The president of the Bishops' Conference cites the declaration signed by Pope along with world religious leaders. For Villegas, the Lord came down to die on the Cross in order to set His people free, not only from the bondage of sin, but also from the evil one that preys on every human weakness and vulnerability of the individual and society.

Manila (AsiaNews/CBCP) - It is a Christian duty to do everything to prevent anyone from being trafficked, and to make sure that "those who have fallen into the traffickers' trap are set free and are able to come home and resume their normal lives with their families, friends, and community," wrote Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas in his last pastoral letter.

With this purpose in mind, the prelate, who is president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), cites the Declaration against slavery signed by Pope Francis and other world religious leaders.

For the bishop, charity and compassion require "Christians [to] exert every effort to free human traffickers from the motives and attractions of their illicit trade and to draw them back to genuinely good and beneficial pursuits".

"Where is your brother or sister who is enslaved? Where is the brother and sister whom you are killing each day in clandestine warehouses, in rings of prostitution, in children used for begging, in exploiting undocumented labour?" he asks as he reflects on Genesis 4:19 in which the Lord questions Cain on Abel's whereabouts.

For Mgr Villegas, the Lord came down to die on the Cross in order to set His people free, not only from the bondage of sin, but also from the evil one that preys on every human weakness and vulnerability of the individual and society.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), an estimated one million Filipinos (men and women) emigrate every year in search of work. Altogether, some 10 million Filipinos live and work abroad.

Human trafficking remains a serious problem for the Philippines. Many Filipinos are subject to forced labour in factories, construction sites, fishing boats, and plantations.

Many work as domestics in Asia and the Middle East, often subjected to physical and sexual abuse.

What is more, the country itself has become one of the main destinations for sex tourism, especially for girls and children.

Child labour is also a widespread scourge. In 2009, a government report estimated that more than 2.2 million Filipinos between 15 and 17 years were forced to work.

• philippines
• child
• labour
• human
• trafficking
• sex
• trade