Buhay OFW initiates awareness on human trafficking through the launch of ATOM

Last July 18, 2017 at the Golden Bay Restaurant, Pasay City; a media launch was held for the oath taking event that will happen on October. As Buhay OFW, a multi-awarded show which airs every Saturday at 9:30 pm on Aksyon TV and Aksyon International, celebrates its 7th year anniversary; they take a significant leap forward by launching the project Anti Trafficking OFW Movement (ATOM) through the initiative of host and founder, Marissa del Mar.

ATOM is as a step towards remedying the statistics of over 10 million Filipino men, women and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor worldwide. Our OFW, in dire need to provide a better future for themselves and their families, constitute a large percentage of those already exploited or at risk of being exploited. This campaign recognizes the contribution of the OFW not only in the Philippines Economic Development but also in the promotion of safety among their fellow migrants.

Although a term less estranged to many due to depictions in entertainment outlets such as Hollywood movies, human trafficking is an ongoing hazard closer to home than most people expect and realize. UNDOC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) recognizes trafficking in as simple a situation as the recruitment of a person for a false job within or across national borders with the intention to trap them into forced labor. More often, however, the deception and abuse does not stop there. It leads to prostitution, sexual exploitation, slavery and removal of organs.

Some common destinations for victims are Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore, Qatar, China, Japan, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia - places popular to the general public as tourist destinations. Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Mactan International Airport become exit points for workers expecting real jobs abroad only to be met instead with real threats. They are also smuggled and trafficked in ports in Ilocos Sur, Zamboanga del Sur, Davao del Sur, Misamis Oriental, Bicol and Dagupan City with 30% transported by sea.

These victims - a large number of whom originate from areas within Metro Manila and in the provinces of Laguna, Rizal, Pampanga, Cavite, Batangas, Cebu, Zamboanga, and Davao - are the same people who contribute to the Philippines 180 billion pesos in total remittance which lead to the amassing of foreign reserves and the rise of the national savings rate. They sacrifice their comfort, health, marriages, children, and often their pride, to improve their recipient household and, in the process, the national economy. These are the people stripped of their human rights by predators operating under pretense of recruitment agencies and other aliases.

Through the combined efforts of Buhay OFW Foundation, San Miguel Corporation, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), National Real Estate Association (NREA), Sterling Group of Companies, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Philippine Chinese Charitable Association (PCCA), Zonta Club of Makati Central Business District, Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCCII), together also with the media partners Aksyon TV, ANC, Light Network Channel, Malaya Business Insight, these facts become the foundation o which change begins. The meaningful oath-taking will take place on October 23, Monday at the Diamond Hotel Manila.

Cooperation with these organizations and authorities could uncover and convict more labor traffickers and official and establishments complicit in these crimes. The resulting assistance of thousands of victims opens opportunities for further action towards the safety of all.

ATOM challenges Filipinos here and abroad to raise awareness, strengthen camaraderie, and therefore reduce - in hopes of someday eliminating - this threat to our OFW altogether.