CEDAW/C/PHI/Q/6/Add.1 9. In its previous concluding comments, the Committee commented on the discrimination in the application of laws against women prostitutes but not against the men involved as traffickers, pimps and clients, and suggested that measures dealing with prostitution should focus on penalizing traffickers.1 Please provide information on what effective measures have been taken to stop discriminatory application of laws and to focus on penalizing traffickers. A consolidated bill, based on 11 earlier bills is currently pending in the House of Congress (HOR). Called the “Anti-Prostitution Act”, the bill seeks to decriminalize the prostituted persons and penalizes pimps, brothel and other establishment owners, and customers of prostituted persons. This bill, when passed, will amend the existing Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code which criminalizes prostituted persons. Sec. 11 of RA 9208 (Anti Trafficking in Persons Act) specifically penalizes using the services of trafficked persons for prostitution. Of the seven convictions for violation of RA 9208, one of is for the violation of Sec. 11. Initially however, this particular case was for violation of the heavier offenses of trafficking, but the defendant pleaded guilty to a lesser offense of using the services of a trafficked person. In view of this, the DOJ issued a memorandum to all its prosecutors not to allow a suspected trafficker prosecuted for violation of the heavier offense of trafficking, to use Sec. 11 to get off with a lighter sentence. 10. The report states that in January 1999, the Philippine Centre on Transnational Crime was created and tasked with establishing a shared central database among government agencies for information on criminals, arrests and convictions on various transnational crimes, including trafficking in human beings (para. 198). Please assess progress in the systematic use of the Centre and evaluate its impact on combating trafficking. In 2003, the PCTC established a database for trafficking of persons. This project aims to integrate and systematically store human trafficking cases gathered or received from stakeholders in the government as well as from non-government organizations. To date, the database contains 6,500 entries from local and international counterparts and external sources like the print media. Through the INTERPOL Global Communication System 24/7, the PCTC has increased its capability in gathering and disseminating information regarding human trafficking cases, especially with the growing number of trafficking cases to Malaysia. Two new cases are currently being investigated and the involved Malaysian trafficker is being monitored by the PCTC through the INTERPOL. There remains an urgent need to increase the PCTC’s database capacity and improve its accessibility and interconnectivity with other government agencies. The PCTC will be initiating a regular Inter-Agency meeting of government agencies and NGOs to create a directory of contact persons and focal points and systematize the use of the database. 11. According to the report, data reported on human trafficking is very low compared to the number of actual victims not reported. The report attributes this to the lack of a systematic monitoring mechanism on the movement of Philippine migrants (para. 180). Please indicate measures taken to introduce a systematic monitoring mechanism on the movement of Philippine migrants. __________________ 1 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-second Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/52/38/Rev.1), paras. 292 and 299. 9