ALMOST FREE SEX IN THE PHILIPPINES: THE TRUTH BEHIND.

Sex in the Philippines is a catchy title rather than using the word prostitution which has worsened to the highest level. I have been staying in Manila for almost five years now and I had my share of ups and downs. Living in this part of the country made me realize the difference on cost of  living, it is indeed expensive to live here in the National Capital Region. Without a stable source of income is suicide. Better go home to the province. This is my introduction because I have seen bad consequences in trying to live it out in the Metro especially on the subject sex and prostitution.

For two years I had worked in the Cubao, Quezon City area and every night when I go home I had to pass by the intersection overpass at Aurora Boulevard. I can't believe it but there are young ladies I think as young as 14 years old standing at the side while a pimp, either an old lady or a gay transacts business with passersby. Accordingly, the rate is P500 but it can go down to P300. Half goes to the pimp, half goes to the young girl. This sight is familiar along the main road and the dark alleys of Aurora Blvd.

You can also see the same sight along Quezon Ave, Quiapo a night, Malate and Taft Ave. So sad that you can see in the faces of the girls that they do it so that they could eat. I have also seen a couple having sex in a street sidewalk at the back of  Malate church. All they had to cover their lower part of the body where the action is going is a big refrigirator box.

It is said that sex is the oldest profession and as long as there are men, it will never die. This maybe a fact and not even the most religious can stop the proliferation of this trade. However, seeing young children, kids getting into this sex trade is something I strongly reject. Some tricycle drivers even joke that they can have sex for a kilo of rice! Imagine that!

Then I saw the episode of Imbestigador hosted by Mike Enriquez. There was a feature were old men can have sex with children and teenagers in a scale of "three girls for P100". I was shocked. The modus was to pay the owner of the house so that the customers ( mostly tricycle drivers and bystanders ) can use it as a drinking space. Then the young girls will be lured to join them in the drinking spree and after a few drinks, sex begins. It's a god thing that Imbestigador was able to catch the perpetrators of that sex house.

Yet there is another story. I'm sure by now you are aware of the sudden growth of teenage gangs all around the country. Ganghood is only one of the negative influences adopted by Filipinos from the Americans. Many teenagers are now active on this and they employ the harshest bullying using guns and weapons to scare other kids. So many stories have been told but I will use a particular example in Baguio City where two highschool girls from prominent families were given to a gang leader as a gift in exchange for their membership. The two highschool girls got pregnant. This created an outrage in Baguio City but still it ganghood remains. In Metro Manila, you can see teenage gangs in every corner of this metropolitan city and the word sex comes out of their mouth just as fast as they sing their rap songs. It seems sex trade amongst gang members is a free trade under what they call "hirap o sarap".

Sex in the Philippines is not limited to the girls or gangs in the streets. In fact, it is only a small portion of the industry. Most of the sex trade comes with a price and the people involved are the persons you would not want to mess with. How many stories have you heard about politicians, policemen etc having more than one wife and more than two homes? Funny thing is,  they are the people who ought to implement the law.

We will have a hard time admitting this, but despite the Philippines being known as the only christian majority based country in South East Asia, many foreigners, especially the males, come to the Philippines because sex is cheap. In an article written by ilovephilippinestoo.blogspot.com he said that "Philippine tourism, has proven to be helpful to sex workers in the country. There are at least 100, 000 women in the country, both young and a bit older trying their luck to have a fair share of income in the tourism industry of the Philippines. In the country (Philippines) sex is priced more or less at Php 2,500 an hour. Not really bad considering the minimum wage is too less! Who does not want to earn this amount in an hour anyway? It is more wage than the salary of some CEO's!"

Then he follows it up with hard truth. He said "there are laws against this, against that but these laws are never working nor implemented! Although illegal in the Philippines, prostitution is still a very good industry. It is being boosted by dollars brought in by foreign tourists, who are most likely to be male, aged 38 years or older and in the country for pleasure. The government actually has enough laws against prostitution, I have to mention again."

He quoted some laws. "Among these Anti-prostituion laws is Republic Act 9208, otherwise known as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, which seeks to save women and children from falling into prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage. Unfortunately, the law does not save them from poverty and lack of livelihood opportunities, which force thousands of women to prostitution. The fact that some Filipinos are very rich and others are very poor breeds the exploitation and abuse of poor women. As I may tell you, there can be no other law more beautifully phrased than Philippine laws... really! But all these, are all drops of ink and nothing more. I don't even think most law-makes are aware that they have passed these laws! In 2005, some 2.6 million foreign tourists infused about $2.4 billion into the country, the highest in history. This year, the Department of Tourism (DoT) expects between $2.8 and $2.9 billion from the influx of about three million visitors. Another 3.4 million visitors are expected in 2007, 3.88 million by 2008, 4.42 million by 2009 and five million by 2010. And of course, the tourism industry has computed it in the premise that there are always be prostitutions to help foreigners to come by."

Indeed, many male tourists come to the Philippines because of the cheap sex it offers. It is hard to accept especially to those who are un-exposed but it is true.

Lastly, sex in the Philippines is almost tantamount to scandal. In Fact, if you say Philippine sex you are actually saying sex scandal. If you do not believe me than just type the word sex scandal in Yahoo or Google and you will see almost all articles provided are Filipinos. Maybe this is one reason why our country is one of the targets of foreigners looking for sex. Why don't you try it yourself, just type "sex scandal" in Google and you will see thousands of websites all over the world featuring sex scandals in the Philippines. Sad to say, it's a reality we have to live with. REMEMBER: whatever you post (pictures or videos), upload or write online becomes part of the history because it can never be erased even if you deleted it from your account! Always remember that when putting something online.