Republic of the Philippines
Congress of the Philippines
Metro Manila
Twelfth Congress
Second Regular Session
Begun held in Metro Manila on Monday, the twenty-second day of July, two thousand two
Republic Act No. 9208
May 26, 2003
AN ACT TO INSTITUTE POLICIES TO ELIMINATE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ESPECIALLY
WOMEN AND CHILDREN, ESTABLISHING THE NECESSARY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS
FOR THE PROTECTION AND SUPPORT OF TRAFFICKED PERSONS, PROVIDING PENALTIES
FOR ITS VIOLATIONS, AND FOR OTHER
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:
Section 1. Title. This Act shall be known as the "Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003".
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby declared that the State values the dignity of every
human person and guarantees the respect of individual rights. In pursuit of this policy, the State shall
give highest priority to the enactment of measures and development of programs that will promote
human dignity, protect the people from any threat of violence and exploitation, eliminate trafficking in
persons, and mitigate pressures for involuntary migration and servitude of persons, not only to support
trafficked persons but more importantly, to ensure their recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration into
the mainstream of society.
It shall be a State policy to recognize the equal rights and inherent human dignity of women and men
as enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child, United Nations Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and their
Families. United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime Including its Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and all other
relevant and universally accepted human rights instruments and other international conventions to
which the Philippines is a signatory.
Section 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:
(a) Trafficking in Persons - refers to the recruitment, transportation, transfer or
harboring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim's consent or knowledge,
within or across national borders by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of
coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage
of the vulnerability of the person, or, the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to
achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of
exploitation which includes at a minimum, the exploitation or the prostitution of others or
other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, servitude or the
removal or sale of organs.