TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Dec. 12 (PIA) - The Department of Justice (DOJ) through the Regional Inter-agency Council Against Trafficking (RIACAT) has recorded a total of 180 cases from 2006 to 2019 of which 90-95 percent are related to sex trafficking.

Training on Labor Trafficking participated by police officers,

social welfare officers from the proviincial down to the municipal

and city level, labor inspectors, NBI, and member-agencies of

the RIACAT.

Provincial Prosecutor Alejo Tangaro, Jr.,chief operations officer of Regional Anti-Trafficking Task Force said other cases next in rank is force labor followed by bonded indebtedness.

As per data of the DOJ, case of human trafficking is high in Isabela with 37 cases, followed by Nueva Vizcaya with 33, Tuguegarao City and Cauayan City with 28 cases each, Cagayan and Santiago City with 25 and 18 cases, respectively.

Six cases were also recorded in Quirino, three in the City of lagan and two in Batanes.

As of 2019, there are 48 active cases on-going trial where 19 convictions have been made.

Tangaro said they also established Student Warriors Against Trafficking (SWAT) in selected schools as a result of continuous visits to student body organizations in various school to conduct information education campaign (IEC) activities to heighten the awareness of the young on human trafficking.

Part of their information dissemination strategies to address human trafficiking is posting of posters and IEC material in schools, offices, and public utility vehicles and the creation of a local human trafficking committees particularly in the local government units.

The council continue to provide trainings and seminars to the various law enforcement units on human trafficking to ensure that successful operations.

For suspected case of human trafficking, any individual can report to their 24/7 hotline number 0997 345 4474 or through their facebook page at Iacat Region Dos. (MDCT/GVB/PIA 2-Cagayan)