Legarda confronts digital trafficking threat, calls for stronger protection of women and girls

Senator Loren Legarda warned that human trafficking in the Philippines continues to exploit women and girls, with traffickers adapting faster than institutions and using digital platforms, deepfake technology, and cross-border networks to expand their reach.

Legarda underscored that despite decades of legislation and a Tier 1 international ranking, trafficking persists and women and girls remain the most vulnerable.

She recalled her early years as a journalist covering exploitation, saying her advocacy began with firsthand exposure to the trade of women and children.

“Before traffickers hid behind usernames, encrypted chats, and closed groups, I saw exploitation in its rawest form. As a young journalist, I documented how women and children were traded through illegal recruiters and organized syndicates. When I entered the Senate, one of the first measures I pursued was an anti-trafficking in persons law,” Legarda said.

She recounted the country’s legislative arsenal against trafficking, including Republic Act No. 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), which created the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), Republic Act No. 10364 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012), Republic Act No. 11862 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022), and Republic Act No. 11930 (Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act).

The four-term senator said the laws are national safeguards and a pledge of global responsibility, warning that trafficking persists and urging reforms to ensure women and girls feel secure.

Legarda, citing IACAT data, said 445 victims were assisted last year—most of them women and girls. Of the total, 163 suffered sex trafficking, 161 female and 2 male, while 104 were victims of labor trafficking, 58 female and 46 male.

“It shows that the risk environment continues to place women and girls in positions of higher vulnerability,” Legarda explained.

She also cited the 2025 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report, which noted that in 2024 the Philippine government aided 1,377 victims of exploitation—including illegal recruitment and illegal adoption—831 female and 546 male.

She further warned that traffickers are now exploiting digital platforms, deepfake technology, and cross-border payment systems.

“Recruitment now happens online. Social media platforms are used to lure victims through fraudulent job offers, false identities, and emotional manipulation. Deepfake technology now complicates evidence and distorts accountability,” Legarda said.

She pointed to a 2025 Reuters investigation revealing that Meta’s internal chatbot policy permitted “romantic or sensual” conversations with children, including language directed at an eight-year-old.

“It is a stark reminder that when profit overshadows responsibility, children, especially girls, bear the consequences,” Legarda said.

She also highlighted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Migrant Workers’ repatriation of 706 potential Filipino trafficking victims in 2024, many exploited in online scam operations in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. She stressed that this figure represented a sharp rise from 431 the previous year, showing how digital recruitment can escalate transnational exploitation.

Legarda urged action, linking trafficking protection to women’s empowerment, stressing reforms to uphold survivors’ dignity and security.

“This Women’s Month, let us move beyond declarations and commit to measurable outcomes stronger identification systems, tighter digital enforcement, sustained prosecution, and reintegration services that allow survivors to rebuild with security and dignity,” Legarda concluded. (30)