Policy, Human Rights, and Intent
- The State declares that it values the dignity of every human person and guarantees respect of individual rights (Section 2).
- The State gives highest priority to measures and programs that promote human dignity, protect people from threats of violence and exploitation, eliminate trafficking in persons, and mitigate pressures for involuntary migration and servitude, for recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration (Section 2).
- The State policy recognizes the equal rights and inherent human dignity of women and men, and anchors this recognition on enumerated international human rights instruments and conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, CEDAW, CRC, Migrant Workers Convention, and UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime including its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, among others (Section 2).
Key Definitions Established
- Trafficking in Persons covers recruitment, obtaining, hiring, providing, offering, transporting, transfer, maintaining, harboring, or receipt of persons within or across national borders by means including threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of vulnerability, or giving/receiving payments or benefits to achieve consent over another person, for the purpose of exploitation (Section 3).
- Exploitation includes, at minimum, exploitation or prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, servitude, or removal or sale of organs (Section 3).
- Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, adoption, or receipt of a child for exploitation, or adoption induced by consideration for exploitative purposes, is trafficking even without the means listed earlier (Section 3).
- Child means a person below eighteen (18) years of age, or one over eighteen (18) who cannot fully protect himself/herself due to physical or mental disability or condition and because of abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination (Section 3).
- Prostitution means acts/transactions/schemes involving use of a person for sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct in exchange for money, profit, or any other consideration (Section 3).
- Forced Labor, Slavery, Involuntary Servitude, Sex Tourism, Sexual Exploitation, Debt Bondage, Pornography are defined with the specific elements stated in Section 3.
- Council means the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking created under Section 20 of the Act (Section 3).
Unlawful Acts of Trafficking
- Section 4 makes it unlawful for any person, natural or juridical, to commit trafficking acts enumerated below.
- It is unlawful to recruit, obtain, hire, provide, offer, transport, transfer, maintain, harbor, or receive a person by any means—including under the pretext of domestic/overseas employment, training, or apprenticeship—for prostitution, pornography, or sexual exploitation (Section 4(a)).
- It is unlawful to introduce or match for money, profit, or consideration any person (and, under Republic Act No. 6955, any Filipino woman) to a foreign national for marriage to acquire/buy/offer/sell/trade the person to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude, or debt bondage (Section 4(b)).
- It is unlawful to offer or contract marriage (real or simulated) for acquiring/buying/offering/selling/trading for the same exploitative purposes (Section 4(c)).
- It is unlawful to organize tours/travel plans using and offering persons for prostitution, pornography, or sexual exploitation (Section 4(d)).
- It is unlawful to maintain or hire a person to engage in prostitution or pornography (Section 4(e)).
- It is unlawful to adopt persons by consideration for exploitative purposes, or to facilitate such adoption for prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude, or debt bondage (Section 4(f)).
- It is unlawful to adopt or facilitate adoption of persons for the exploitative purposes listed in Section 4(f) (Section 4(g)).
- It is unlawful to recruit/hire/adopt/transport/transfer/obtain/harbor/maintain/provide/offer/receive or abduct a person by threat/use of force, fraud/deceit/violence, coercion or intimidation for removal or sale of organs (Section 4(h)).
- It is unlawful to recruit, transport, obtain, transfer, harbor, maintain, offer, hire, provide, receive or adopt a child to engage in armed activities in the Philippines or abroad (Section 4(i)).
- It is unlawful to recruit/transport/transfer/harbor/obtain/maintain/hire/offer/provide/adopt or receive a person by means defined in Section 3 for forced labor, slavery, debt bondage, and involuntary servitude, including schemes intended to cause the person to believe serious harm or physical restraint will occur, or to abuse/threaten use of law or legal processes (Section 4(j)).
- It is unlawful to recruit/transport/harbor/obtain/transfer/maintain/hire/offer/provide/adopt/receive a child for exploitation or trading, including baring and/or selling a child for consideration or barter for exploitation (Section 4(k)).
- Trafficking for exploitation of children includes the enumerated child-exploitation purposes in Section 4(k)(1) through Section 4(k)(4).
