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OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #1827/01 2400043
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O 280043Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5013
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL IMMEDIATE 2940
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO IMMEDIATE 3724

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 001827 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KTIP CVIS RP
SUBJECT: Prostitution, Human Trafficking, and U.S. Immigration 
 
¶1.  Summary:  As a country facing major development and governance 
challenges, the Philippines remains a place where prostitution and 
human trafficking continue to afflict the lives of Filipino women, 
some of whom may seek better lives abroad through legal or illegal 
immigration.  An analysis of consular data and other sources 
indicates that at least some of these women pursue U.S. immigration 
to seek new economic opportunities and to escape a life of 
prostitution.  However the data also show that there are few 
instances, if any, of women trafficked into the U.S directly from 
the Philippines for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. 
This cable examines the structure of the commercial sex industry in 
the Philippines and its connection to human trafficking, and 
provides a brief analysis of consular data on female commercial sex 
workers applying for U.S. visas.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------------- 
PROSTITUTION IN THE PHILIPPINES 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  Prostitution is a crime in the Philippines, and is heavily 
concentrated in the major metropolitan areas of Manila, Cebu, and 
Davao, as well as in Angeles City, the region of Bicol, and the 
province of Batangas.  There are no recent estimates of the number 
of prostitutes in the Philippines, although an International Labor 
Organization study from 1998 often cited in prostitution research 
estimated that the commercial sex industry in the Philippines 
involved, at that time, as many as over 500,000 women and children. 
NGOs say that women who serve as bar workers or "Guest Relations 
Officers" (GRO) at nightclubs are at risk for engaging in 
prostitution.  Women in other environments may also perform work as 
prostitutes, in addition to working in brothels.  According to U.S. 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at Embassy Manila 
and the Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF), an NGO working to rescue 
Filipino trafficking victims, there is a small but increasing number 
of male prostitutes.  The Embassy Manila ICE office, which 
investigates these trafficking centers and prostitution cases 
first-hand, has noted that the general hierarchy in a prostitution 
ring consists of 15 to 300 girls who are supervised by a few 
"mama-sans," or female pimps.  The mama-sans answer to one or two 
managers, who in turn report to the owner of the establishment. 
 
¶3.  While some foreign clients are known to engage in illicit sexual 
activity with prostitutes, local Filipinos are actually the most 
common patrons of female sex workers at bars, nightclubs, beach 
resorts, health clubs, massage parlors, hotels, and brothels.  VFF 
estimates that about 70% of prostitution clientele are local 
Filipinos, and only 30% are foreigners.  NGOs ascertain that foreign 
men looking for commercial sex appear to be drawn to the Philippines 
because of the country's welcoming people and hospitable culture. 
 
¶4.  According to reports in 2007 from a USAID-funded NGO, men may 
pay as little as 150 - 200 Pesos (USD 3-4) per night to engage in 
sex with a woman, who may receive a payment as low as P20 (40 
cents), estimates corroborated by the VFF.  Prostitution may be 
supported by a system of debt bondage.  Though girls receive some 
money for their work as prostitutes, bar or brothel owners may 
charge them such exorbitant fees for housing, food, and medical 
checkups that the girls remain indefinitely in debt to the owner.  A 
highly profitable trade, the sex industry in the Philippines remains 
a significant underground enterprise. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
LOCAL SUPPORT FOR THE COMMERCIAL SEX INDUSTRY 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Embassy Manila's ICE office reports that many bars, hotels, and 
privately-operated social hygiene clinics work together to 
facilitate prostitution within their own business domains, each 
getting a cut that incentivizes their complicity.  The Health Office 
of Angeles City told Post that, in that city, GROs are required by 
municipal law to have weekly medical checkups to be allowed to 
continue working.  Other cities may have different health 
requirements for GROs.  While some cities implement these 
regulations to preserve the social hygiene of the community, other 
cities impose these requirements because the prostitution market 
plays an important role in the local economy.  Embassy Manila's ICE 
office has noted that social hygiene clinics sometimes operate 
closely with the local bars, certifying both a prostitute's sexual 
health and her virginity.  Local law enforcement may also buoy the 
industry by providing protection for GRO bars.  Bar owners pay local 
authorities to overlook the illegal activity; if any trouble arises, 
GROs may be at risk of arrest, while bar owners and management may 
sometimes walk away unscathed. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
PROSTITUTION AS A GATEWAY TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6.  Human trafficking is the world's third most profitable organized 
crime, according to the Department of State's 2009 Trafficking in 
Persons Report, and in many countries is often linked to 
 
MANILA 00001827  002 OF 003 
 
 
prostitution, as is the case in the Philippines.  As noted in the 
Report, Filipinos may be trafficked within the country and 
internationally for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or 
forced labor.  VFF notes that about 85% of victims that it rescues 
are internally trafficked from the Visayas and Mindanao regions. 
These victims are typically girls and young women aged 12 to 22. 
Trafficked women older than 22 years of age may be considered too 
old for the commercial sex industry. 
 
