Pieces of a Man

Anti-Trafficking Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Philippines

For background information on human trafficking click here.


Gil Scott-Heron, Pieces of a Man (1971)

I have immersed myself in the subject of human trafficking (trafficking) for the last four months. My goal: develop an overview of anti-trafficking non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Philippines looking specifically for examples of successful programs dealing with prevention, protection of victims, prosecution of traffickers, or rehabilitation and reintegration of victims.

I’ve spent the bulk of my time conducting interviews with NGO staff and victims of trafficking. Other times I attend conferences on trafficking and related subjects (economic development in the Philippines, migrant rights) or furiously peck at my cell phone sending a flurry of text messages to schedule a week’s worth of meetings.

At this point I have developed a slightly-beyond-beginner understanding of trafficking, its causes in the Philippines, and what is being done to stop it. After four months of research I do not feign any level of expertise, but I have had the fortunate opportunity to speak with many knowledgeable individuals who know the ins and outs of trafficking in the Philippines and have dedicated the last decade or more of their lives to combating this terrible injustice. As a result I have developed a trafficking cheat sheet of sorts by gleaning perspectives, facts, and challenges of the NGO community directly from those working in the trenches.

What I am left with is hours of interviews waiting to be transcribed- hours of digital tape documenting anti-trafficking programs ranging from theater groups that perform musicals on trafficking to raise awareness to young men’s camps that teach gender sensitivity to combat the culture of machismo in the Philippines to drop-in centers where victims of trafficking can receive psychosocial counseling. I have recorded victims describing their trafficking experiences. I have recorded frustrated lawyers lamenting on the state of the Filipino justice system. I have recorded grassroots NGOs that do not have the know-how, contacts, or resources to market their work to an international audience for funding, but do excellent work all the same.

I have my work cut out for me


Monk

The goal of my research is to showcase promising anti-trafficking programs and NGOs that are making an impact. I am looking for organizations that have been able to develop effective direct services for victims. I am looking for organizations that have been able to develop, advocate, and push through trafficking-related legislation. I am looking for organizations that track data, follow up with clients post-program to gauge effectiveness, and/or network with government and law enforcement agencies to establish relationships that will speed up the process of rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration of victims. I am looking for NGOs that perform and achieve in the face of a corrupt system that is often based on payoffs, bribes, and personal connections rather than justice.

Am I searching for the impossible?


Cuuurtis

Sometimes I ask myself that question. There are dozens of trafficking and migration-related NGOs in the Philippines. Most do incredible work to address a monstrous problem. My admiration only increases when you consider the political and legal context within which they operate. Many of these NGOs are grassroots based operations inconspicuously tucked away on an ordinary street in an ordinary neighborhood, quietly saving the world one victim at a time (ok, maybe I’m being over dramatic, but I like the phrase and it is not entirely untrue).

It is in these often unmarked buildings that these men and women work overtime, get paid a pittance, and face an endless stream of frustrations and challenges interrupted by the rare but significant achievement like the passing of the anti-trafficking law in the Philippines in 2003, the creation of the Interagency Coalition Against Trafficking in 2004 that brings together government agencies and NGOs, or the slow but steady development of productive, collaborative anti-trafficking relationships between NGOs and law enforcement that expedite and improve victim rescues and reintegration.

I want to present the role of anti-trafficking NGOs in the Philippines in relation to other stakeholders: national and international governments, law enforcement, international organizations, and the media. NGOs in the Philippines are in a unique position because, at least concerning trafficking, they have a disproportionate and at times inappropriate level of responsibility due to the government’s inability or unwillingness to implement the country’s comprehensive human trafficking law. In general, the government serves as a referral mechanism to NGOs: instead of having tangible programs and direct services, the government often refers victims of trafficking to NGOs to be rescued, protected, legally represented in court, rehabilitated, and reintegrated. And all this responsibility is dumped on NGOs that are often under funded and understaffed.

I want to raise awareness of trafficking


Marvin

I want people to know that men, women and children (but mainly women and children in the Philippines) are being recruited from the countryside, deceived into prostitution, domestic servitude, or some other form of forced labor, and from that point on pimped and exploited from every angle, violated physically and mentally, raped, beaten, abused, stripped of their dignity and humanity, and finally, when there is no value left in these human commodities, kicked to the curb to fend for themselves.

It is important to know this, especially for those living in developed countries who have the economic clout to make a difference, because trafficking cannot be effectively addressed unless people are aware of it. It is amazing what the cost of an organic cranberry scone from Whole Foods and a Starbucks grande latte with soy milk and spices (also organic) can get you in the third world. You can do an amazing amount of good or bad in a country like the Philippines for the price of a McDonalds Happy Meal.

