Legalize Prostitution in the Philippines?!

After the well talked about Cybercrime Law Prevention Act of 2012 or Republic Act 10175, here comes another noteworthy topic of discussion for every concerned Filipino citizen: legalize prostitution in the Philippines?!

The whole ruckus started with the United Nations proposal for the legalization of prostitution in the country. The recommendations were based on several cited benefits in case prostitution is made legal not only here but in numerous cities all over Asia and the Pacific. The entire report is called ”Sex Work and the Law in Asia and the Pacific.” You can read and download a complete copy of the report through this link - http://www.snap-undp.org/elibrary/Publication.aspx?ID=699.

Personal Experience in a Brothel

In lieu of this topic, it was very timely that I spent the midnight of November 1 All Saints Day in a relatively related place. I won’t mention which provincial city it was and which bar it is for security purposes. Supposedly, women are not allowed inside and it’s a bar exclusively for men. But my friend’s father is actually acquainted with the bar owner who welcomed us right in front of the main entrance door to the tightly secured and closed place. What is to be expected here? Need I say more? I’m sure you get the idea already.

It’s not the only place in that specific city with this type of business and I don’t want to write about why they thrive. There are several more with some solely intended for the gay and women population, i.e. gay bars. But this one bar I had in mind is the first I’ve ever encountered in the flesh. I’ve heard countless stories of what’s going on inside such as how scantily clad women will dance in a mock stage and slowly strip off till there’s no more clothes to wear with every change of the music. But it doesn’t stop there. They can sit beside customers and offer extra services inside and outside the bar premises.

Of course, it’s never the same once you see it in the flesh. Although the area is not something I would actually go to and I’d rather drop by a nearby disco based bar instead, I went out of curiosity. But curiosity killed the cat, so they always say. My initial reaction was shock. I drank my bottle of beer as fast as I could although I was already drunk then. I’m not into cursing, particularly not in the local tongue but all I kept saying that time was “putangina!” I felt like cursing the women working in such a place, the people who engage in such a business and every customer who patronize them. At the bathroom, I even cried hysterically.

The first girl to dance seems to be too young, around 18 or 19 and still shy. But the other two who followed after her appears to be veterans and looked like they were 25 to 28 years old. The first didn’t strip all the way after three songs but the other two did. They all look good in makeup with seemingly flawless skin in the dark. They’re sexy despite being a little chubby. There were no more dancers after the third one for us because we already left towards the disco based bar I mentioned earlier, leaving behind my friend’s dad and his colleague. Older people seemed to appreciate such areas more than we younger ones do. 

I can’t get over the graphic experience so I was glad the nearby bar offered more lively and wholesome fun or entertainment. At the back of my head, I was comparing musicians with strippers. From what I’ve heard, having a nephew playing guitars for a local band, what they earn isn’t as feasible as compared to what strippers are probably paid for but obviously the former is a more decent job than the latter. For a night based work, the call center type is a better alternative.

But then again, we don’t know what’s going on behind the heavy makeup and pretty faces of women working in brothels. Who knows if they have experienced a similar trauma such as the heroine in the movie Diary of a Nymphomaniac did? What if they no longer have parents or relatives? What if they are sole bread winners and they have no other option for a job due to the fact that they're lacking scholastic credentials? We will never know.

But on the other side of the story, I’ve heard of some who were able to enroll themselves in high profile schools and support their family at that by working in such places and becoming some rich D.O.M.’s woman like in the recent blockbuster movie The Mistress. So on second thought, these women are actually using their common sense to survive and have more money than a lot of us can ever earn through decent pay.

Not that I’m justifying the act but it sure was a good topic for us to talk about when we were already drunk earlier that night. We mentioned people with similar stories such as women marrying foreigners for money’s sake knowing how foreign men easily fall in love with exotic Filipina women. Sometimes you don’t even have to marry; you can just chat and have a show online then start counting dollars deposited to your bank account. Although I don’t judge everyone who uses any of the aforementioned ways to survive, they’re not anything I would do. I’d rather be a poor struggling writer and get paid shedding my own blood, sweat, and tears decently.

U.N. Proposes Legalization of Prostitution

Going back to where this lengthy narrative started from, the United Nations offered a proposal to legalize prostitution in several Asia Pacific cities citing medical and health reasons as the core reason. Technically, not even prostitutes will appreciate the idea. They are not denied their medical rights by the government to begin with. But I believe that women in this nature of work would rather decline health benefits than declare their line of work in hospitals to avoid being embarrassed. If there’s anything that this proposal will encourage, it is the emergence of a greater number of prostitutes no longer afraid of being legally held liable for choosing this type of work. But of course, it is a means to get “easy money” too.

In the end, this proposal will probably only be considered to pay the U.N. a respect but I doubt if it ever becomes solidified in an actual law. So how about you, what can you say about the idea to legalize prostitution in the Philippines?!