US State Dept. announces anti-human trafficking heroes, including Pinoy lawyer

A Filipino lawyer is among the individuals recognized as anti-human trafficking heroes during the the 20th anniversary of the Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report Heroes awards program.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted the ceremony that honors individuals including NGO workers, lawmakers, government officials, survivors of human trafficking, and concerned citizens.

"They are recognized for their tireless efforts—despite some working in challenging environments where human trafficking concerns remain pervasive and facing resistance, opposition, or threats to their lives—to protect victims, punish offenders, and mitigate the underlying factors that cause vulnerabilities traffickers often target," according to a post of the TIP Report website.

Samson Inocencio Jr. is the vice president of International Justice Mission Philippines Program Against Online Sexual Exploitation of Children.

"Sam’s leadership and dedicated service have strengthened the government and civil society’s response to trafficking and protected thousands, especially children, from exploitation," according to the TIP post.

Inocencio has been working against trafficking in persons with the IJM Philippines and has contributed to 147 convictions for commercial sexual exploitation and 220 for online sexual exploitation (OSEC) crimes since 2005, according to the TIP report website.

He was IJM national director in 2016, he assisted in the removal of 544 children from situations of commercial sexual exploitation and 1,237 children who were at risk of OSEC.

"Sam led IJM’s efforts under the U.S.-Philippine Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership to combat OSEC crimes and advocated for a 347 percent budget increase for the Philippine National Police – Women and Children Protection Center."

He assisted the Philippines in its efforts to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children and OSEC related crimes, to hold offenders accountable in courts of law, and to safeguard Filipino children and work with the Philippine government of the Philippines in 2016 to develop a “roadmap to Tier 1” in the U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report.

The Philippines, based on the latest TIP report, has been ranked Tier 1 for eight years due to the merits of its efforts.

Past Filipino TIP heroes are the late Susan Ople, an advocate of Overseas Filipino Workers' rights, founder of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, and was the first Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers, and Prosecutor Darlene Pajarito, who won the first sex trafficking conviction in the Philippines in that first case, decided in 2005.

The other TIP heroes are: 

Al Amin Noyon, Manager
BRAC Migration Centre

Marcela Martinez, Activist/Lawyer

Maria Werlau, Founder/Executive Director
Free Society Project

Mustafa Ridha Mustafa al-Yasiri, Director – Anti-Human Trafficking Directorate
Ministry of Interior

Edith Murogo Founder. Chief Executive Officer
Centre for Domestic Training and Development

Oumou Elkhairou Niaré Samaké, Coordinator
National Integrated Program for the Fight Against Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime; National Committee for the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons and Similar Practices

Marijana Savic, Founder/Director
Atina

Rosa Cendón
Advisor – Human Trafficking and Gender-based Violence, Catalonia Regional Ministry for Equality and Feminism

Letitia Pinas,  Inspector of Police – Head of the Trafficking in Persons Unit
Suriname Police Force — BAP, GMA Integrated News