Embassy of the United States in Manila

December 15, 2004

REMARKS OF AMBASSADOR RICCIARDONE
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS CEREMONY TO AWARD $227,000 GRANT TO
INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION (IJM)
December 15, 2004

Magandang umaga sa inyong lahat. Good morning.

It’s a special pleasure to be with you all again today. As many of you know, this mission has been very eager in our support of the efforts of the Government of the Philippines, of the private sector, of the NGO community, in combating trafficking in persons. This is one of the highest priorities of President Bush, who has spoken out about it many times, including at the United Nations. It’s something President Bush deeply cares about and it’s something Secretary Powell has spoken out about many times. It is a modern form of slavery.

I don’t mean to give you a homily, but we wouldn’t all be here today if we didn’t believe the same things. It’s a common problem. It’s not a problem of the Philippines that the United States is working on. It’s a problem that the Philippines and the United States are working on together, in what President Arroyo and President Bush call our partnership and a maturation of our relationship. It’s no longer a patron-client one, one of a senior partner and a junior partner; instead, we are equal partners. The two of us are equal partners and we work together on problems that afflict us both. For us, we are a receiving country. We estimate something like 20,000 victims are trafficked into the United States every year. That’s a horrible number. There are millions worldwide that are trafficked. It is a modern form of slavery. The Philippines is a country from which many of the victims originate. It is a country that is therefore concerned about it and we look upon as one of our key allies in grappling with the problem.

The Arroyo administration worked with Philippine legislators in an exemplary bipartisan fashion to sign into law a much-improved anti-trafficking persons Act in May 2003. I remember being in Malacanang for that wonderful event. Now of course, our two countries still view strengthening the rule of law as the best way to address this problem, as with so many others. Within that process, there are so many ways you can work to strengthen the rule of law. There’s a particular one we find important in the Philippines, regarding trafficking in persons, as in other areas of law enforcement, and that is prosecution. We’ve worked with former Secretary of Justice Mercy Gutierrez to strengthen the Justice Department’s prosecution. Secy. Gutierrez has now moved on to be General Counsel to the President. She continues to support this, I know. I have raised this to Secretary Gonzales as something we really care about. We know that it takes a lot of parties working together.

That’s where IJM comes in. It’s absolutely vital to work to strengthen prosecution of these crimes. There’s already been improvement since the law was passed. A number of cases have been taken on. I understand there have been two successful prosecutions. If you can prosecute more cases and prosecute them successfully, it will help deter these criminals who trade in children and women, and turn them into slaves. We think that’s the best way of accomplishing real inroads—not just closing more bars, more houses of prostitution, but going after the people who take these young people and women and sell their lives away. So you are doing God’s work literally, you are doing great work for your country, you are doing great work for humanity and that’s why we feel very privileged to be part of what you’re doing.

Manu Bhalla has worked very hard and all of us in the embassy have to come up with this latest grant of $227,000 which we’re turning over, of which the first $114,000 we’re disbursing today, we’re actually transferring the funds today, correct? Has it already been received? Good. We like to deliver, not just promise, in the United States. So we congratulate you for what you do, we celebrate the successes the Philippines has seen so far. We all acknowledge there’s so much more to do in our countries and beyond. I know it’s a big issue with the Government of Japan. I just had the Japanese ambassador for a visit. I know it’s something your country cares deeply about as we do, whether it’s at the Government level or NGO level. Thank you for what you do. It won’t be easy, you will face resistance, you will face lack of resources, but keep up the faith, keep up your great work and know that we are in your corner with you.

Maligayang Pasko, at Manigong Bagong Ta’on at Maraming salamat po.

# # #


December 15, 2004 REMARKS OF AMBASSADOR RICCIARDONE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS CEREMONY TO AWARD $227,000 GRANT TO INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION (IJM) December 15, 2004 Magandang umaga sa inyong lahat. Good morning. It’s a special pleasure to be with you all again today. As many of you know, this mission has been very eager in our support of the efforts of the Government of the Philippines, of the private sector, of the NGO community, in combating trafficking in persons. This is one of the highest priorities of President Bush, who has spoken out about it many times, including at the United Nations. It’s something President Bush deeply cares about and it’s something Secretary Powell has spoken out about many times. It is a modern form of slavery. I don’t mean to give you a homily, but we wouldn’t all be here today if we didn’t believe the same things. It’s a common problem. It’s not a problem of the Philippines that the United States is working on. It’s a problem that the Philippines and the United States are working on together, in what President Arroyo and President Bush call our partnership and a maturation of our relationship. It’s no longer a patron-client one, one of a senior partner and a junior partner; instead, we are equal partners. The two of us are equal partners and we work together on problems that afflict us both. For us, we are a receiving country. We estimate something like 20,000 victims are trafficked into the United States every year. That’s a horrible number. There are millions worldwide that are trafficked. It is a modern form of slavery. The Philippines is a country from which many of the victims originate. It is a country that is therefore concerned about it and we look upon as one of our key allies in grappling with the problem. The Arroyo administration worked with Philippine legislators in an exemplary bipartisan fashion to sign into law a much-improved anti-trafficking persons Act in May 2003. I remember being in Malacanang for that wonderful event. Now of course, our two countries still view strengthening the rule of law as the best way to address this problem, as with so many others. Within that process, there are so many ways you can work to strengthen the rule of law. There’s a particular one we find important in the Philippines, regarding trafficking in persons, as in other areas of law enforcement, and that is prosecution. We’ve worked with former Secretary of Justice Mercy Gutierrez to strengthen the Justice Department’s prosecution. Secy. Gutierrez has now moved on to be General Counsel to the President. She continues to support this, I know. I have raised this to Secretary Gonzales as something we really care about. We know that it takes a lot of parties working together. That’s where IJM comes in. It’s absolutely vital to work to strengthen prosecution of these crimes. There’s already been improvement since the law was passed. A number of cases have been taken on. I understand there have been two successful prosecutions. If you can prosecute more cases and prosecute them successfully, it will help deter these criminals who trade in children and women, and turn them into slaves. We think that’s the best way of accomplishing real inroads—not just closing more bars, more houses of prostitution, but going after the people who take these young people and women and sell their lives away. So you are doing God’s work literally, you are doing great work for your country, you are doing great work for humanity and that’s why we feel very privileged to be part of what you’re doing. Manu Bhalla has worked very hard and all of us in the embassy have to come up with this latest grant of $227,000 which we’re turning over, of which the first $114,000 we’re disbursing today, we’re actually transferring the funds today, correct? Has it already been received? Good. We like to deliver, not just promise, in the United States. So we congratulate you for what you do, we celebrate the successes the Philippines has seen so far. We all acknowledge there’s so much more to do in our countries and beyond. I know it’s a big issue with the Government of Japan. I just had the Japanese ambassador for a visit. I know it’s something your country cares deeply about as we do, whether it’s at the Government level or NGO level. Thank you for what you do. It won’t be easy, you will face resistance, you will face lack of resources, but keep up the faith, keep up your great work and know that we are in your corner with you. Maligayang Pasko, at Manigong Bagong Ta’on at Maraming salamat po. # # #
	Last Update :: 01/05/2007
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