Exhibits, film screenings to raise trafficking awareness slated

This year, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), chaired by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, and its member agencies will conduct the activities on July 28-29 under the theme “Better Lives through Safer Migration, Stop Human Trafficking!” (Shutterstock)

MANILA — Ending human trafficking is a matter of global concern, and as a “top tier” of compliant governments in the 2018 United States Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, the Philippines is launching a series of activities to celebrate the upcoming World Day Against TIP on July 30.

This year, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), chaired by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, and its member agencies will conduct the activities on July 28-29 under the theme “Better Lives through Safer Migration, Stop Human Trafficking!”

The theme is timely as the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM) is also expected to be adopted on Dec. 11 after its final text was approved by the United Nations (UN) on July 13.

As a major labor-sending country, the Philippines was among the staunch supporters of the compact.

The celebration of World Day Against TIP, as set by the UN in 2013, seeks to raise awareness of the situation of TIP victims and the promotion and protection of their rights.

A fun run called “Run Free from Modern Day Slavery” was initially slated to be held at the Clark Freeport Zone on July 29, but the IACAT Secretariat informed the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the event will no longer push through.

Of their 11 activities from July 28 to Aug. 3, three are open to the public — the Art Exhibit in Cebu, the Fun Walk in Agusan del Norte, and the Job Fair at the Caloocan City Hall.

For more information and for those interested, the public may visit IACAT’s Facebook page @InterAgencyCouncilAgainstTrafficking.

Below is their calendar of activities:

July 19 to Aug. 3

— Call for entries to the Anti-Human Trafficking Tagline and Logo Design contest;

July 28

— Art exhibit and concert at the Robinsons Galleria in Cebu

July 30

— Fun Walk in Agusan del Norte;

— Launch of the Infomercial, Poster Making, and Spoken World Poetry Contests in Butuan City;

— Multi-stakeholder discussion on how to prevent trafficking of minors and underage workers at the OWWA Building in Pasay

— Medical and dental mission for TIP survivors at the Haven for Women in Muntinlupa City;

July 30 to Aug. 1

— Write-shop on crafting local ordinance and protocol in combatting TIP at the New Makati City Hall Building I

July 31

— Film screening of Across the Crescent Moon” at the Cinematheque Manila;

Aug. 1

— Symposia on International Migration and Human Trafficking at universities around Metro Manila;
Aug. 2

— Book launch of Money Laundering Dimension of Trafficking Persons and Safe Seas Project MOA Signing at the National Bureau of Investigation; And

Aug. 3

— Job fair and legal clinic at the Caloocan City Hall