Boxing hero and Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao said on Thursday he would join an “all-out war” against human trafficking, involving the various government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs).

Pacquiao expressed his support against human trafficking at the Dialogue on Human Trafficking Between Civil Society and Leaders in Government which was organized by four NGOs advocating labor and women's rights. “We should engage in an all-out war against trafficking, but not only in words but also in concrete and immediate action,” Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao said that he would send a request to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and to the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations to give a special budget to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to give teeth to the coordinating committee.

The IACAT was created to coordinate the efforts of various government agencies against trafficking, and as such does not have funding in the annual budget.

Pacquiao said he is also prepared to lend his popularity to a public awareness campaign so that the people, especially women and children will be aware of the modus operandi of human traffickers.

Susan Ople of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center said that Congress should plug the loopholes in the laws against trafficking so that more human traffickers would be convicted of this crime.

One such loophole is the confidentiality provision in the anti-human trafficking law which prohibits the publication of the names of suspects in human trafficking. (David Cagahastian)