Immigration chief: Removal of PHL from US trafficking watch list 'a vindication'

Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the Philippines' removal from the human trafficking watch list of the United States government was "a vindication." "We feel vindicated not only because we were removed from the watchlist but, more importantly, because we were able to save thousands of our poor countrymen from being abused and exploited in foreign lands," David said in a statement issued on Wednesday. “This is a major accomplishment of the government of President Noynoy Aquino and we in the Bureau are proud that we have contributed our share to the successful conduct of our campaign against human trafficking," David added. Since August last year, more than 54,000 suspected human trafficking victims were barred from leaving the Philippines because of the government's intensified drive against human trafficking at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and other ports, David said. More than 28,000 international passengers were also offloaded, he said. Most of them were bound for Hongkong, Singapore and the Middle East and were suspected of being “tourist workers" or undocumented overseas Filipino workers disguised as tourists, he added. Upgraded to Tier 2 status The United States government on Monday (Tuesday morning in Manila) has removed the Philippines from its Tier 2 Watch List for having several convictions of human traffickers in the past year. According to the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report of the US State Department, although the Philippines "still does not fully comply with minimum standards to eliminate trafficking, Manila is making significant efforts to do so." The Philippines was placed under Tier 2 category, a level higher from its previous ranking of "Tier 2 Watch List." Human trafficking is the illegal trade in human beings for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. The US State Department noted that "during the year, the Philippine Department of Justice and Supreme Court issued directives to expedite the disposition of backlogged trafficking cases." "The (Philippine) government convicted 25 trafficking offenders – an increase from nine convictions in the previous year – including two convictions in cases involving forced labor, the Philippines’ first-ever labor trafficking convictions," the report said. Tier Placements The US State Department's website cites the following categories: Tier 1 "Countries whose governments fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards" Tier 2 "Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards" Tier 2 Watch List "Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards AND: a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing; or b) There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or c) The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year" Tier 3 "Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so" - VVP, GMA News