Arcilla , Alexandra Myrna

Human Rights Special Class

2015400150
Email: alexandra.arcilla@gmail.com

The talk was sponsored by the San Beda School of Law Mendiola Human Rights
Advocates with the title Stop Human Trafficking: The Pain Caused By An Invisible Chain. They
were able to get 3 speakers to expound on the topic, namely Under Secretary Severo Catura of
the Presidential Philippine Human Rights Commission; Atty. Angelo Diesmus of the Department
of Foreign Affairs; and Assistant City Prosecutor Rey Inciong of the Inter-Agency Council
Against Trafficking.

The first speaker was Under Secretary Severo Catura. He was the only non-lawyer in
the group but was able to clearly explain the topic in laymans terms. He characterized Human
Rights as inherent, universal, inalienable and indivisible and interdependent. He discussed
briefly the 8 core international human rights treaties and laid down some guidelines or the core
principles from international law to determine the stage of human trafficking. The acronym he
discussed was PANTHER or Participation, Accountability, Non-Discriminatory, Transparent,
Human Dignity, Empowerment and Rule of Law. He mentioned that laws are only a factor of
human trafficking but it doesnt mean that it is the only factor. What hit me the most was when
he said Focus not necessarily in criminal sanctions but more importantly on the rights of the
person; Rights become real when its realized; Preservation of human dignity does not get lost in
all efforts. Sometimes, we tend to focus on what punishment we can give a person accused
and we tend to forget that our main priority is the victim and how he or she can cope with the
situation.

As for, Atty Angelo Diesmus he briefly discussed the role of the Department of Foreign
Affairs in handling situations and what they do to help our fellow Filipino citizens here and
abroad. ACP Inciong discussed that everyone can be associated with human trafficking. Human
trafficking does not necessarily mean transporting another person to another country. It could
also mean being trafficked inside your own country even more your own house. The example he
gave was cybersex. You do not have to be in a different country to be held accountable for that
kind of crime, and more often than not it happens at your own home even with your consent.
Consent is immaterial in crimes pertaining to human trafficking. Human Trafficking can also
include being fully clothed as what they consider as dry humping. Taking photos of your chest
and groin area with or without clothes can also be considered as such. He also discussed some
instances that happen in our everyday lives, which we do not notice is already considered as
human trafficking. When another person asks you to work in exchange of payment; this evident
in some places in the Philippines where children who cannot afford to pay for their daily meals
tend to render service for example carrgador, construction workers or simple asking him to
clean the place and follow the orders of the owner of the foodstall.

Human Trafficking is everywhere and it happens under our nose without us even
noticing it. This is becoming very common because we ourselves are not aware of our rights
and our laws. One of reasons why they act in that way because of extreme poverty, there are no
means of income and most of them were not able to go to school. There are instances where
they result in engaging to those type of crimes not knowing what they entered into when they
find out it pays big they dont mind being tortured all for moneys sake. The only solution I think
would be being aware of your rights. It starts from there and the rest will follow.