Ignoring the real child-sex culprits

AT last, the Philippines is taking some meaningful action to protect its most vulnerable citizens from exploitation. Paedophiles who sexually prey on children now face jail terms of up to 40 years. Good. But that is not good enough. As is frequently the case in the Republic of the Philippines, this welcome move is not as simple as it seems. While the threatened heavy sentences are certainly justified and may give vile perverts pause for thought before they abuse the body of an eight-year-old, the promised retribution ignores the basic problem. Why are children in Manila and other cities of this poverty-racked but proud nation forced to sell their bodies? It's largely because the good Catholics of the Philippines harken to their religious leaders and breed mightily. The result is a shambolic economy that cannot feed an ever-increasing number of desperately hungry mouths. In 1970, there were 36.7 million Filipinos. Now, there are 68.4 million. The per capita GDP is just HK$6,600 - one twentieth of Hong Kong's. One offshoot of this is the exodus of energy and talent that sees Filipinos working in humble jobs from Hokkaido to the Red Sea. There are no jobs back home, and a social service which does not provide the basics forces its people abroad for survival. Another result of the swelling population is the swarm of child prostitutes being peddled to criminals. It is a sickening trade in human misery and those who engage in it deserve the harshest penalties; flogging springs to mind. But, just a minute! How come the three people being investigated are a Frenchman, an Australian and a Briton? Are there no Filipinos involved in this repulsive business? Of course there are, but here we are faced with the familiar case where everyone is guilty except a Filipino. Who do the Manila police and immigration officials think is providing the flood of hungry children to the pimps and panderers? They are recruited down in the provinces, where starvation stalks the fertile land. They are escorted north to Manila. Then they are sold into sexual serfdom. In some cases, it is the parents who sell their own children. The situation in the disease-ridden neon wastelands of Angeles City and Olongapo is truly frightful. Both these cities blossomed as areas pandering to every perversion when they were United States military bases. The soldiers, sailors and airmen departed in 1992, leaving behind them a human legacy in the form of children, many fathered with local prostitutes. It is frequently these Eurasian boys and girls who command the highest prices from paedophiles. They are often encouraged to get a head start in whoredom by their mothers, who themselves not infrequently are the children of prostitutes. It is a sickening, ever-descending circle of shame. EIGHT years ago, I was in Manila interviewing bankers and politicians about the future. It was not long after People Power had swept the saintly but incompetent Cory Aquino into the Malacanang Palace. There was a vague glimmer of hope, which soon flickered and died. I was with a Hong Kong Chinese woman reporter, and we decided to go for a drink in raunchy Ermita. The first couple of places were the normal seedy establishments, with bar girls clad in sequins twisting their bodies around poles to the roar of outdated rock music. We went further down the street, into another bar. This was quieter. On a mini-stage were about 10 children, aged between nine to about 14, dressed up in minuscule bikinis. They tottered on miniature high heels as they tried to dance. Their young faces were made up with heavy mascara and lipstick. This grotesque and loathsome establishment was presided over by a dapper Filipino. As we turned to leave he hurried through the swirling spotlights. 'You like a girl?' he asked. 'You can have. Only nine years old.' This, mind you, was at the height of one of the periodic police 'crackdowns' on vice in Manila, charades that last a couple of days before the sex industry reverts swiftly to its sordid norm. Near tears, we left. The image of those pitiful children has stayed with me. The national Immigration Commissioner, Leandro Verceles, has now ordered his bureau to hunt down and take to court foreigners engaged in child prostitution. Excellent news. But why stop with foreigners? By all means grab the depraved aliens whose thick wallets feed their lust; let's also get the grasping Filipinos who deal in children's innocent bodies. So what's being done about them? Not much, which is about what I expected. Filipinos are a wonderful, warm people. But there is an undeniable national inclination to blame everyone but themselves for their plight. The hysteria and frantic hypocrisy of the Flor Contemplacion case is a prime example. The country exulted a wretched murderer into a martyr. Now we've got the spectacle of horrible foreigners being held solely responsible for the exploitation of Filipino children. But, for the sake of future victims, let the Philippine authorities get down to the base cause. Grab the pimps and madams and lock them up. Build refuges and schools for the orphans and unwanted who are the helpless victims. The only realistic solution is to permit modern methods of family planning in the country, particularly in the peasant countryside. Here lies the main problem: controlling the lunatic birth rate.