Case Study on Principle #4 - Labour Principles
The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour

Name of Company: WGA Philippines & Manila Port Authority

Background and Situational Context 
Philippine Ports Authority is a government corporation specifically charged with the financing, management and operation of public ports throughout the archipelago. The Manila Ports the corporation manages are the largest in the country, with 3-5 Million people transiting the Northern Manila Harbor every year. A percentage of the authorities revenues are placed in a programme that carries out various developmental activities in cooperation with NGOs and government departments. 

William Gothong and Aboitiz Inc (WG&A) is the largest shipping company in the Philippines. It is engaged in passenger transport and cargo liner services on most major routes in the Phillippines archipelago. The company has helped to create jobs through the expansion of its business activities and has been named one of the Best Employers in the country by Hewitt Associates, a management-consulting firm. The company is also engaged in many corporate social responsibility initiatives from recycling programmes, support for governmental immunization efforts through its Super Garantisadong Pambata programme, and support for local schools through the donation of textbooks. 

Problem 
In the Philippines a significant number of adults and children are trafficked domestically from poorer areas to urban centers for the commercial sex industry and domestic work.1 These people are often promised good working conditions and a way out of poverty only to be disappointed and forced into situations that are far worse than before. For example, several years before this case study, the number of child prostitutes in Metro Manila was estimated to be at least 20,0002 , with the majority originating from the poorer areas of the Philippines. 

Visayan Forum, a Philippine NGO that provides specialized care for migrants and children in situations of domestic work and trafficking, undertook a situational analysis in 2000 of victims of trafficking transiting through Manila North Harbour. It found 2 groups of women and children who were at risk. The first of these are groups of people recruited in their home provinces by local recruiters working for traffickers. The second group were independent travelers who come to Manila looking for work or to live with families and are prey to illegal recruiters who wait at the port to prey upon these people. 

Field research has allowed local groups to identify a pattern whereby recruiter convince parents to allow their children to travel to Manila with the promise of a job in domestic work. During transport recruiters instruct children to declare false names and ages or to claim that they are relatives. At other times children travel alone hoping to join family or friends in Manila who do not pick them up at the port. These children are at risk of falling victim to recruiters who wait at the docks to find workers for prospective employers. 

Actions Taken 
Dealing with the problem of trafficking at the North Manila Port was something that no one company or organization could take on alone. After a series of consultative meetings between local firms, the Port Authority, the Federation of Free Workers3 and the Visayan Forum, it was recognized and agreed upon that interventions from a variety of groups were necessary to combat trafficking and forced labour in this context. The specific roles that the different actors now play are outlined below; 
Visayan Forum 
· Provides training to port police under the authority of the Manila Port Authority in issues of trafficking and cooperates with shipping companies and the police to identify victims of trafficking and those at risk of being trafficked. 
· Runs a halfway house called Balay Silungan sa Daungan in front of Pier 8 which provides 24 hour services for trafficking victims including; 
        * Emergency temporary shelter before reintegration 
        * Informational assistance about travel, employment and support networks 
        * Quick referral of cases, including legal remediation 
        * Telephone hotline counseling 
WGA Philippines4 
· Now refers cases to the halfway house and gives the half way houses contact information to children and young persons on the voyage. This kind of help provides useful information to children so they can avoid abuse and exploitation at their destination. 
· Arranges for general orientations of their shipping crew on the issue of trafficking. 
· Offers free or discounted repatriation rates to children. 
· Offers safe custody during travel of repatriated children and personally turns over the children to local social workers 
Federation of Free Workers 
· Refers stranded children or those who escaped from their employers 
· Maintains food staples for children’s consumption in the center. 
Manila Port Authority 
· Manila Port Authority provides the Visayan Forum’s half way house and also provides funds for expenses for administrative purposes and building maintenance. 
· Port staff continually refers children and other stranded passengers to the halfway house. 
· Port Police and Coast guard routinely checks suspected traffickers once the ferry has docked. 

Results 
In 2001 the Visayan Forum’s project reported to have removed 500 victims or people at risk of trafficking and provided assistance to them. Many of these people have either been repatriated or placed with employers in Manila. The project has been such a success that it is currently being expanded to other ports in the Philippines. 

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1(US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001) 
2(NGO Coalition for Monitoring the CRC, Supplementary Report on the Implementation of CRC, submission to the UN CRC, January 1995) 
3Trade Union comprised of stevedores, porters, cargo handlers and vendors 
4It should be noted that while other companies actively cooperate in this programme, WGA is one of the largest companies of its kind and has proven very cooperative. 
UN Global Compact Resource Package