MANILA: The Philippines is acting to curb the trafficking of children displaced by Super Typhoon Haiyan, a presidential spokesman said yesterday, a day after a UK-based children’s charity raised concerns.
Plan International asked the Philippines to investigate the suspected recruitment of child workers for sex trafficking on the central island of Samar, which sustained heavy damage and casualties in the November 8 typhoon.
A special anti-trafficking commission is already in place to prevent children displaced by the typhoon from being exploited by traffickers, said Herminio Coloma, a spokesman for President Benigno Aquino. “That is why the concerned agencies are doing everything in their power to prevent these crimes,” he told reporters in the capital Manila.
Aid groups have warned that many of those displaced face extreme hardship in their ruined communities and are vulnerable to human traffickers. AFP
