Philippine Christian University

A Case Analysis
Presented to the
Faculty of Master in Management Major in Hospital Administration

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Subject

Management of Social and Economic Change
Course no. MM-HoA211
Professor: Dr. Neil C. Bermudez

“ Child Prostitution in the Philippines ”

Group 3
Christian C. Catalla, RRT
Roberto B. Bautista, RRT
Ronel Tumabiao, RRT
Edfel Jay Diga, RRT
Jeanette Luyang, RMT
Mariel Montiel, RMT
ACRONYMS

CBCP Catholics Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

CPN Child Protection Network
CWC Council for the Welfare of Children
CST Child Sex Tourism
DEPED Department of Education
DILG Department of Interior and Local Government
DOH Department of Health
DOJ Department of Justice
DSWD Department of Social Welfare and Development
ECPAT End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the
Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes
ECP Employers Confederation of the Philippines
FBO Faith-Based Organizations
LNB Liga ng mga Barangay
LSWDO Local Social Welfare and Development Office
NASWEI National Association for Social Work Education, Inc.
NBS-VAC National Baseline Study on Violence against Children
NCCP National Council of Churches in the Philippines
NGO Non Government Organization
PCMN Philippine Children's Ministries Network
PCO Presidential Communications Office
PIA Philippine Information Agency
PNP Philippine National Police
PSRTI Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute
TUCP Trade Union Congress of the Philippines
VAC Violence Against Children
 I. TIME CONTEXT

In the Philippines, the preliminary results of the 2015 National Baseline

Study on Violence against Children (NBS-VAC), which was supported by
UNICEF showed that:
- Study produced data showing that one-in-four children (24.9%)
reportedly suffered from some form of sexual violence in any setting.
- Children reported to have been sexually abused in all settings:
at home, at school, and in the community.
Synthesis of the Historical Background of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children
 Summary of Estimates of Prostitution in the Philippines

This shows the distribution of reported Commercial Sexual Exploitation

of Children (CSEC) cases from 1991 to 1996. It also indicates that over a
period of 6 years, a total of 1,403 or an average of 281 cases yearly were
documented by the DSWD, with half of these cases involved in prostitution
(715).
II. VIEWPOINT

The viewpoint of this study is based from the Secretary of Social

Welfare and Development (Philippines)

III. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The researcher is determined to ascertain as to what factors contribute

to the spread of child prostitution in the Philippines. The country is described
as a major destination for global child sex tourism; thus, it is essential to
identify the root cause and how these acts of child exploitation transpire.

The research questions are therefore:

1. What legislations regarding child prostitution exist in the Philippines?

Several legislations have already been signed and ratified in the

Philippines to tackle child prostitution. Among these are the UN Convention
on the Rights of Child (1990) and the UN Optional Protocol on the Sale of
Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (2002). The Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime(2002), or simply known as the Protocol, also intends to
address these problems with international cooperation.
After being ranked as a Tier 2 Watch List Country on US Department of
State’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report in 2010 (Hwang, 2017) the
Philippine government took actions to prevent trafficking and to fulfill the
minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), while
having the risk of millions of dollars of aid from the US being stopped if they
fail to do so. They established guidelines for an anti-trafficking policy in 2010
and since 2012, they have set the Extended Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in
force (GOVPH, 2014). Their efforts to end trafficking made them a Tier 1
country in the TIP report of 2016, thereby making the Philippines a country
where the government meets the TVPA’s minimum standards (U.S.
Department of State, 2016). This legislation makes the child victims of
prostitution hard to determine, as any person under the age of 18 working in
the sex industry is systemized as a trafficking victim.
In Laura Tsai’s (2017) study about sex trafficking survivors in the
Philippines, all the interviewed women were adults when the study was
conducted, but some conceded that they were trafficked into prostitution as
children. Ike in other countries in Asia, the Philippines has a problem with their
public sector’s accountability. In the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index, the
country ranked 101st out of 176; receiving a score of 35 along with Thailand.
This shows that the country’s population is plagued by corruption daily.
(Transparency International, 2017)

2. Which historical/political factors contributes to the child prostitution in

the Philippines?

During the World War 2 the Japanese invaded the Philippines which led to
that more than one million Filipinos died. After their independence in 1946 the
Filipinos have met challenges and numerous crisis, in forms of coups,
corruption, economic problems and opposition from communist and Islamic
rebels. (iExplore, 2017) The Philippines, which has been democratic the
longest in the area, has therefore experienced severe strokes against their
democracy in their inefficiency to uphold rule of law and liberal democratic
values. However, they are progressive in establishing democratic liberal
values and their political structure consists of diversities. (Ramcharan, 2016)
The Philippines were also affected by the Vietnamese and Korean wars
during the 1950s to the 1970s, when foreign soldiers came to the country on
leave to buy sex, and children were exploited sexually (Spurrier & Alpaslan,
2017). This lives on still today, as the Philippines has a considerable
sextourism industry, almost half of the Philippines male tourists comes to buy
sex, and children are often requested (SBS News, 2013). In 2016, 19,7% of
the Philippines GDP came from travel and tourism and in the future the
number is estimated to continue to grow (World Travel & Tourism Council,
2017).

