Mgr Broderick S. Pabillo slams "benefactors" who deprive women and girls of their freedom and dignity. Once in the capital, the latter are caught up in prostitution and child labour rackets. Thanks to the work of the Church, more than 1,800 families displaced by the typhoon will spend Christmas in a new home.

Manila (AsiaNews/CBCP) - Mgr Broderick S. Pabillo, auxiliary bishop of Manila, has warned against human trafficking, especially involving survivors of Typhoon Yolanda, calling for vigilance and action to protect those most at risk, namely women and girls.

The prelate was especially scathing of traffickers who, pretending to be benefactors, offer housing and jobs in Manila, "But once here they're stripped of their freedom and dignity." Making matters worse, "Some survivors, in desperation, resort[. . .] to criminal deeds".

The bishop noted that modern slavery is a lucrative industry, involving hundreds of thousands of people. "What's more tragic is that it often preys on women and girls, forcing them into the sex trade or child labour," Pabillo said.

The media can help, he added, by covering the issue in greater depth and raising awareness in public opinion in order to root out this problem.

The bishop expressed special concerns for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who are being targeted by traffickers given that many of them ended up working abroad under inhumane conditions.

Filipino migrants are often "underpaid, if at all," he explained, "not free to move about because their passports are taken away from them by their employers."

On a brighter note, survivors of Typhoon Yolanda have some good news. The devastating natural event hit the Visayas Islands on 8 November 2013, affecting some 11 million people with thousands of dead or missing.

Now, thanks to the work of the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA), as Caritas Philippines is locally known, at least 1,813 families who lost their homes to the typhoon will spend Christmas in a new home.

The new housing "can resist typhoons and other disasters," said Mgr Rolando Tria Tirona, archbishop of Caceres and NASSA national director. At the same time, "they respect the culture and preferences" of those who will live in them.

In fact, the new homes were built in Palawan, according to the traditional style of local indigenous people, but more resistant to natural disasters.

• philippines
• typhoon
• yoland
• human
• trafficking