Guv urges vigilance vs human trafficking

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental governor Eugenio Jose Lacson urged the public to be vigilant against human trafficking.

Lacson issued this call on Friday during the provincial government’s celebration of 2023 World Day against Trafficking, Child Pornography and Violence Against Women and Children with the theme “Reach every victim of human trafficking leave no one behind” held at grounds of the provincial lagoon.

The trafficking of individuals is not just a crime, it is a form of slavery and a serious violation of human rights, Lacson said.

He also said that “sex trafficking, involuntary servitude, forced labor, using of child soldiers, child trafficking, child labor and even debt bondage are just among the many forms of abuse that we as a nation and as a region must endeavor to eradicate.”

He also said that trafficking has no borders and thrives on the vulnerabilities of people.

“It is a threat that undermines the basic foundation of human decency,” the governor further said.

Given the complexity and magnitude of the problem, it is impossible to deny that solving the issue of human trafficking is a difficult endeavor, he added.

Lacson pointed out that “while technology, digitalization and the internet have made human life easier and faster they have also opened another venue and manner of abuse, particularly for the children.”

Citing UNICEF data, he said the Philippines has now become one of the world’s hotspots of livestream sexual abuse.

The governor lamented that economic hardship is compelling many Filipino families to participate in this online sexual trafficking just to survive.

With this grim picture in consideration, Lacson said ” I would like to take this opportunity to urge everyone to  be more aware and vigilant, for it is only through our  united and collective  vigilance that we can effectively help eradicate this menace in our midst.”