------------------------ 
PROFILE OF A PROSTITUTE 
------------------------ 
 
¶7.  Mission Manila's Diplomatic Security and ICE offices, through 
their close work with NGOs and Philippine law enforcement, have 
noted that women enter prostitution because of their economic or 
social circumstances, not out of personal interest in the commercial 
sex industry.  According to an Embassy Manila report, many women 
involved in the sex industry come from extreme poverty, often 
trading sex for money to purchase basic necessities such as food and 
water for themselves and their families.  ICE interviews with 
Philippine trafficking victims indicate that, given any other viable 
option, nearly all of these women would seek another way to earn 
money.  Many prostitutes optimistically hope that a foreign man will 
marry them, enabling their subsequent emigration from the 
Philippines. 
 
¶8.  As NGO and Mission Manila reports indicate, women migrate from 
economically depressed regions of the Philippines to seek decent 
work in big port cities such as Manila and Cebu to support relatives 
back in their hometowns.  Sometimes, these women are lured by close 
friends, relatives and even parents who have sold them to mama-sans 
for commercial sexual exploitation.  Other women, some of whom 
become victims of human trafficking, go abroad through legitimate 
means to countries such as Japan and Korea to work as "entertainers" 
in bars and night clubs where they may be subjected to sexual abuse, 
harassment, and violence. 
 
------------------------- 
U.S. IMMIGRATION CONCERNS 
------------------------- 
 
¶9.  While Philippine prostitutes are unlikely to qualify for U.S. 
visas, that does not stop them from applying, as evidenced by 
Embassy Manila's consular data.  Between 2000 and 2009, Embassy 
Manila documented that 28 out of over 500,000 total visa applicants 
were refused visas because of a 212(a)(2)(D) ineligibility, 
disqualifying applicants for ten years if they have traded sex for 
commercial gain.  While all U.S. visa applicants are required to 
submit a police background check with their applications, most of 
these 28 women identified as prostitutes had no criminal records. 
It is usually only through an honest admission of guilt that 
consular officers are made aware of this derogatory evidence. 
 
¶10.  Mission Manila's ICE office believes that former sex workers in 
the Philippines are most likely to attempt to immigrate to the U.S. 
using K-visas (fiance visas).  Of the 28 applicants refused in 
Manila, 18 were applicants for fiance visas, while the remainder had 
spousal immigrant visa petitions.  Women applying through spousal or 
other immediate relative-based visa petitions are considered to be 
less likely to be engaged in prostitution.  These women have 
children, siblings or parents in the U.S. willing to support their 
immigration and most probably receive remittances from these 
relatives to support their livelihoods while the immigrant visa 
applications are being processed. 
 
¶11.  Mission Manila law enforcement officials believe that 
prostitution is only a temporary job for most prostitutes.  When 
these women are able to arrange better employment and earn money for 
their families through other means, they usually leave the sex 
industry. 
 
¶12.  Although the Philippines is a source country for human 
trafficking victims, direct trafficking for commercial sex or forced 
labor from the Philippines to the U.S. is not a widespread problem. 
According to a 2002 United Nations survey on human trafficking in 
the Philippines, human traffickers and their victims sometimes gain 
access to the U.S. via transit countries such as Malaysia. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13.  Widespread prostitution in the Philippines poses many concerns 
for Mission Manila -- especially the Consular Section.   The 
possibility that visa applicants may be trafficked for sexual 
exploitation always exists; however, as evidenced by data from 
several sources, applicants from the Philippines bear a low risk for 
being trafficked directly to the U.S.  Embassy Manila research 
indicates that women involved in this illicit sex trade, whether 
deceived or forced by extreme economic circumstances, see 
 
MANILA 00001827  003 OF 003 
 
 
prostitution as a life from which they must escape. 
 
KENNEY