- It is unlawful to organize or direct other persons to commit trafficking offenses (Section 4(l)).
Attempt, Accomplices, and Accessories
- Attempted trafficking in persons applies where there are acts to initiate commission of a trafficking offense but the offender fails to execute all elements by accident or by a cause other than voluntary desistance; overt acts are deemed attempted trafficking (Section 4-A).
- For child victims, attempted trafficking includes enumerated acts in Section 4-A(a) through Section 4-A(e), including facilitating travel of a child alone without valid reason and without required clearance/permit, executing affidavits of consent for adoption for consideration, recruiting a woman to bear a child for selling the child, simulating birth to sell, and soliciting a child and acquiring custody for selling.
- Accomplice liability attaches to any person who knowingly aids, abets, or cooperates in execution by previous or simultaneous acts defined in the Act; punishment follows Section 10(c) (Section 4-B).
- Accessories include persons with knowledge of commission who, without participation as principal or accomplices, take part by profiting/assisting offender to profit; concealing/destroying bodies/effects/instruments to prevent discovery; or harboring/concealing/assisting escape of the principal where accessory acts with abuse of public functions or is known habitually guilty; punishment follows Section 10(d) (Section 4-C).
Promoting Acts and Qualified Trafficking
- Section 5 makes unlawful acts that promote or facilitate trafficking, including producing/printing/distributing fake or tampered counseling certificates, registration stickers, overseas employment certificates, and other government certificates/decals/markers for compliance with regulatory and pre-departure requirements when done to promote trafficking (Section 5(b)).
- Tampering with or influencing evidence is prohibited when done in an investigation or prosecution of a trafficking case (Section 5(h)).
- It is prohibited to destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or possess— or attempt the same—any actual or purported passport or travel/immigration/working permit or document, or any actual or purported government identification, in order to prevent/restrict without lawful authority the person’s liberty to move or travel to maintain labor or services (Section 5(i)).
- It is prohibited to utilize one’s office to impede investigation, prosecution, or execution of lawful orders in a trafficking case (Section 5(j)).
- Qualified trafficking applies when violations of Section 4 fall under the circumstances stated in Section 6.
- Violations are qualified when, among others, the offender is a spouse, ascendant, parent, sibling, guardian, or a person who exercises authority over the trafficked person, or when committed by a public officer or employee (Section 6(d)).
- Violations are qualified when the offender is a member of the military or law enforcement agencies (Section 6(f)).
- Violations are qualified when, by reason or on occasion of trafficking, the offended party dies, becomes insane, suffers mutilation, or is afflicted with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (Section 6(g)).
- Violations are qualified when the offender commits one or more violations of Section 4 over a period of sixty (60) or more days, whether continuous or not (Section 6(h)).
- Violations are qualified when the offender directs or, through another, manages the trafficking victim in carrying out the exploitative purpose (Section 6(i)).
Confidentiality, Investigation, and Prosecution
- Confidentiality must be protected at any stage of investigation, rescue, prosecution, and trial (Section 7).
- Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, court personnel, social workers, medical practitioners, and parties to the case must protect the trafficked person’s privacy (Section 7).
- Law enforcement officers/prosecutors/judges may order closed-door investigation, prosecution, or trial when necessary for a fair and impartial proceeding after considering circumstances and the best interest of the parties (Section 7).
- The name, personal circumstances, and any information tending to establish identity of the trafficked person and family shall not be disclosed to the public (Section 7).
- Media and content creators (editor/publisher/reporter/columnist; announcer/producer in TV and radio; film producer/director; and any person using tri-media or electronic information technology) may not cause publicity of the name, personal circumstances, or identity information of the trafficked person unless the trafficked person makes a written statement duly notarized knowingly, voluntarily, and willingly waiving confidentiality (Section 7).
- Officers, prosecutors, judges, and relevant personnel must be trained on confidentiality to protect privacy and encourage complaints (Section 7).
- Law enforcement agencies must immediately initiate investigation and counter-trafficking intelligence gathering upon receipt of statements/affidavits from victims, migrant workers, or their families possessing knowledge of trafficking cases (Section 8(a)).
