A Comparative Analysis of the Philippine and Malaysian Legal Systems against Trafficking in Persons

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the issue of human trafficking in the Philippines and Malaysia from the viewpoint of the legal transplant theory and holistic development perspectives. It clarifies how the international legal framework on trafficking encapsulated in the Palermo Protocol patterned after United States “Three P” model
was transplanted into the two countries. It analyzes how their anti-trafficking laws were implemented in response to the former. It evaluates their efforts against trafficking with reference to the UN Toolkit to Combat Trafficking. It proves the need for a holistic
approach to development policy formulation for eliminating the economic and social conditions that promote trafficking and that the US framework with emphasis on prosecution diverts attention away from this. It concludes that the trafficking laws in both countries being legal transplants may account for its ineffectiveness.