Trafficking of Children in Cebu Reached ‘Alarming’ Stage, Says CLB

A Children’s Legal Bureau (CLB) lawyer sees the increase of sex trafficking on children in Cebu as “alarming.”

Attorney Joan Saniel-Amit, executive director of CLB, said the trafficking on children has already reached an “alarming stage.” She said that based on End Child Prostitution and Trafficking 2008 data of the Philippines, there were 60,000 to 100,000 children prostitutes, and Cebu City was among the primary locations where these children being placed in sex prostitution.

Amit said that in 2004, two of the four most common routes to trafficked children included Cebu City, which is widely known to have the highest rates of CST (child-sex tourism), including Lapu-Lapu City, in the country.

The CLB lawyer said that Cebu City, as per Department of Tourism 2010-2011 statistics, has recorded 1,068,83 million travelers with which 275,137 were foreign nationals.

Lapu-Lapu City came second with 782,798 regional travelers, of which 537,295 were foreigners. Amit said when an area’s tourism is booming, sex tourism also prospers. And the demand for minors, being perceived as clean, has also increased over the years, she said. In the past months, authorities have rescued several individuals including minors. The past few years CLB has also charged 10 individuals for alleged trafficking.

Amit said this situation could be attributed to poverty and the decreasing morality of Filipinos.