- Any person with personal knowledge of commission— including the trafficked person, parents, spouse, siblings, children, or legal guardian—may file a trafficking complaint (Section 8(b)).
- Cases involving trafficking should not be dismissed based on an affidavit of desistance executed by victims, parents, or legal guardians; public/private prosecutors must oppose and object to dismissal motions (Section 8(c)).
- Any act involving the means in the Act or any attempt thereof for securing an affidavit of desistance is punishable under the Act (Section 8(c)).
Sentences, Sanctions, and Legal Consequences
- Offenders committing acts enumerated in Section 4 face imprisonment of twenty (20) years and a fine of not less than PHP 1,000,000.00 but not more than PHP 2,000,000.00 (Section 10(a)).
- Offenders committing acts under Section 4-A face imprisonment of fifteen (15) years and a fine of not less than PHP 500,000.00 but not more than PHP 1,000,000.00 (Section 10(b)).
- Offenders committing acts under Section 4-B face imprisonment of fifteen (15) years and a fine of not less than PHP 500,000.00 but not more than PHP 1,000,000.00 (Section 10(c)).
- Every conviction automatically causes and carries automatic revocation of the license/registration of the recruitment agency involved in trafficking; the license of a recruitment agency that trafficked a child is automatically revoked (Section 10(c)).
- Offenders committing acts under Section 5 face imprisonment of fifteen (15) years and a fine of not less than PHP 500,000.00 but not more than PHP 1,000,000.00 (Section 10(d)).
- Qualified trafficking under Section 6 carries life imprisonment and a fine of not less than PHP 2,000,000.00 but not more than PHP 5,000,000.00 (Section 10(e)).
- Violations of Section 7 (confidentiality) face imprisonment of six (6) years and a fine of not less than PHP 500,000.00 but not more than PHP 1,000,000.00 (Section 10(f)).
- If the offender is a corporation, partnership, association, club, establishment, or any juridical person, the penalty is imposed on the owner, president, partner, manager, and/or any responsible officer who participated or knowingly permitted or failed to prevent commission (Section 10(g)).
- Registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and license to operate of the erring recruitment agency, corporation, association, religious group, tour/travel agent, club/establishment, or any place of entertainment is cancelled and revoked permanently; the owner/president/partner/manager is barred from operating similar establishments under a different name (Section 10(h)).
- If the offender is a foreigner, the offender must be immediately deported after serving the sentence and is barred permanently from entering the country (Section 10(i)).
- Government employees who issue or approve issuance of travel exit clearances, passports, registration certificates, counseling certificates, marriage license, and similar documents to persons or entities who fail to observe required procedures are administratively liable, without prejudice to criminal liability; on conviction, they are dismissed and barred permanently from holding public office, and retirement/benefits are forfeited (Section 10(j)).
- Conviction, by final judgment, of the adopter for any offense under the Act results in immediate rescission of the decree of adoption (Section 10(k)).
Using Trafficked Persons; Prescriptive Periods
- Buying or engaging the services of a trafficked person for prostitution is penalized as follows (Section 11).
- The Probation Law (Presidential Decree No. 968) shall not apply to offenses under Section 11(a) (Section 11).
- The penalty for acts under Section 11(a) is prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor or six (6) years to twelve (12) years imprisonment and a fine of not less than PHP 50,000.00 but not more than PHP 100,000.00 (Section 11(a)).
- If the offense under Section 11(a) involves sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct with a child, the penalty is reclusion temporal in its medium period to reclusion perpetua or seventeen (17) years to forty (40) years imprisonment and a fine of not less than PHP 500,000.00 but not more than PHP 1,000,000.00 (Section 11(a)(1)).
- If the offense under Section 11(a) involves carnal knowledge or sexual intercourse with a male or female trafficking victim and involves force/intimidation, deprivation of reason, unconscious victim, or a victim under twelve (12) years of age, the penalty is instead: a fine of not less than PHP 1,000,000.00 but not more than PHP 5,000,000.00 and imprisonment of reclusion perpetua or forty (40) years imprisonment with no possibility of parole (Section 11(a)(2)).
