Senator Loren Legarda warned that human traffickers are increasingly relying on digital platforms, deepfake technology, and cross-border networks to exploit Filipino women and girls.

Legarda said women and girls remain the most vulnerable to exploitation even after decades of anti-trafficking legislation and the country’s Tier 1 international ranking.

She highlighted the Philippines’ legal framework against trafficking, including Republic Act No. 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), which established the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).

Citing IACAT data, she noted that 445 victims were assisted last year, most of them women and girls. The cases included:

163 sex trafficking cases (involving 161 females and 2 males), and

104 labor trafficking cases (involving 58 females and 46 males).

Legarda also cited Republic Act No. 10364 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012), Republic Act No. 11862 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022), and Republic Act No. 11930 (Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children Act).

Legarda warned that traffickers are increasingly using digital platforms, deepfake technology, and cross-border payment systems to recruit and exploit victims.

“Recruitment now happens online. Social media platforms are used to lure victims through fraudulent job offers, false identities, and emotional manipulation. Deepfake technology now complicates evidence and distorts accountability,” she said.

ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT, ADOPTION

She referenced the 2025 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report indicating that in 2024, the Philippine government aided 1,377 victims of exploitation, including illegal recruitment and adoption, involving 831 females and 546 males.

She also cited a 2025 Reuters investigation showing that Meta’s internal chatbot policies allowed “romantic or sensual” conversations with children, including interactions with an eight-year-old.

“It is a stark reminder that when profit overshadows responsibility, children, especially girls, bear the consequences,” Legarda said.

The senator also highlighted the repatriation of 706 potential Filipino trafficking victims in 2024 by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers, many of whom had been exploited in online scam operations in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. She noted that this figure marked a sharp rise from 431 cases the previous year, demonstrating how digital recruitment can escalate cross-border exploitation.

The senator also highlighted the repatriation of 706 potential Filipino trafficking victims in 2024 by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers, many of whom had been exploited in online scam operations in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

She noted that this figure marked a sharp rise from 431 cases the previous year, demonstrating how digital recruitment can escalate cross-border exploitation.

COVERING CASES OF ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION

Recalling her early years as a journalist covering abuse and exploitation, she said her advocacy began with firsthand exposure to the trade of women and children.

“Before traffickers hid behind usernames, encrypted chats, and closed groups, I saw exploitation in its rawest form. As a young journalist, I documented how women and children were traded through illegal recruiters and organized syndicates. When I entered the Senate, one of the first measures I pursued was an anti-trafficking in persons law,” Legarda said.

Legarda said laws serve as national safeguards to ensure women and girls feel protected.

Human trafficking, she said, "shows that the risk environment continues to place women and girls in positions of higher vulnerability.”

Legarda called for urgent action, linking the fight against trafficking to women’s empowerment and the protection of survivors’ dignity.

“This Women’s Month, let us move beyond declarations and commit to measurable outcomes stronger identification systems, tighter digital enforcement, sustained prosecution, and reintegration services that allow survivors to rebuild with security and dignity,” she concluded.

-Paraluman News