President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has ordered two government bodies to step up and harmonize government and private sector efforts in combating human trafficking, saying it could compromise the country's economy and national security. Marcos said this during his meeting with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) in Malacañang on Monday, March 13. In his remarks, the President said the IACAT and the PAOCC must take the lead in harmonizing government initiatives and public-private partnerships to thwart the business of human trafficking "in its multifarious operations on the ground and now becoming more and more important online." In a tweet, the President said the government will push for the welfare of Filipinos everywhere. "Hindi hahayaan ng administrasyong ito ang pagtapak sa karapatan ng mga Pilipino saan man sila naroroon kaya ipaglalaban natin ito sa abot ng ating makakaya (This administration will not allow the trampling of rights of Filipinos wherever they are that's why we will fight for them the best we can)," he said.

Hindi hahayaan ng administrasyong ito ang pagtapak sa karapatan ng mga Pilipino saan man sila naroroon kaya ipaglalaban natin ito sa abot ng ating makakaya. pic.twitter.com/INeQM4lE5J

— Bongbong Marcos (@bongbongmarcos) March 13, 2023

In line with this, Marcos directed the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) to assist the IACAT in launching a campaign to educate the public about the danger posed by syndicates engaged in human trafficking, noting that good information is always a key element in preventing terrible abuses committed against victims of the said illegal act. "So heightened public awareness is key. That's what we spoke about a little bit earlier," he said. "The [PCO] must assist IACAT in its communication campaign against trafficking in persons in order to amplify the effort," he added. The Chief Executive directed the two agencies to halt the operation of human traffickers who exploit the physical and economic weaknesses of vulnerable people, especially women and children. "We are honoring women this month. So let us make sure that we take this time to look after their collective rights and interests in the enforcement and in the measures to remedy all that we implement," Marcos said. The President likewise noted that trafficking in persons is a problem for many countries, especially as the global economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, which made life harder for many people. "People without work and source of livelihood make them more vulnerable to human traffickers, and it's the time for government intervention and protection," he said. "I think the room for improvement here is that we can work together more and coordinate together more and where – that puts meat on the bones of what we have come to call the whole-of-government approach and bring everything to bear to the problems that we are facing," he added. According to Marcos, it was fortunate that the country managed to repatriate human trafficking victims from Myanmar despite the ongoing civil unrest in that country. President Marcos also raised the need for the Philippines to maintain its status in the tier system and "we must make sure that we do not fall out of Tier 1 into another tier." The Trafficking in Persons Office within the US Department of State assesses and monitors all countries' efforts to combat human trafficking yearly and provides each country with a grade according to a three-tier scale. Countries and territories under Tier 1 fully comply with the minimum standards. In contrast, those under Tier 2 do not fully comply with the minimum standards but are making significant efforts to comply with those standards.