- If the offender knows the person who provided prostitution services is in fact a trafficking victim, the offender is not penalized under Section 11 but under Section 10 as a person violating Section 4; if the offender also knows a qualifying circumstance, the offender is penalized under Section 10 for qualified trafficking; if the offender also violates Section 4, the offender is penalized under Section 10 and, if applicable, for qualified trafficking instead of Section 11 (Section 11(a)(2)).
- Deportation applies to foreigners who commit offenses described in Section 11(a)(1) or (2) or violate pertinent provisions as accomplice/accessory or by attempting such offenses; they are immediately deported after serving sentence and permanently barred from entering (Section 11(b)).
- If the offender is a public official, the offender is dismissed from service and suffers perpetual absolute disqualification to hold public office, in addition to imprisonment or fine (Section 11(c)).
- Trafficking cases prescribe in ten (10) years (Section 12).
- Trafficking cases committed by a syndicate or in large scale as defined under Section 6, or against a child, prescribe in twenty (20) years (Section 12).
- The prescriptive period runs from the day the trafficked person is delivered or released from conditions of bondage; for child victims, it runs from the day the child reaches age of majority (Section 12).
- Filing of the complaint or information interrupts prescription; the period runs again when proceedings terminate without conviction or acquittal, or are unjustifiably stopped for any reason not imputable to the accused (Section 12).
Protection of Victims and Rescue Rules
- Trafficked persons are recognized as victims and are not penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of, or incident or in relation to, being trafficked based on acts enumerated in the Act, including acts done in obedience to the order of the trafficker; the trafficked person’s consent to intended exploitation is irrelevant (Section 17).
- Victims of trafficking for prostitution defined under Section 4 are not covered by Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code and therefore are not prosecuted, fined, or otherwise penalized under that law (Section 17).
- Rescue should be done with assistance of DSWD or an accredited NGO; law enforcement officers, on reasonable suspicion that a person is a victim of any offense defined in the Act including attempted trafficking, must immediately place the person in temporary custody of the local social welfare and development office or an accredited or licensed shelter institution devoted to protecting trafficked persons (Section 17-A).
- Past sexual behavior, sexual predisposition, and reputation of victims are inadmissible in evidence to prove consent or predisposition; consent is irrelevant where any of the means in Section 3(a) has been used (Section 17-B).
- Immunity from suit applies to law enforcement officers, social workers, and persons acting in compliance with lawful order from them, for lawful acts or statements made during an authorized rescue operation, recovery, rehabilitation/intervention, or investigation/prosecution, provided acts are made in good faith (Section 17-C).
- Prosecution of retaliatory suits against trafficking victims is held in abeyance pending final resolution and decision of the trafficking criminal complaint (Section 17-C).
- It is prohibited for DFA, DOLE, and POEA officials and for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges to urge complainants to abandon criminal, civil, and administrative complaints for trafficking (Section 17-C).
- Judges may issue remedies of injunction and attachment of properties of traffickers, illegal recruiters, and persons involved in trafficking motu proprio (Section 17-C).
Council Structure, Secretariat, and Data
- The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking is established, chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Justice and co-chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (Section 20).
- The Council includes as members: Secretary of DFA, Secretary of DOLE, Secretary of DILG, Administrator of POEA, Commissioner of BI, Chief of PNP, Chairperson of PCW, Chairperson of CFO, Executive Director of Philippine Center for Transnational Crimes, and three (3) NGO representatives nominated by government agency representatives and appointed by the President for a term of three (3) years (Section 20(a)-(j)).
- NGO representatives must include one (1) each from sectors representing women, overseas Filipinos, and children, with a proven record of involvement (Section 20(j)).
- Council members may designate permanent representatives with rank not lower than an assistant secretary or equivalent; emoluments are determined by the Council under budget and accounting rules (Section 20).
- The Department of Justice establishes the Council’s Secretariat; it is headed by an executive director appointed by the DOJ Secretary upon recommendation of the Council (Section 22).
- The executive director must have adequate knowledge, training, and experience in trafficking issues and fields including law, law enforcement, social work, criminology, or psychology (Section 22).
