KALIBO, Aklan – A woman included in the most wanted persons’ list in Aklan was arrested in Navotas City, the Philippine National Police-Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP AKG) said yesterday.
Manila-based AKG spokesperson Major Ronaldo Lumactod identified the suspect as Catherine Tandas, Aklan’s Top 9 most wanted person.
Tandas was apprehended in Barangay Tangos, Navotas City on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
She was a subject of a warrant of arrest issued by the Kalibo Regional Trial Court, Branch 7 issued in January 2018 for charges of human trafficking with no bail recommended.
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 defines human trafficking or “trafficking in persons” as the “recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim’s consent or knowledge, within or across national borders by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position.
It is the taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person, or, the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation which, according to the law, includes at a minimum the exploitation or the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, servitude, or even the removal or sale of human organs.
“The PNP AKG proved once again that the long arm of the law still exist. It was the group’s vast experience in dealing with criminality that made the arrest possible,” Lumactod said.
The modus operandi of the suspect started in 2015, he revealed.
Tandas lured unsuspecting persons from President Roxas, Capiz and Iloilo province with a promise that they would get legitimate jobs, said Lumactod.
However, the victims allegedly were brought to beerhouses where they ended up as sex slaves, the police official said.
Tandas was brought to the AKG office in Camp Crame for booking procedures and interrogation prior to her turnover to the Kalibo Regional Trial Court, Branch 7.
ACTS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, it shall be unlawful for any person to commit any of the following acts:
* to recruit, transport, transfer; harbor, provide, or receive a person by any means, including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training or apprenticeship, for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
* to introduce or match for money, profit, or material, economic or other consideration, any person or, as provided for under Republic Act No. 6955, any Filipino woman to a foreign national, for marriage for the purpose of acquiring, buying, offering, selling or trading him/her to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
* to offer or contract marriage, real or simulated, for the purpose of acquiring, buying, offering, selling, or trading them to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor or slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
* to undertake or organize tours and travel plans consisting of tourism packages or activities for the purpose of utilizing and offering persons for prostitution, pornography or sexual exploitation;
* to maintain or hire a person to engage in prostitution or pornography;
* to adopt or facilitate the adoption of persons for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
* to recruit, hire, adopt, transport or abduct a person, by means of threat or use of force, fraud, deceit, violence, coercion, or intimidation for the purpose of removal or sale of organs of said person; and
* to recruit, transport or adopt a child to engage in armed activities in the Philippines or abroad (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
