Authorities have rescued eight victims of human trafficking in Tawi-Tawi province over the weekend, according to a top police official.
In a statement Police Col. Richard Verceles, operations chief of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao, said the victims were rescued around 8 p.m., Saturday at the port of Bongao, Tawi-Tawi's capital city.
Verceles stated that the victims, all of legal age, are from Zamboanga del Norte, with three; this city and Zamboanga del Sur, with two each; and Zamboanga Sibugay, with one.
The victims were rescued by the Bongao municipal inter-agency committee against trafficking after receiving information that a commercial ferry docked at its port would be transporting a group of people to Malaysia via Tawi-Tawi.
According to Verceles, the victims admitted to being recruited to work in Malaysia without the necessary documents.
They were handed over to the Ministry of Social Welfare and Development Office in Muslim Mindanao's Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for counseling and appropriate assistance before being returned to their respective hometowns.
Earlier, the commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao, Rear Adm. Donn Anthony Miraflor, directed the Joint Task Force (JTF)-Tawi-Tawi to keep an eye out for potential victims of human trafficking.
On February 12, the JTF-Tawi-Tawi rescued six Malaysians in Bongao port.
