Binay thanked Marilou
Bagsit and Marivic Capistrano, for cooperating with the Philippine
government in running after Lim in partnership with the Blas F. Ople
Policy Center, a non-government organization that represents the OFW
sector in the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
“This is a good
example of how teamwork can lead to more convictions in the fight
against human trafficking and illegal recruitment. We call on other OFWs to emulate these two women by reporting incidence of abuse and
illegal recruitment to our embassies abroad and also to the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration or to NGOs such as the Ople
Center,” Binay said in a press conference at the Coconut Palace.
The Vice-President
also thanked the Malaysian government particularly the Malaysian Royal
Police, the prosecutors who handled the case, and the Sessions Court
for resolving the three-year old trafficking case and giving credence
and importance to the testimony of the two OFW victims.
Both Marilou and
Marivic were recruited to
Malaysia
in 2008. They escaped from Lim’s townhouse on June 30, 2008 after
suffering physical and verbal abuse from said recruiter. Lim is known
to slap his victims and deprive them of food and salaries especially
when they are returned to his agency by Malaysian employers. Some of
his recruits end up as prostitutes against their will.
Binay also noted a
sharp rise in the number of convictions for human trafficking cases
with a total of 66 convictions since the start of the current
administration compared to 20 convictions under the previous
administration.
He stressed the need
for victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment to come
forward and seek government assistance in filing cases against their
recruiters.
“We also call on the
media and local governments to continue reminding the public not to be
swayed by promises of quick deployment overseas made by illegal
recruiters,” he added.
Binay also called for
the passage of the amendments to the Anti-Trafficking Act particularly
on Section 6 which provides the right to privacy to the accused in
human trafficking cases. He noted that this emboldens human
traffickers since despite pending warrants of arrest, the law
prohibits law enforcers, the media, and non-government organizations
from revealing their identities thus enabling them to recruit more
victims especially in remote areas.
Susan Ople, head of
the Ople Center, said that the conviction of “Alfred Lim” is the first
international case involving a Singaporean trafficker filed by two
OFWs. It is also considered a landmark case because “Lim” has been
known to have victimized nearly a hundred OFWs, mostly women forced
into oppressive work conditions including prostitution.
With the conviction of
“Lim”, the Center hopes that more of his victims will come out openly
and provide information about “Lim’s” cohorts in the Philippines.
Lim’s victims can
contact the Blas F. Ople Center for assistance through hotline:
8335337.
