Senator Nancy Binay on Tuesday, August 29 urged the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking's (IACAT) to maximize the use of modern technology in its efforts to fight human trafficking.

Sen. Nancy Binay (Senate PRIB Photo) 

IACAT and other related agencies should also consider improving their profiling of travelers so as not to burden Filipino travelers with additional documents.

Binay, head of the Senate Committee on Tourism, said the new departure guidelines set by the IACAT are very restrictive to travelers yet inconclusive in stopping trafficking activities.

"Technology is there to make it convenient for passengers  and make them feel secured. Technology also plays a huge role in curbing human trafficking," Binay said.

"Kung kaduda-duda talaga ang background ng byahero at kasamang biktima (If a travelers background is indeed suspicious including the victim)—that's the time immigration people should do their jobs of cross-checking the info they have in their database and compare it to the claims of the person in question," she said.

"Let's maximize the use of information technology to correctly profile travelers," Binay appealed.

She also said she finds the policy of providing additional travel documents "coercive, restrictive and redundant."

The senator said immigration officials should use a combination of methods and criteria to determine travelers who may pose as a security risk.

For one, immigration officials should keep in mind that those who hold a visa already underwent thorough scrutiny.

Airport authorities should then watch out for those visiting countries that do not require a visa and have a record of human trafficking cases.

"We all know that visa applications are all scrutinized for accuracy and consistency. Kapag medyo kaduda-duda ang impormasyong nakalagay, (If there is something doubtful on the information indicated), expect an outright rejection of your application," she pointed out.

"Ang dapat sigurong higpitan yung mga babyahe papunta sa (Maybe they should be strict on travelers going to) countries na walang visa at mataas ang (that are visa-free and have a huge) human trafficking cases—in this case, cross referencing is necessary to check the background of a particular traveler," Binay stressed.

And since passengers have the option to check-in online, the system can already be linked to a highly-secured database where red flags are forwarded to authorities for immediate attention.

"With the advancement of technology in airports and the integrated immigration watchlist of governments, analytics or 'risk scoring algorithms' can be an extra safeguard to assess high-risk individuals based on a combination of factors like travel behavioral patterns, etc that would warrant further investigation," she pointed out.

"And since inter-agency naman ang konsepto ng (is the concept of) international law enforcement on human trafficking, predictive analytics and facial recognition should be the standard in profiling travelers)," she stressed.

Binay said she hopes that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) can appoint immigration officers who are well-trained to interpret data contextually and make informed decisions based on the information at hand.

"Of course, human judgment is prone to mistakes, that's why oversight is essential," she said.

"That's why we need trained professional stationed in the frontlines to treat every traveler with respect and sensitivity, and we can have mechanisms to address false positives to protect an individual's rights," the lawmaker suggested.