TIP UPDATE: CORRUPTION IMPEDES ANTI-TIP EFFORTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 003574 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP, G/TIP, INL, DRL LABOR FOR ILAB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KCRM PGOV KCOR RP SUBJECT: TIP UPDATE: CORRUPTION IMPEDES ANTI-TIP EFFORTS REF: A. MANILA 2672 ¶B. MANILA 944 ¶C. 05 MANILA 6039 ¶D. 05 MANILA 5710 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) has made some progress in combating trafficking in persons (TIP) in 2006. However, there have been no additional convictions under the 2003 Anti-TIP Law since December 2005 (refs C and D),despite dozens of human trafficking cases pending or already on trial and about 80 other ongoing investigations. Slow processing times in the courts, often three to four years, is one reason, but corruption within GRP law enforcement agencies appears to be another key obstacle. Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) continue to provide assistance to victims and place pressure on GRP officials to bolster anti-TIP activities. Some new USG programs should help to attack corruption in major institutions. End Summary. -------------- New cases, but awaiting more convictions -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Emboffs at all levels continue to encourage further progress against trafficking in persons in discussions with GRP officials and members of civil society. We have underscored that, although the USG removed the Philippines from the Tier 2 Watch List in 2005, the Philippines might find itself back on the Watch List unless there are discernible increases in prosecutions and convictions of traffickers in 2006. According to Philippine Department of Justice (PDOJ) estimates, 68 cases are currently pending or already on trial, up from 58 in 2005, with PDOJ also considering filing charges in approximately another 80 cases, based on the preliminary investigations. (PDOJ is currently working to update these estimates, which PDOJ oficials believe to be incomplete.) ¶3. (SBU) PDOJ officials confirmed to poloff that there have been no new convictions under the 2003 Anti-TIP Law (R.A. 9208) since December 2005, when four traffickers received life sentences and two individuals pled guilty to lesser charges in separate cases (refs C and D). According to PDOJ contacts, the December 2005 trials came to a speedy resolution largely because of continuous pressure from President Arroyo and her staff on PDOJ prosecutors, with the specific goal of removing GRP from the G/TIP Watch List. President Arroyo plans to address a major TIP conference in Manila on September 20, and will likely make further strong exhortations for rapid progress in bringing traffickers to justice. ¶4. (U) One important case, People vs Dennis Reci, involving a Manila-based police officer on charges of child sexual exploitation under the 2003 law, continues to move forward. Reci owned a brothel at which allegedly trafficked minors performed sexual acts for paying customers. The key witness, one of the underage victims, testified in January and was reunited with her extended family in metro-Manila. -------------- Corruption a major problem -------------- ¶5. (SBU) According to multiple NGO sources, corruption at both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) remains a major problem in obtaining more prosecutions and convictions under the 2003 law. There are allegations of investigators receiving bribes from suspects to stop the arrest of a suspect or to prevent the proper collection of evidence at the scene. One NGO representative cited the case of a co-owner of a brothel, whom police released from custody after he bribed the police officer-in-charge -- in plain sight of NGO workers. There are reports of police refusal to include key portions of testimony from victims or witnesses in affidavits after the suspect bribed the police officers conducting the interviews. NGO officials have also asserted that police regularly refuse to include important evidence in the investigative reports for the prosecution, such as the use of marked money to tie a specific person to the crime. ¶6. (SBU) According to one local NGO official, NGOs have to be a &constant presence8 throughout the investigation process in order to stave off attempts at bribery. In some instances, NGO efforts have led to threats and intimidation tactics, apparently from PNP and NBI officials, including MANILA 00003574 002 OF 003 hate mail, visible tailing of NGO vehicles, and verbal threats. ¶7. (U) PDOJ recently launched an investigation into an alleged extortion racket among immigration officials in Cebu in the Central Visayas. Secretary of Justice Raul Gonzalez claimed publicly that immigration officers at the Cebu International Airport have accepted payments ranging from P200,000 (USD $4,000) to P600,000 (USD $12,000) in exchange for the entry of undocumented aliens from India, Pakistan, China, and Korea. Gonzalez admitted that human smuggling/trafficking is "our number 1 problem... not only in Central Visayas, this is everywhere." -------------- Important role of NGOs -------------- ¶8. (U) NGOs, notaly the Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF) and the Inernational Justice Mission (IJM),continue to advace the anti-TIP agenda. VFF, which the State Deartment's Trafficking in Persons Report highlighted in 2004 for its best practices, recently renewd a five-year partnership agreement with the Phiippine Ports Authority to continue to operate hafway houses for victims and potential victims ofTIP, currently in Manila, Batangas, Sorsogon, and Davao. It plans to open additional halfway housesand safe houses for TIP victims in other regions VFF estimates that it has assisted more than 1,000 victims since 2001, and has filed 13 separae cases on behalf of 51 victims under the 2003 law. In July 2006, VFF signed a 10-year agreement wih the Manila International Airport Authority to stablish an airport halfway house for TIP victim. Under this partnership, VFF will also train arport immigration and customsofficials on how to dentify potential victims of human trafficking. ol/C was one of the featured speakers at the signig ceremony. ¶9. (U) IJM focuses on trfficked children and sexually exploited children. Since January, IJM's legal advocacy program has initiated nine new cases with the PDOJ. Its intelligence and investigation reports have led to the arrest of 11 suspects, six of whom are currently in detention without bail. IJM investigations have not yet led to any convictions, but IJM's private prosecutors are currently handling 21 separate court cases in conjunction with PDOJ counterparts. They have noted, however, that ten of those cases are experiencing "significant delays" in the courts. Since IJM started operations in the Philippines in 2001, IJM has successfully rescued 70 children who were victims of sexual exploitation, including alleged TIP victims. It has also provided information to police leading to closure of twelve bars that were employing and sexually exploiting children and victims of trafficking. ¶10. (U) NGOs have further identified nine specific "hot spot" regions where trafficking appears most serious, and have called on the GRP to focus its efforts in the following additional areas: - Caraga - Cotabato - Zamboanga - Davao - Samar - Leyte - Cebu - Negros Oriental - Negros Occidental -------------- Comment -------------- ¶11. (SBU) While corruption within law enforcement ranks has impeded GRP progress on its anti-TIP efforts, new USG programs -- including the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Threshold Country program for the Philippines and the assignment of an INL-funded Senior Law Enforcement Advisor to assist with the PNP's Integrated Transformation Program -- should make a positive difference. Cooperation between the NGO community and GRP officials has been key to Philippine anti-TIP successes thus far, a reflection of the Philippines' vibrant civil society. Major NGOs nonetheless share the USG's disappointment that cases take so long and that corruption has tainted or damaged legal proceedings. Local as well as international attention to the problem will remain essential in ensuring further progress against TIP. Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: MANILA 00003574 003 OF 003 http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/ Jones