TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Susana Daluping, City Social Welfare and Development Officer (CSWDO), revealed during the recent flag raising ceremony, that her office helped a total of five individuals seeking assistance in returning to their provinces in the month of May alone.
She went on to say that the city government needs to work with the Department of Labor and Employment as well as the Philippine National Police (PNP), particularly the National Bureau of Investigation, due to the rise of alleged human trafficking cases.
Daluping went on to say that all five of their clients have one thing in common: they are all homeless and were promised high-paying jobs.
“Nabayag daytuyen apu. Dagijay al-alaen da piman nga tao ijay Manila [among other places], iyeg da dituy [Tabuk], i-promisan da iti trabaho, nu sumangpet da ket sabali met nga trabaho iti masangpetan da nga haan da kaya,” she said.
One client who sought their help recounted that his employer had locked him up. All of their clients did not go through the usual hiring process, instead, they were all offered jobs on the moment and transported to the city.
She further stated that some of their clients complained not receiving their salary for several months because the wages they earned were used to pay the recruiter’s cut, or that some companies just refuse to pay, forcing the CSWD and the PNP to interfere.
During an interview with one of the clients, he stated that three of his coworkers have already left due to the overwhelming amount of work assigned to each one of them.
“Gusto ko lang umuwi sa amin, sa kapatid ko. Kasi pagtumagal pa ako dito baka mamamatay lang ako,” he said, further saying in dejection, “Parang binenta lang ang buhay namin dito.”
According to Daluping, this is not the city’s first case of alleged human trafficking, and it won’t be the last unless the government and the general public work together to stop this kind of recruitment.
