ZAMBOANGA CITY – Five would-be trafficking victims were rescued from a pension house here on Thursday, September 12.
DOWNTOWN Zamboanga City
Authorities arrested a suspected trafficker identified as Regie Dando of Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.
Dando reportedly promised the victims, a man and four women, work in Laos.
The group intended to pass through Tawi-Tawi, considered as the southern backdoor, on their way to their destination.
Authorities, however, got wind of the plan and rescued the victims.
The suspect faces charges for violation of Republic Act 9208 as amended by Republic Act 10364, the Expanded Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.
The operation was jointly conducted by officials and personnel from the Women and Children Protection Center-Mindanao Field Unit, Zamboanga City Police Intelligence Unit, Central Police Station, DSWD-9, Philippine Coast Guard-Southwestern Mindanao, NISG-WM, Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Trafficking 9, Regional Anti-Trafficking Task Force 9, Zamboanga Sea-Based Anti-Trafficking Task Force 9, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, and the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime.