P71M hike in anti-human trafficking council’s 2024 budget sought in Senate

A P71-million increase in the budget of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for 2024 has been proposed in the Senate.

This developed at the Senate plenary deliberations on the Department of Justice’s proposed P35.455 proposed budget for 2024.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian sought the increase of IACAT’s budget from P76 million to P147 million, citing the need for the council to maintain their efforts to curb human trafficking.

According to Gatchalian, the Executive Department proposed in the 2024 National Expenditures Program P76 million but it was reduced by P10 million in the 2024 General Appropriations Bill of the House of Representatives that was also adopted by the Senate finance committee.

“This representation actually suggested to increase the budget of the anti-trafficking in persons enforcement group from P76 million to P147 million and this is to enable them to continue their work in rescuing first of all human traffic victims as well as investigating and as well as curbing online sexual abuse of our minors,” Gatchalian said.

The lawmaker cited the recently raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub in Pasay City where authorities found a sex den and a torture chamber.

He also mentioned a study by the International Justice Mission and the University of Nottingham where it was found that 471,000 Filipino children were trafficked to produce new child sexual exploitation material in 2022.

“We ranked second in the whole world when it comes to online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. This is nothing to be proud of. Typically, when you rank high, you become very proud, but in this particular case, it’s a damage to our reputation and the human [trafficking] victim[s] just this year alone from POGO is already counting at about 4,038 rescued victims, just in 2023,” he said.

“So these criminal activities – human trafficking, sexual exploitation of children is real and it's happening in our country and hardened criminal syndicates are operating in our country and these criminal syndicates freely roam within our jurisdiction,” he added.

Senate finance committee chairman Sonny Angara, who defended the budget of the DOJ, welcomed the proposal and said that the chamber can increase the budget for IACAT at the proper time.

For 2023, Angara said they increased the budget for the council from P59 million to P99 million.

“So, at the proper time we can do the same,” he said. — BAP, GMA Integrated News