Part of the associated prostitution industry closed with it, but when Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim closed the Ermita sex industry zone in Manila during his first term starting in 1992, many businesses moved to Angeles and found a new clientele among sex tourists. [14] Prostitution targets both domestic and foreign clients. Media attention tends to focus on areas focused on sex tourism, mainly through bars occupied by bar girls. Cities with a high incidence of prostitution are Olongapo, Angeles City, Legazpi in Albay, Pasay, and Subic Bay in Zambales,[9] with clients usually foreign businessmen from East Asia and Western countries. [10] [11] Worldwide, the prostitution trade is linked to the human trafficking market. Human trafficking ensures that the demand for different shapes and sizes of women`s bodies is met. Human trafficking is now estimated at a $57 billion global industry. Prostitution is linked not only to trafficking in human beings, but also to pornography on the Internet. As one social worker involved in the rehabilitation of prostituted women told me: “Internet pornography is the theory; Prostitution is the practice. This chilling remark opens our eyes to the devastating effects of Internet pornography flooding our society. “There were times when they didn`t have money to buy food.” If you have nothing to feed your children, it`s tempting to turn to prostitution for quick money, but thanks to our good foundations, we`ve stayed strong. We survived without going back,” Gonzales said. Even as they fought for their lives, they continued to hold educational seminars and comb through red-light districts in Quezon City and elsewhere to help other women trapped in prostitution.
The support of allied NGOs and their firm belief that “there is life after prostitution” allowed them to continue, Gonzales said. There is no single reason for the widespread spread of prostitution in the Philippines. Poverty is only one reason, as cultural factors and people`s attitudes towards money and social acceptance of prostitution play a major role. [2] In general, people see sex tourism as equivalent to prostitution, simply because the two terms have almost the same definition. As a social problem, people consider it serious, as it harms buyers and sellers and creates a negative image for the country. This activity also offers our children a false perspective on life and/or career. People fully understand the concept of sex tourism, because it is obviously accepted with the presence of a number of bars that, despite their illegality, are prone to prostitution. Although the results show that poverty is the main reason for this sub-industry, it is still not an excuse as it violates the law and the fact that the job opportunities in the country are great. According to the Philippine Bureau of Statistics, the Philippines had a poverty incidence of 26.3% in 2015. [15] Although this number has decreased in recent years,[15] this is still one of the reasons why girls and their families turn to prostitution to provide the family with a certain level of lifestyle.
[16] Many girls who come to Angeles City tend to be provincial, especially from Samar, Leyte, and Visayas, after seeing their friends live better lives through their work in the prostitution industry. [17] [18] Other factors cited by NGOs involved in anti-prostitution work include dysfunctional families, deception by recruiters, pornography, tourism exploiting Filipino women, and a general apathy of society and the church towards this reality. [11] It is important to be aware of these so-called push-pull factors. People who work in ministries trying to rescue and rehabilitate prostituted women will tell you that they have never met a woman who wanted to become a prostitute. Instead, they tell countless stories of young women from poor backgrounds who often have a long history of physical and sexual violence.12 Many young women are tricked by recruiters into leaving the province, where there may be few job opportunities to come to the big city on the promise of decent work. Once there, the vulnerable person is often deceived or even forced to work in the sex industry. Although prostitution is illegal in the Philippines, it is easy for locals and visitors to find prostitutes in bars and massage parlors [9]. Prostitution began around Clark Air Force Base in Angeles City in the early 1960s, when the base rose to prominence due to the Vietnam War. In the 1970s, there were no less than 30 girls` bars on the main street of the city of Olongapo, catering to the needs of the United States.
Naval troops visit Subic Naval Base. The city was given the pseudonym “Sin City”. The closure of U.S. bases in these two locations didn`t change the scenario much — it only changed the customer base. Fields Avenue near Clark, Angeles, Pampanga has continued to develop as a center of the sex tourism industry, under the umbrella of “entertainment” and “hospitality”. Olongapo`s girls` bars were closed by then-Governor Jane Gordon; however, they only moved to the nearby town of Barrio Baretto, which contains a number of at least 40 bars that function as prostitution centers [10]. Prostitution in the Philippines is illegal, although somewhat tolerated, with few prosecutions of sex workers. Penalties are up to life imprisonment for those involved in human trafficking, which falls under the 2003 Anti-Trafficking Act.
[1] Prostitution is possible in bars, karaoke bars (also known as KTV), massage parlors, brothels (also known as casa), street walkers and escort services. [2] Former prostitute Liza Gonzales told the Philippines Inquirer: “Women in this field are often seen as sinners and house destroyers.