US envoy disappointed over lack of cooperation among agencies vs human trafficking—Del Rosario

MANILA, Philippines – United States Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas expressed disappointment over the alleged lack of cooperation by some institutions to address the problem of human trafficking in the country, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario disclosed before the Senate Tuesday.

Del Rosario said Thomas made known his sentiment in a conversation he had with the US envoy.

Del Rosario was in the Senate on Tuesday to defend the proposed budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs for 2012.

“They’re working very closely with the DoJ [Departement of Justice], NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] and he [Thomas] says the cooperation there is very effective,” Rosario said when asked about Thomas’ statement that 40 percent of male tourists visit the Philippines for sex.

“But there are institutions that he has named – I will not nominate those institutions at this forum. We can discuss that on an executive session basis – that really need to be focused on because they’re needed in terms of being able to deal with this problem and yet, obviously the cooperation is not there,” Del Rosario said.

But in an interview with reporters after the hearing, the DFA chief categorically said that the ambassador was disappointed at these institutions, which he refused to identify.

“I will not mention the institutions which obviously he was disappointed with, who have not been pinching in in terms of the weight that’s necessary to fully address the problem,” said Del Rosario.

In his letter to Senator Loren Legarda, Del Rosario said the ambassador gave his commitment to provide continued US assistance to the Aquino administration in its fight against human trafficking.

Thomas even backed the prosecution of any foreigner particularly an American who is suspected of engaging in sex crimes.