The street value of prostitutes in Davao City, Mindanao is $6 a pop, which is split 50/50 with the pimp. Many prostitutes are young girls ages 12 to 24 who have been trafficked from the countryside.


Miles

Trafficking is such a powerful, emotionally charged issue that at times it seems mundane. As if my mind has to deceive itself into believing that it is not really that bad, sometimes I think “hey, I’ve seen worse things in Silence of the Lambs.” Hollywood has supplied me with worse terror. I am numb, immune to the horror stories and desperate eyes.

There are other times when I feel Oedipal rage and utter hopelessness. It is often overwhelming, especially if you try and comprehend a system, like the Philippines and its relevant subsystems such as the government, law enforcement, NGOs, the economy, the culture, etc., and the changes that need to be made to effectively address an issue like trafficking.

There are other times when I feel like my eyes have transformed into mini Nile rivers with an endless current that coats a throbbing, heaving chest with the same notes found in Miles Davis’ Green & Blue.

Gil Scott-Heron said the revolution will not be televised

I believe him. I see it every day, but it doesn’t take the form I expected. It doesn’t fulfill my raised-in-the USA ambition, glory, and one-man army-ism expectations at all. It doesn’t even come close.

Instead, I see change like a dripping faucet- small, constant, unending drops. Slow and steady. Drop after drop. Persistent. Dedicated. I see men and women fighting to improve the situation for modern day slaves whether it be through raising awareness, advocating for tougher legislation, pushing the government to live up to its promises, providing temporary shelter for victims, organizing livelihood programs, and so much more.

I see strength and determination that I once relegated to fairytales and idealistic wishful thinking. And all this in the face of obstacles that run so deep, that penetrate the very core of a culture, it’s social rules and organizational behavior that to confront them is like standing in front of a line of hulking tanks armed with nothing but your conviction and stopping them in their tracks- impossible, yet it has been done.

The truth is NGOs in the Philippines are working against widespread systemic corruption and historical cultural biases that promote/influence/encourage trafficking. Despite having the odds stacked against them, NGOs have made progress. It is no coincidence that all women and child rights legislation in the Philippines was created and passed through the grit, determination, and resilience of NGOs. It is no coincidence that the public is beginning to recognize trafficking as a serious issue and that judges and lawyers are learning how to use the trafficking law in their courtrooms while police are being trained to identify victims and collect evidence properly.

At times it seems that change is slow and hard fought, if not impossible, but the truth is things would be so much worse without NGOs: organizations like the Visayan Forum Foundation, Kanlungan Centre Foundation, PREDA, and CATW-AP. Without them, trafficking victims would have no support system and no hope of rescue or rehabilitation while laws protecting their legal rights would not exist. At the very least NGOs are holding the line so that trafficking victims do not slip through the cracks of the system and are given an opportunity, however small, to pick up the pieces and rediscover value in life.

It may take years upon years and lives upon lives to effectively address an issue like trafficking, but even drops of water can eventually cut through a mountain and transform a landscape.

But seriously, beyond the corny metaphors and crafted prose, it is reassuring and inspiring to know that people are plugging away, night and day, whether in the limelight or behind the scenes, in spacious offices or forgotten corners, to end trafficking and abolish slavery once and for all.


Bataan

Research Project Update

So far I have interviewed staff and observed programs from the following organizations:

Kanlungan Centre Foundation
Scalabrini Migration Center
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women- Asia Pacific
Visayan Forum Foundation
PREDA
Unlad Kabayan
Women’s Crisis Center
DAWN
Batis Center
Batis Aware
Talikala
Lawig Bubai
Department of Education
Buklod
WomenLEAD
Child Alert
*Some NGOs do not currently have websites

My interviews have focused on identifying an organization's mission, goals, programs, evaluative mechanisms, achievements, challenges, needs, and hopes among other things.

Thus far I have focused on NGOs, however, the next phase of my project is to interview relevant government and law enforcement agencies.

Here’s to the remaining six months.

Salud

20,127 Words

The man, the martyr



B-boy stance



Aeta hut: 100% organic & biodegradeable, not FDA approved



Election time must be upon us



Last night a DJ saved my life



Beautiful Boracay



Quiapo, Manila



Madapdap cerebral palsy clinic for children



Tranquility one hour away from the hustle and grind of Manila



Human commodities



Fire on the beach



Ballroom dancing= old women dressed to the nines + young gay dance instructors



Aeta land illegally fenced-off and settled by nuns



Aetas, University of the Philippines econ students, NGO workers, and me



Mission accomplished



If you look carefully you might come across this flier



Filipinas pay $6 an hour to massage pale foreign legs... wait...



