IBP volunteer lawyers to help protect OFWs, prosecute human traffickers
MANILA, Philippines — Lawyers are volunteering to help indigent victims to prosecute human traffickers who exploit them.
The volunteer lawyers will be part of the Anti-Trafficking in Person Action Teams (ATIPAT) under the Center for Legal Aid of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
The IBP has also established an Overseas Filipino Workers-Legal Assistance Unit (OFW-LAU) at its offices in Pasig City where victims of the trafficking can seek help to get justice.
The OFW-LAU and the ATIPAT were launched last Monday in the program held at the IBP office in Pasig attended by high-ranking members of government, IBP member lawyers from different chapters nationwide, and non-governmental organizations or NGOs.
According to lawyer Rosario T. Setias-Reyes, IBP National Center for Legal Aid (NCLA) deputy director, the formation of the IBP-ATIPAT is a major step towards ensuring that trafficking victims have adequate access to justice against criminals who exploited them.
In an interview, Reyes said the IBP-ATIPAT is an elite group of IBP volunteer trial lawyers and staff who will provide competent, free and maximum possible legal service in the effective prosecution of trafficking cases involving indigent victims of human trafficking as part of the Developmental Legal Aid Program of the IBP.
Reyes said the IBP-ATIPAT will improve the administration of justice and enable the Bar to discharge its public responsibility more effectively in the fight against human trafficking in the Philippines through the provision of competent, free, and comprehensive legal services to indigent victims of human trafficking in all trafficking hot spots nationwide.
“The IBP ATIPAT is an anti-trafficking enforcement action team which was formed by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). It is composed of lawyers coming from different IBP chapters around country including as far as Zamboanga,” Reyes said.
“The formation of the ATIPAT is a major step towards ensuring that trafficking victims have adequate access to justice against criminals who exploited them, as there is now a pool of lawyers who will make sure that case build-up at the onset are handled properly. The ATIPAT will also establish an efficient case referral and documentation system that will increase access to their services and ensure quick response on case referrals,” she said.
The initial batch of 50 ATIPAT lawyers was presented during launch of the program which coincided with observance of National Law Week with the theme “Inspiring Transformation in the Legal Profession and Society.”
Lawyer Minerva M.B. Ambrosio, NCLA deputy director, said the formation of the IBP-ATIPAT is very timely considering that many OFWs, especially those who are working in the Middle East with weak protection, are in distress and require special attention.
Ambrosio said the proliferation of human trafficking/illegal recruitment in and out of the country are also reasons why there is a need to create the IBP-ATIPAT.
She also noted that the NCLA has received reports that a total of 100 Filipinos are lined up for execution in China for drug trafficking after they were used by international drug syndicates as drug mules.
The bulk of Filipino migrant workers around the world are composed of domestic helpers, health workers, entertainers, nurses, skilled workers.
Meanwhile, Makati City 2nd District Rep. Abigail S. Binay who represented her father, Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, during the launch said the OFW-LAU and ATIPAT would boost to government’s effort to protect the rights and dignity of Filipino working men and women abroad and to combat the international scourge of human trafficking.
She read a statement from Vice President Binay which said: “This is an unprecedented move on the part of the IBP and will work hand-in-glove with our government’s on-the-ground program against human trafficking and to protect our OFWs, who remain potential targets of exploitation by criminal minds.”
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