2 human trafficking victims rescued at Zambo port

Two women were rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) from becoming victims of human trafficking after they were stopped at the Port of Zamboanga from where they were supposed to be taken to Sandakan, Malaysia.

According to the PCG, Majel G. Barte, 24, of Tapaz, Iloilo and Cynthia C. Bien, 42, of San Carlos City, Bacolod, were promised by a certain Flor with jobs in Malaysia.

But the PCG said they received an intelligence report that Barte and Bien were apparent victims of human trafficking, prompting multi-agency forces based in Zamboanga to rescue them.

Barte and Bien left Roxas City onboard a commercial plane which arrived in Zamboanga International Airport last October 22 via Manila.

Further information showed that the victims were scheduled to depart onboard M/V Lady Mary Joy 3 from Zamboanga bound for Sandakan, Malaysia which was pre-arranged their recruiter from Zamboanga City.

The team rescued–them at the passenger terminal hub in Port of Zamboanga the next morning.

The rescue team - Sea Based AntiTrafficking Task Force or SBATTF – is composed of agencies from the Coast Guard Station Zamboanga, Philippine Ports Authority Port Police, Bureau of Immigration and Deportation, InterAgency Council Against Trafficking, Department of Justice, Philippine Center for Transnational Crime, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The victims were brought to the DSWD Home for Women in Barangay San Roque, Zamboanga City after the rescue operation.