10/09/2026
๐๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ, ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐บ-๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ
More than 300 anti-trafficking practitioners from across the country gathered in Davao City on 07 September 2026 as the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) Anti-Child Online Exploitation and Trafficking Task Force, Prosecutors, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Social Workersโ Summit 2026 formally opened, launching five days of dialogue, capacity-building, and inter-agency action against Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children.
As the countryโs lead coordinating body in the fight against trafficking, IACAT, chaired by the Department of Justice (DOJ), convened the five-day summit, bringing together members of IACATโs 27 Task Forces nationwide, together with prosecutors, law enforcement officers, social workers, government agencies, and partner stakeholders. This yearโs summit is hosted by the Regional Anti-Child Online Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Task Force XI (RACETTF XI), underscoring the important role of regional task forces in translating national anti-trafficking strategies into coordinated action on the ground.
Running from 07 to 11 September at the Acacia Hotel in Davao City, the Summit is held under the theme โStrengthening Inter-Agency Coordination, Harmonizing Prosecution and Enforcement Strategies, and Enhancing Trauma-Informed, Victim-Centered Responses to TIP and OSAEC.โ Convened annually, the Summit remains a key platform for practitioners to exchange operational experience and build the working relationships that coordinated action on the ground depends on.
The gathering comes as technology continues to reshape how perpetrators recruit, exploit, and conceal victims, adding urgency to IACATโs continuing efforts to strengthen a unified, responsive, and victim-centered national response. The opening day set that tone: sessions focused not only on enforcement and prosecution, but on the people at the center of the response, reinforcing the need for trauma-informed, victim-centered approaches that keep the rights, dignity, safety, and recovery of victims and survivors at the core of justice and social protection interventions.
The Summit also turned attention inward, addressing the toll the work takes on practitioners themselves. Sessions on vicarious trauma underscored the importance of supporting the well-being and resilience of those working directly with victims, survivors, and complex trafficking cases.
โAs trafficking crosses borders, our response must cross just as easily,โ said Regional Prosecutor Janet Grace B. Dalisay-Fabrero, Head of RACETTF XI, the host task force of the 2026 Summit, in her message to the delegates.
Over the remaining four days, participants will take part in multidisciplinary case analyses, intelligence-sharing, specialized breakout workshops, and inter-agency consultations. These activities were designed to bridge policy and practice, strengthen real-time coordination, and build agenciesโ collective capacity to prevent trafficking, identify and protect victims, investigate cases, and pursue prosecution. The discussions are expected to yield harmonized operational guidelines, improved reporting and monitoring mechanisms, stronger local coalitions, and greater readiness to respond to emerging forms of exploitation.
โBuild new friendships, strengthen old partnerships. Share not only your expertise, but also your experiences,โ said Secretary of Justice Fredderick A. Vida in his opening message delivered by IACAT Executive Director Hannah Lizette S. Manalili. โBecause in this work, the relationships we strengthen today may be the very connections that help us rescue a victim, build a stronger case, or bring a trafficker to justice tomorrow.โ
As Chair of the IACAT, the Department of Justice continues to lead the Councilโs efforts to strengthen a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response to trafficking, while regional task forces play a critical role in bringing these national commitments into practice.
The opening of the 2026 Summit marks another significant step in IACATโs continuing effort to bring the countryโs anti-trafficking stakeholders closer together, strengthening not only systems and strategies, but the partnerships that make a coordinated response possible. As the Summit continues, IACAT and its partners reaffirm a shared resolve: to intensify the collective fight against trafficking and ensure a coordinated, rights-based, trauma-informed response centered on the protection and recovery of victims and survivors.
