Special Edition: An interview with Bella Dimayuga

WOMEN's MONTH CELEBRATION

Kapihan @ Kwentuhan sa
Tagumpay ng Mga Kababaihan

AN INTERVIEW WITH BELLA DIMAYUGA and
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE PHILIPPINES

It was more than two years ago, sometime in 2007, when Jerry Hawe and Troop Edmunds rescued Troop's niece, Lani Ejercito, a Filipina in Palimbang, Malaysia. The rescue which was documented by Dateline NBC News caught the attention of the blogging community that many Flipino bloggers advocated to pressure the government to take more drastic action against human traffickers and strict implementation of the Anti-Trafficking Law to protect Filipino Women. It was in 2008 when law enforcement agencies conducted a crackdown and series of arrests against human traffickers in the country. Some women in Malaysia were also rescued. Those in the private sector, from abroad, conducted outreach seminars and programs to educate Filipinos on how to apply for work, migrate or enter the United States, legally. After which, others shared their knowledge and experience on Criminal Exploitation of Women and Children in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Sister Bella Dimayuga, who has been training, developing and managing thousands of Filipino entertainers and talents to be sent abroad for more than four decades , having been in the entertainment industry herself for more than six decades, in cooperation with the Gender Advocacy Networking Group of the Civil Service Commission, shares with us her insights and experience on how she trains Filipino talents and migrant workers bound abroad to prepare them and keep them strong, not to be lured from temptations while abroad, especially those in the entertainment industry. It is a rare opportunity to hear this woman speaks of her advocacy. Filipinos can!