3. Which cultural factors contributes to the child prostitution in the

Philippines?

Traditionally, Filipinos identify children as parental property (Trinidad,

2005; ECPAT Philippines, 2006). A common phrase expressed by traditional
Filipino parents is, “even though your bones are ground to dust, you shall not
be able to pay your debt of gratitude to us” (Trinidad, 2005, p. 72). With this
view parents deny children the right to simply be a child. Generally, parents
hold the financial stability of their families in higher regard than the welfare of
an individual child (Trinidad, 2005). The Filipino culture values the collective
over the individual. Collective values are not necessarily detrimental to
children, but what is destructive is the lack of understanding concerning the
universal rights of children to be free from being treated as property.

Cultural norms and traditions are strong influences of the Filipino

society, loyalty towards one family and helping the family financially are
rightful and appropriate demands. Having a debt of gratitude towards one’s
family is a central key, and failing in helping the family can lead to withdrawal
and stigmatization by the family and society. Studies made in Southeast Asia
have shown that the need to support one’s family financially are an evident
factor for women and children to end up in trafficking and sex work industries.
(Tsai, 2017) Because of the long Spanish and later American colonialism, the
Filipino culture is a mix of western and eastern values. Muslims or believers of
traditional Filipino religions stands for a very small part of the population,
Christianity is the most dominant religion, with 80% of them being Catholics.
But as the Philippines extensively is a secular country there is only a small
part of the population that holds strong religious beliefs. (Embassy of Sweden,
2017). According to O‟Donnell Davidson (2004), “sexual relationships with
tourists represent one of the few ways in which ordinary local adults and
children can tap into privileges reserved for tourists and elite locals”. Engaging
with foreigners is a source of pride and increases the locals‟ status within the
community (Trinidad, 2005).

4. Which socioeconomic factors contributes to the child prostitution in the

Philippines?

The Philippines experience of conflicts and natural disasters have

made their economic development rough, but they are now under
development (Humanium, 2017). The Philippines is one of the most
vulnerable countries to natural disasters, they are ranked as number three of
the world’s most unsafe countries (Smith, 2017). The misplacement and the
unsafety when natural disasters strike puts the children in vulnerable places.
The Philippines economy experienced a considerable growth in 2016
(UNICEF, 2016), their GDP per capita was 7,700 dollars in 2016, ranking
them on place 154 out of 230 countries (CIA, 2017). However, the widespread
presence of poverty lingers for a lot of households (Humanium, 2017) and
child poverty subsist (UNICEF, 2016). The child poverty has contributed to the
country’s vast problem with street children, which are evident in especially
developing countries. The Philippines has an estimated of 250,000 street
children, (Siagian, 2016) and these children are therefore increasingly
vulnerable to prostitution and other forms of exploitation (Merrill, Njord, Njord,
Read and Pachano, 2010). Street children who lives on the street is much
more vulnerable to prostitution than them who still lives at home, which shows
that being neglected and not receiving support from the family is a risk factor
for children to be exposed to child prostitution (ibid). Poverty contributes to
people leaving the family and find better work elsewhere, trafficking victims,
where especially women and children are exposed to prostitution, often
leaves the family in the first place because of the duty of helping the family
financially and alas be able to send money home to them (Tsai, 2017).

IV. OBJECTIVES

a. General Objective
 To create an environment that will pave the way for the prevention of
children in prostitution. To identify the repercussions of the existence of child
exploitation in any form.

b. Specific Objective
To reduce the incidence of children in prostitution in Philippines.

V. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION

As with any project, especially those that aim to induce change, a

plethora of elements can either promote or hinder its success. Both internal
and external elements will come into play as detailed in this SWOT analysis:

A. Strengths:
a. Access to countless reliable data that show areas with high prevalence
of child exploitation making it easier to pinpoint and manage
b. Well informed on existing policies and legislations
c. Proactive approach towards prevention of further propagation of child
exploitation

B. Weaknesses:
a. Political will and commitment to policy reforms to address root cause of
child labor in prostitution
b. The limitations as to how much can be implemented and acted upon
without bypassing any existing regulations
c. Gathering of funds for continuous execution of programs that will inhibit
the propagation of child prostitution

