of security
tisk, it is determined that the trafficking victim is susceptible to further victimization; and

(E) Prosecutors shall take into consideration the safety and integrity of trafficked persons
in investigating and prosecuting traffickers.

SECTION 6. Assistance to Trafficking Victims. —

(A) The Philippines. — The Secretary of Health is authorized to provide assistance to
trafficking victims and to their children in the Philippines, including mental and physical
health services, and shelter.

‘ountries. — The President is authorized to provide programs and activities
ino trafficking victims and their children abroad, including provision of
mental and physical health services, and shelter. Such as should give special priority to
Programs by nongovernmental organizations which provide direct services and
resources for trafficking victims.

SECTION 7. Authorization of Appropriation. — There shall be authorized such sum as
may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 8. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof, is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall


remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. — Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to, or
inconsistent with, the provision of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended
accordingly.

SECTION 10. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,