A Justice Zone (JZ) that will “tighten all loopholes in the investigation, arrest, prosecution, trial and judgment phases of anti-trafficking cases” was launched in Zamboanga City on Friday, Feb. 24.
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo said the Zamboanga City JZ “will pilot breakthrough initiatives towards a more victim-centered approach that will hopefully pave the way for a more effective counter-trafficking program.”
Gesmundo declared that “the Judicial and the Executive Branches of government are standing together and taking a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of human trafficking in our country.”
In his message, Gesmundo cited the United States Trafficking in Persons Report which stated that in 2021, the Philippines tallied 1,802 victims – 1,251 female and 551 male -- who were identified and assisted.
Of the number, 535 were victims of sex trafficking, 501 of forced labor, and 766 of unspecified forms of exploitation, he said citing the report.
He also said: “Human trafficking is the fastest growing crime globally, and is the 3rd largest crime next to drugs and weapons smuggling, according to the International Labor Organization. An estimated 50 million people are affected by this modern form of slavery, including 28 million in forced labor and 22 million in forced marriages.”
At the same time, he said: “Almost one in eight of all the 28 million in forced labor are children, and more than half of these children are in commercial sexual exploitation. Of these, four out of five are women or girls.”
“The data is staggering. But more so when we imagine the human lives, the families, and the communities destroyed by human trafficking,” Chief Justice Gesmundo lamented.
A JZ is a place of dialogue for swift and fair administration of the criminal justice system.
It is where judges, prosecutors, law enforces and representatives of local government units (LGUs) meet on common interests, coordination, and information sharing.
They are projects of the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) which is composed of the Supreme Court (SC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The other JZs are in Quezon City, Cebu City, Davao City, Angeles City, Bacolod City, Naga City, Calamba City, Balanga City, and Baguio City.
With Gesmundo in Zamboanga were were the representatives of the other JSCC principals: DOJ Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez and DILG Undersecretary for Operations Lord A. Villanueva.
The Chief Justice recognized and commended “the valiant efforts of the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking, or the IACAT, which is led by the DOJ, and these efforts have resulted in a remarkable increase in apprehensions and arrests.”
“Our courts are also to be commended for the strong and consistent message we have sent through our judgments of convictions against traffickers and their abettors,“ he said.
But, he stressed: “The reality on the ground is that the numbers of raids and arrests do not often result to prosecutions and sanctions. It is an unfortunate fact that even before cases could be filed, or in instances when they are filed, even before they could be heard, the victims and witnesses no longer want to participate.”
Thus, he pointed out, “the months of investigative work and case build-up of our law enforcers and prosecutors are laid to waste. But who can blame the victims? At the root of human trafficking is an even greater evil, poverty. Money allows the human traffickers to proliferate and perpetuate their illegal activities. Money affords them impunity.”
“Not anymore,” the Chief Justice declared.
He said the first among these initiatives is the establishment of victim-sensitive courts which will train justice sector actors to act with sensitivity at all times towards victims of human trafficking to ensure that the victims will be provided a safe and secure environment that will embolden them to pursue their fight against their abusers.
He said that he will propose to his fellow JSCC principals the expansion of the coverage of the Victims Compensation Fund. “The Victims Compensation Fund is statutorily administered by the DOJ principally for the witness protection program and for unwarranted incarcerations. the required docket fees for every new case filed in our courts,” he explained.
Thus, he recommended the increase in the amount forming a fund for victims of human trafficking to provide much needed assistance to victims “not only to sustain them and their families pending trial, but hopefully to give them a fresh start post judgment.”
“This hopefully will finally put a stop to the vicious cycle of victimization caused by economic hardships.”
The third breakthrough initiative shared by the Chief Justice is the provision of video conferencing equipment to prosecution offices and courts for mandatory use in anti-trafficking cases “to insulate the victims from re-living their harrowing experiences face to face with their abusers, within the confines allowed by the Constitution.”
“So today as we inaugurate the Zamboanga City Justice Zone, we open its doors to all victims of human trafficking as your safe haven. Allow us to treat you with the consideration and respect you deserve as human beings. We undertake to provide you with truly responsive and real-time justice,” Chief Justice Gesmundo concluded.
SC Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh said that Zamboanga City was chosen as the first specialty JZ “because the fight against human trafficking began here.”
Justice Singh referred to the 2011 case investigated by the Zamboanga City police which filed “a criminal charge for cross-border trafficking in persons was filed in the Regional Trial Court of Zamboanga City by Prosecutor Ricardo Cabaron and then Prosecutor Darlene Pajarito.”
The case involved a promise made to the victims that they would work abroad as waitresses, but ended with the victims being brought to Sabah and enslaved in sex trafficking, she said.
“In a record five months, trial was completed and a decision was promulgated convicting the traffickers and sentencing them to life imprisonment,” she added.
DILG Undersecretary Villanueva and DOJ Undersecretary Vasquez also delivered messages on behalf of DILG Secretary Benjamin D. Abalos, Jr. and DOJ Secretary Jose Crispin C. Remulla, respectively.
The SC’s public information office (PIO) said that Zamboanga City Mayor John M. Dalipe gave the welcome remarks, while Mr. Thanh Le PSM, Counsellor of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Australian Embassy in the Philippines and His Excellency Luc Veron, Ambassador of the European Union to the Philippines gave a message on behalf of their respective agencies.
The PIO said the JSCC principals and representatives were joined by Ambassador Veron, Mr. Le, Mayor Dalipe, and Zamboanga City Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Peter V. Eisma who all signed the “Wall of Commitment.”
It said that also present during the JZ launching were SC Associate Justices Jhosep Y. Lopez, Japar B. Dimaampao, Jose Midas P. Marquez, Antonio T Kho, Jr.; Justice Michael Frederick L. Musngi of the Sandiganbayan; Justice Jennifer Joy Chua Ong of the Court of Appeals; Deputy Court Administrator Leo T. Madrazo; Assistant Court Administrator and PIO Chief Brian Keith F. Hosaka; Deputy Clerk of Court and Judicial Reform Program Administrator Laura C.H. Del Rosario; and Deputy Clerk of Court and Chief Technology Officer Jed Sherwin G. Uy, DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV and DILG Undersecretary Oscar Valenzuela.