23 March 2023, CANBERRA – Consul General Aian Caringal of the Embassy of the Philippines in Canberra met Mr. Paul Mergard, CEO, and Mr. Greg Bradley, Executive Partnership Manager, of Destiny Rescue Limited Australia. The organization introduced its programs in Australia and overseas including its operations in the Philippines.

Destiny Rescue Limited, based in Sunshine Coast, Queensland is a registered charity with more than 20 years’ experience in countering child trafficking. It focuses solely on the child sex trafficking aspect of modern slavery.

Consul General Caringal thanked Mr. Mergard for Destiny Rescue’s work in the Philippines and underscored the commitment of the Philippine government in fighting all forms of modern slavery. The Philippines and Australia have an active and successful engagement on protecting children from online sexual exploitation and bringing perpetrators to justice.

Destiny Rescue Philippines, which started in 2014, is an augmented assistance program that provides resources and logistics to partnered law enforcement agencies and national government agencies for the purpose of rescuing children from sexual exploitation and human trafficking. According Destiny Rescue, their Philippine partner agencies include the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and that they rescued 521 Filipino children and youth from 2020 to 2022.-END