Cecilia Flores – Oebanda

Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda hails from Negros Occidental, a small province in the Visayas region of the Phillipines.

She is founder and Director of the Visayan Foundation, a Philippine-based Non-Government Organistion established in 1991.  Visayan is renowned for its innovative work in empowerment of vulnerable migrants, especially victims of human trafficking and domestic servitude.

Cecilia is a globally recognised human rights advocate and a multi-award winning freedom fighter.  She has spent most of her life working with and for; the urban poor, peasants, sugar plantation workers, women, youth and children.

Cecilia became a political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship.  After four years’ incarceration she was released from detention as a result of the 1986 People’s Power Revolution.

Cecilia received the 2005 Anti-Slavery Award from Anti-Slavery International.

What motivated you to take up the fight against human trafficking?

First of all it is really my love of freedom that started when I was young and then up to the time I lost my own freedom. Secondly, it was really the fact that a lot of the victims of migrant abuse that we encountered in VF were largely due to trafficking operations. We saw the interconnection between this organized crime and the systemic marginalization of migrant communities where we worked at the start of VF.

Your history intrigues people – how do you feel it has affected your life’s path?

I think that despite the difficulty I suffered, especially in prison, it has actually shaped who I am now as a person. I would not change a thing. It instilled with me a deep love of freedom that definitely keeps me going and keeps me strong despite the difficult work that we are doing.

I read in a report somewhere that Visayan rescues between 20-60 children per week!  How do you cope with these numbers?

It is honestly very hard, and we really try to be as resourceful as possible. We do need all the help we can get. We have shelters but they can only accommodate so many people. We sometimes have to refer them to partner agencies. I would personally prefer it if we can take them all into our care.

It is well documented that you have received death threats from traffickers.  What is your elixir?  How do you keep going in the face of such threats?

I am not really afraid of dying. I am actually more afraid for my family and children but they are very supportive of the work I do. If the traffickers are foolish enough to end my life, then I think they will just further our cause and show to our country and the world how evil this phenomenon is. There are few causes worth living for and perhaps dying for that has more meaning than the freedom of your fellow men.

Economic recession in the West is forcing an agenda of reduced aid and relief to the third world.  How do you see this affecting anti-trafficking work in source and transit countries?

I think that most governments recognize three things about trafficking. First is that it is a universal crime that affects every society in the world. Second that it is a massive criminal industry that makes a lot of profit and is interrelated to a lot of other crimes. Third, that it is probably one of the most extreme violations of supposedly universal rights that every state in the world is party to. These for me are the reasons why trafficking is still high on the agenda and I hope that it will remain that way.

How important do you think it is to COMBAT trafficking on the world stage?

I think we must fight trafficking in all fronts. This is not only a physical fight to catch them and jail them but also a battle for people to be informed about the risk in order to change the mindsets that perpetuate trafficking. It is a very important struggle, perhaps one of the greatest that our generation must win.

How do you think we can tackle trafficking from the perspective of reducing demand?

The first thing that should be done is to shed light on the fact that trafficking is happening in these places. A lot of people will be surprised how much individuals in their country benefit from trafficked labour or avail of the services of victims of sex trafficking. There is also a lot of space for official bilateral agreements between states regarding migration policies that could probably help curb trafficking as well. Lastly, international trafficking cases are always more easily facilitated if both sending and receiving countries cooperate.

In Europe trafficking for sexual exploitation is being matched by trafficking for labour exploitation in its’ various guises – is this trend mirrored in South East Asia and the Philippines?

Yes, there is a great variety of purposes for human trafficking. All over the region, people are recruited for both sex slavery, exploitative domestic work and even bondage labour. The key is to understand the specific nuances in every area because the trafficking issues change from country to country.

What is the greatest hurdle to the progress of Visayan Forum’s work in the Philippines?

The first one is the obvious lack of resources. The limits of our resources are always the greatest impediment to expansion and deepening of our programs. The second one is getting convictions because it takes a very long time before the trial is finished and if your complainant or witness their families could be threatened or they could get tired of the entire process and drop the charges.

What would be your message to anti-trafficking campaigners in Europe?

There is a lot of space for us to work together and find common grounds for intervention. Ultimately, despite our diverse identities and strategies, we all want freedom for everyone. Traffickers are experts in managing resources and they work together in large networks. The only way we can combat this is if we gather our resources together and become more organized and work together for our collective dream of a freer world.