C. Opportunities:
a. With the advent of the internet, gathered resources that have been
studied and compiled can be decimated with ease to the target audience
b. Reaching out and collaborating with existing organizations, both local
and international, to fight against child prostitution
c. Coordinating with organizations and legislators to provide basic living
commodities, educational programs or job opportunities
d. With more people becoming aware of the exploitation of children, they
themselves initiate to call out and act on the issue without the need for
convincing
e. Maximizing existing trainings and guidelines of renowned organizations
to come up with fresh and better plans

D. Threats:
a. The lack of support/funds from agencies that should be tackling the
issue
b. Varying perception and principle of each individual which leads to
some being apathetic, tolerating, and/or involved in the abuse of children
c. Lack of opportunities for rescued individuals making them prone to
being exploited again
d. A consequence of the ease of travel between nations is the growing
demand and opportunity for child sex tourists.
e. Corruption inside the partnership with Government international
organizations, and financial institutions exists.

VI. ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION

These are the possible solutions to the identified problem:

ACA – 1

I. Strengthening data collection and monitoring systems, sensitizing of

communities, training of public personnel; supporting surveillance, rescue,
and recovery efforts, and educating the communities.
Data collection and monitoring will unravel unreported cases of child
exploitation. Although the Philippines top’s the world for online child abuse,
there are still plenty of unreported cases.
 A comprehensive and detailed data collection should be established
and should be segregated by the child’s age, sex, geographic location,
ethnicity and socioeconomic background. The perpetrator’s data must also be
as comprehensive with the addition of the number of previous convictions,
prosecutions, and the nature of the offence/s. (United Nations Committee on
the Rights of the Child 2013)
It is not only the government officials that are lacking in awareness of
its existence but also its citizens, especially those that are street-involved.
Street-involved children are often more prone to acts of abuse, with a higher
prevalence on girls. Children who grew up homeless are 83% more likely to
delve into prostitution. Indecent acts involve performing sexual acts such as
being touched unwantedly, sexual and physical violence, oral sex, kissing,
and intercourse in exchange for money, foods, or gifts. Over half have
claimed that the perpetrators are Filipino adults while the others are
foreigners.
As stated earlier, there’s a huge gap in the country’s system when it
comes to child exploitation. By training public officials and personnel, the
country can execute decimation of information and awareness programs to
their constituents better. With this, the citizen’s will know where to go in case
an abuse happens and the government units will be able to handle these
properly, in return. Continuous monitoring of every victim and perpetrator will
also aid in the recovery efforts from the trauma.

PRO’s:
1. The Philippine government has adopted medium-term and long-term
strategies to combat Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC).
Under medium-term strategies are campaigns that aim to raise awareness
within the general public to change social norms and stigmatizing against
victims of CSEC, and education and training programs for vulnerable groups
and government officials. The long-term strategy, on the other hand, is
comprised of poverty reduction, solving social inequality, providing better
access to education, health and social service. Children who are most
vulnerable to CSEC are prioritized although standards and criteria on
identifying children’s vulnerability are not yet available.

2. The Philippine government also provides immediate assistance which

is composed of medical and psychological care, provision of temporary
shelter and legal assistance. Along the way, victims are reintegrated into
schools, relatives of foster families(presuming they are not offenders) and
financial assistance.

3. The Guidelines for Media Practitioners on the Reporting and Coverage

of Cases Involving Children was developed in consultation with media
practitioners. This seeks to balance the role of media in public information and
education with the rights of children to privacy and special protection within
the framework of the Philippine justice and social welfare system.

CON’s:

1. UNICEF has a study that showed that the Philippines lack’s the much
needed system for child protection and monitoring. Gaps are further
enhanced because of the national government agencies’ and the local
government units’ insufficient awareness and understanding on the matter.

2. Even in the presence of campaigns and education programs, efforts

seem futile as the Philippines rise’s to the top for child sex tourism.

3. Although the Philippines has established a legal framework that

addresses Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), its efficacy is
hampered by corruption among law enforcement officials.

4. Cases of police abuses on children continue to be documented.

5. Homelessness, one of the main contributing factors to CSEC, has been

a long-term problem of the country and cannot be eliminated short-term.
6. Re-exploitation of rescued individuals is possible if acting bodies fail to
continuously monitor and support the rescued individuals.

ACA - 2

II. The sensitive debate on the legalization of prostitution for example

affects actions geared to address the problem of child prostitution, by way of
setting an age limit for sex workers. The benefits of legalizing prostitution
extend further than to just those involved in the sex industry. Allowing brothels
to operate legally and publicly generates substantial revenue for the state
through taxation. Prostitutes can be screened for STD’s and licensed, would
prevent the spread of diseases. Prostitutes would be protected more by law,
and abusive pimps would be more likely to be penalized. Wages could be
regulated for sex workers. Licensing could control things such as age
requirement, gender, demographic profile in general for statistical purposes
and identification. To compensate for the government's incapacity to educate
it's people. Most of the people who engage in such an act are those who
never got a chance to study. It’s more like a way to live. Legalize it so these
people would have a source of living. Anyway, it'll serve as a source of
income for the prostitute and a source of self-fulfillment for the other person.
The basis for this course of action is the Dutch Government.

