Dingdong Dantes new PHL 'champion' against human trafficking – DOJ

Kapuso star Dingdong Dantes was selected as the new ambassador for the government's anti-human trafficking campaign, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Wednesday. In an interview with reporters, De Lima revealed the government plan to intensify the drive against human trafficking in the Philippines, including tapping a celebrity as the face of the campaign. "May nakuha na kaming bagong champion na magpo-promote ng awareness on human trafficking sa mga kabataan... Si Dingdong Dantes," said De Lima. Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Dantes' new role as anti-human-trafficking "champion" comes nearly a year after he was appointed as Youth Ambassador for the Arts by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Plans shared with US De Lima said she shared all these plans by the DOJ's Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) with US Ambassador Harry Thomas in a meeting at the DOJ on Tuesday. "Ako ang nag-imbita sa kanya... I briefed him on the latest developments and plano ng IACAT dahil the other day nagka-meeting kami [within] IACAT and may mga na-discuss kaming importante and I thought it was worth mentioning to the ambassador," De Lima said. During the meeting, Thomas "expressed the commitment of the US government na suportahan ang initiatives ng IACAT," De Lima noted. She invited Thomas over to "douse the heat which was generated by the unfortunate statement of his," De Lima said, referring to Thomas' remark last month that 40 percent of male foreign tourists, including those from the US, go to the Philippines primarily for sex. Public outrage against his comment forced Thomas to issue an apology. Earlier this year, the US government removed the Philippines from its "Tier 2 Watch List" for completing several convictions of human traffickers in the past year. The Philippines "still does not fully comply with minimum standards to eliminate trafficking, [but] Manila is making significant efforts to do so," according to the US State Department. Documentaries on human trafficking IACAT initiatives include the execution of a memorandum of agreement with a private organization to provide television screens in strategic areas like airports, bus terminals, and government agencies. "This will be at no cost to government... and documentaries about human trafficking awareness will be shown," De Lima said. The council plans to require airports and seaports to have a booth where passengers suspected as victims of human trafficking would be interrogated. As an added security measure, all conversations will be recorded, she said. "Hindi puwedeng magsalita o mag-usap ng hindi naka-record, para alam namin ang sinasabi at nangyayari," the Justice chief noted. De Lima said she has already previewed a 30-minute documentary made for the "MTV End Exploitation and Trafficking (EXIT)." She said the short documentary is slated to be shown during the MTV EXIT concert on Oct. 29. — VS, GMA News