The dialogues between the United States and the Philippines in Manila and Cebu this week marked progress in the implementation of the both countries commitment to achieve the objectives of the four-year US-Philippines Child Protection Compact Partnership signed in 2017.
The US Embassy in the Manila said the dialogues between senior US and Philippine officials focused on the progress on efforts to prosecute and convict child traffickers and provide comprehensive, trauma-informed care for child victims of online child sexual exploitation in the country.
“The dialogues also focused on the progress made in the Philippines to educate communities on how to identify and prevent OSEC and child labor trafficking from occurring,” the embassy said, in a statement.
The dialogues represent the ongoing commitment of the two nations to achieving the objectives of the US-Philippines CPC Partnership inaugurated in 2017.
The US delegation was led by United States Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons John Cotton Richmond, who provided the keynote address on behalf of the United States during the dialogue in Manila and Cebu.
Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, co-chairman of the Philippine Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, provided keynote remarks on behalf of the Philippines.
In Cebu, Assistant Secretary-in-Charge of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking George Ortha II provided the opening remarks while IACAT Undersecretary-in-Charge Emmeline Aglipay-Villar provided the keynote address on behalf of the Philippines.
In acknowledging the joint efforts made by the two nations under the CPC partnership, Ambassador Richmond stressed the need to infuse more resources to combat the crime of human trafficking.
“The scale of the crime of human trafficking demands increasing resources everywhere. Our governments’ commitment to justice is the foundation of our partnership and our combined investments totaling $5.1 million reflects the strength and impact of our work for all to be free,” Richmond said, in his speech.
In his remarks, Guevarra noted that “since the first High Level Dialogue held last year, the Philippine government lost no time in ensuring that all its efforts are sustained and scaled up, signifying the firm commitment to the noble objectives set forth in the Child Protection Compact.”
“With our combined efforts, we can all look forward to a world where every child is safe and protected from all forms of abuse and exploitation,” Guevarra added.
The US State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons committed P215 million ($4.3 million) and the Philippine Department of Justice Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking in Persons approximately Php40 million ($800,000) to meet these objectives.
Programming is implemented by partner organizations International Justice Mission and the Salvation Army, and representatives from both organizations, as well as Philippine government officials with the primary responsibility of investigating and prosecuting child trafficking cases and providing witness and victim protection, participated in the dialogues, the embassy statement pointed out.