PRO’s:
1. Screening the owners of businesses in the sex industry
- The owners of commercial sex operations will be screened more thoroughly.
Municipalities will do background checks on them. If an owner has previously
been involved in human trafficking or if there are indications that they will
probably not comply with the licensing conditions, their application for a
license will be denied.

2. Mandatory licensing
- Businesses in the sex industry, for instance sex clubs, brothels and escort
agencies will only be allowed to operate with a license from the municipal
authorities. The conditions for obtaining a license will include a guarantee of
sex workers' health and safety. A commercial sex operation will only be given
a license if it has a fixed address and a telephone landline. To ensure that the
rules are equally strict all over the country, the same conditions will essentially
apply in every municipality.
3. Raising the minimum age for prostitutes
- The minimum age for prostitutes in The Netherlands for example has been
raised to 21. Clients will be liable to punishment if they engage the services of
a prostitute under the age of 21. Business owners will be punishable if they
employ a prostitute under the age of 21. Underage prostitutes themselves will
not be punished.

4. Regulation of taxation from sex clubs, brothels and escort agencies.

- Another benefit of legalizing prostitution resides in the ability to generate tax
revenue. Once the applicant has successfully obtained licensing she may
work at a brothel, enjoying legal income taxable at the appropriate rate.

5. An example is the Dutch Government, they conducted a study on the

quality of life of sex workers in the early 2000s and found there were
improvements in multiple categories from 2002 to 2007. Proven benefits of
legalizing prostitution include mental and physical healthcare (including STI
prevention care), safer and more accessible ways of reporting violence and
abuse as well as improved infrastructure and working conditions.

6. Researchers estimate there are as many as 31,000 people in the legal

sex work industry in the Netherlands. There are still issues regarding the living
conditions of illegal prostitutes, but as for those with residency papers, lives
have improved drastically.

CON’s:
1. Legalizing prostitution is not an assurance that violence and other
forms of sexual abuses will not be committed. What it will do is to legalize the
abuses of paying customers since you are now bound by a ‘legal contract’,"
explained Pearly Bulawan of the Buklod Center.
2. This approach deals with the effect of a problem and not the main
problem itself. Dealing with poverty and lack of education means to deal with
the cause itself.

3. The problem is compounded by the fact that society, even the church,
discriminates against women in prostitution.

VII. RECOMMENDATION

- ACA 1

VIII. CONCLUSION/DETAILED ACTION OR IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

In the poorest parts of the Philippines children continue to suffer at the

hands of foreign travelers who seek to deprive them of their future because of
their own selfish and greedy desires. This paper set out to bring attention to
the painful consequences of sustained poverty, inequality, globalization, and
inept governments. Despite the increased public awareness of the concerns
of the victims of CST the overall knowledge base is fragile. There is a need for
qualitative and quantitative research that would address both the macro- and
micro-level understandings of CST.

1. To create an environment that will pave the way for the prevention of
children in prostitution. To identify the repercussions of the existence of child
exploitation in any form.

1.1 Ensure the enactment of pending bills that seek to eliminate child labor
and strengthen the capacity of regulatory agencies to enforce the laws and
monitor erring parties.
1.2 Revise the education and training policies to reflect the needs of the
children in prostitution and these children to have more access to education
and training, considering that the greater bulk of them are girls.
1.3 Ensure that poverty and employment policies genuinely respond to the
needs of the poor.
1.4 Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all.
1.5 Increase public awareness on the negative consequences of child
prostitution.
1.6 Mobilize to action all relevant stakeholders to participate in the programme
to reduce or prevent children in prostitution.

2. To reduce the incidence of children in prostitution in Philippines.

2.1 Establish or strengthen community safety nets and local capability to

reduce family vulnerability to children in prostitution.
2.2 Provide access to primary, high school, non-formal or vocational training to
children in prostitution.
2.3 Provide decent employment and income opportunities for families with
children in prostitution.
2.4 Establish and/or strengthen the organizational mechanism and system in
the community to reduce child labor in prostitution.
2.5 Strengthen the institutional capacity of trade unions to contribute in the
reduction of children in prostitution.
2.6 Strengthen recovery and reintegration programme and services for
children in prostitution and their children.
Push-Pull Factor Theoretical Framework of Child Labor
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