- The executive director performs functions including acting as secretary/admin officer, advising on objectives/policies/plans/programs, overseeing operational activities, ensuring efficient performance, proposing allocations, submitting periodic reports, preparing annual reports, and performing other assigned duties (Section 22(a)-(i)).
- The Act requires an anti-trafficking in persons central database established by the Council (Section 16-A).
- The Council submits a report to the President and Congress on or before January 15 of every year with respect to the preceding year’s programs and trafficking-related case data (Section 16-A).
- Each government agency tasked under the law develops its own monitoring/data collection systems and databases and submits them to the Council for integration (Section 16-A).
- The Council harmonizes and standardizes databases, including minimum data requirements, reporting formats, data collection systems, and data verification systems (Section 16-A).
- The central database must at minimum include: (a) number of cases sorted by status (investigated, submitted for prosecution, dropped, filed/pending, and convictions/acquittals), (b) profile/information on each case, (c) number of victims referred by destination and origin areas, and (d) disaggregated data on trafficking victims and accused/defendants (Section 16-A(a)-(d)).
Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction and Funding
- The State exercises jurisdiction over acts defined and penalized under the Act even if committed outside the Philippines, regardless of whether the acts constitute an offense where committed, where the offense is a continuing offense commenced in the Philippines with other elements committed in another country, if the suspect/accused is a Filipino citizen, a permanent resident of the Philippines, or the act was committed against a citizen of the Philippines (Section 26-A).
- No prosecution may be commenced under this extra-territorial jurisdiction if the foreign government, in accordance with jurisdiction recognized by the Philippines, prosecutes or is prosecuting the person for the same conduct, except upon approval of the Secretary of Justice (Section 26-A).
- The government may surrender or extradite persons accused of trafficking in the Philippines to an appropriate international court if any, or to another State pursuant to applicable extradition laws and treaties (Section 26-A).
- Implementation is funded by current year appropriations of the Council under the DOJ budget and appropriations of other concerned departments; continued implementation funds are included in the annual General Appropriations Act (Section 28).
- Amount collected from every penalty, fine, or asset derived from violations is earmarked as additional funds for the Council and may be augmented by grants, donations, and endowment subject to Commission on Audit rules and regulations (Section 28-A).
Legal Protections Through Programs
- The government establishes and implements preventive, protective, and rehabilitative programs for trafficked persons (Section 16).
- The DFA makes available overseas resources/facilities for trafficked persons regardless of manner of entry, provides free legal assistance and counsel to Filipino victims overseas, represents victims in criminal investigations/prosecution, assists applications for social benefits/immigration status allowed by host country, repatriates trafficked Filipinos with victims’ consent, and takes measures for efficient implementation of the Electronic Passporting System to protect passport/visas/travel documents and reduce trafficking through fraudulent identification (Section 16(a)).
- In coordination with DOLE, DFA provides free temporary shelters and other services to Filipino victims overseas through overseas migrant workers and resource centers established under Republic Act No. 8042, as amended (Section 16(a)).
- The DSWD implements rehabilitative and protective programs, provides counseling and temporary shelter, develops NGO accreditation for intervention centers, and must provide free temporary shelters with temporary housing and food, psychological support/counseling, 24-hour call center and technology-based counseling/referral system, coordination with local law enforcement, and coordination with the DOJ (Section 16(b)).
- DSWD conducts information campaigns teaching communities and schools that receiving consideration in exchange for adoption is punishable, and information campaigns with police that poor women must not be induced to give children up for adoption for consideration (Section 16(b)).
- DOLE ensures strict implementation and compliance with employment rules locally and overseas, and monitors/document cases of trafficking involving employers and labor recruiters (Section 16(c)).
- DOJ ensures prosecution of trafficking accused and designates/trains special prosecutors; DOJ establishes a mechanism for free legal assistance in coordination with DSWD, IBP, and other NGOs/volunteer groups (Section 16(d)).
- PCW participates in formulation and monitoring of policies addressing trafficking and advocates inclusion of trafficking in local and international advocacy for women’s issues (Section 16(e)).
- Bureau of Immigration strictly administers immigration and alien administration laws, adopts measures for apprehension of suspected traffickers at place of arrival/departure