My uncle is a dog breeder



Corona's got nothing on this



Hip-Hop Tagalog


Wish you were here...

Digital Underground

Pirated DVDs in the Philippines



Start

Imagine every James Bond movie ever made on a three-disc DVD set.

Or what about every Six Feet Under episode?

What about live concerts from Eric Clapton to Eminem?

Tarantino box sets? Spielberg classics? Monster movie mash ups?



How about the latest studio releases in good quality? Forget the camcorder-in-theater versions, these films are the real deal, hot-off-the-press versions that are sent to motion picture award committees like the Oscars for evaluation.



Like Catholicism, pirated DVDs are a way of life in the Philippines. They are illegal, yet bustling markets filled with literally thousands upon thousands of DVDs and MP3 cds pepper Metro Manila from Quiapo to Pasig, Makati to Quezon City and beyond.

The Experience

To stumble upon one of these vendors, their stands jam-packed with discs wrapped in shiny plastic sleeves lined up like delicious digital baked goods, is truly something to behold.

Take a moment to imagine. Attempting to make sense of this mass of media, your eyes do a once over of the categories: new movies, televisions shows, kids programs, Korean soap operas, MP3 cds of Asian Pop and American Hip Hop, old movies, and the prerequisite stash of porn that the vendor will inevitably ask you about once you’ve committed to poking through his product. Keep in mind that at these bootleg markets there are literally a hundred stalls, each with a similar plunder of DVDs but with enough unique gems and rare finds among them to keep you interested.



Deciding where to start digging is like approaching an enormous buffet: there are so many options to choose from that sometimes it can be overwhelming. Where to begin? Should I search for the Rocky compilation, parse through the 8 in 1 discs (8 movies on one DVD), or rifle through the HBO series- Rome, Entourage or maybe I feel like Arrested Development?



The best part about these DVDs, and the reason they will always be the go-to option for Filipino consumers, is that they are dirt-cheap. One disc costs anywhere from 20 to 50 pesos (that’s 40 cents to $1 US for all you Yankees). In other words, you can have Lost seasons 1 and 2 for about $1.50 US. Or take home Apocalypto and Children of Men for 80 cents, and they’re good quality versions.



The selection is so enormous that there is truly something for everyone. Like flashy, big- budget Hollywood productions? Titanic, Blood Diamond, XXX, and The Fast & the Furious are readily available. Or what about old school film legends? Pick some Kurosawa flicks- Hidden Fortress, Ikiru, and Seven Samurai among others.

The list goes on… and on and on… and on and on and on…

You can screen the DVDs before buying to make sure the quality is up to snuff and if for some reason a disc doesn’t work at home, you can always exchange it- just remember to keep the vendor’s business card so you can track them down if need be.

Product Design

Leave it to the ingenuity of bootleggers to create a quality product. The covers of these movies are generally improvised, often comedic takes on the movies they represent. The text describing the movies is equally shaky.



And thus we arrive at one of the limitations of this unending fountain of media- the subtitles are often completely useless, if not hilarious, rendering foreign films unwatchable unless you stayed awake for fifth period Spanish in high school. Generally the subtitles grasp the concept of a conversation, but not the details of a sentence. This may appeal to those creative thinkers in the audience because sans functional subtitles, much of the movie will be left to your imagination.

Subtitles range from spot on...
The Warriors (1979)

To not even close...

Children of Men (2006)
Actual line: “Any girls? What about the one we had lunch with, Lauren?”

Another negative bi-product of access to so much media is the immediate decrease in one’s social life. It’s tough to go out when you have entire seasons of shows you’ve always wanted to watch just sitting on your desk waiting to be unwrapped.

But that is a risk people gladly accept.

So the next time you slip a $19.99 DVD into your player, just remember that half way around the world Filipinos are watching the same product for less than 1/20th the cost with funky, reworked covers, sleek packaging, and wacked-out subtitles to boot.

Enjoy suckers.

ALL DAY BUFFET

ALL DAY BUFFET is a new not-for-profit organization that will create on and offline social outlets for young adults combining social action with arts and culture.

The organization is called ALL DAY BUFFET and while it has nothing to do with food, it has almost everything to do with hunger. As a new social network for social change, the aim is to motivate young adults to recognize problems in the world, learn about them, and act together to make a difference, while having a lot of fun at the same time.

Tonight is ALL DAY BUFFET's pre-launch event which features The Human Trafficking Project.

Download the new Human Trafficking Project Overview.

Show your support for young people working to make a difference.

Event Details:

What: All Day Buffet Pre-launch Party
When: Thursday, February 22, 2007, 8 (sharp) - 10 PM
Where: Triple Crown, located at 108 Bedford Avenue (at North 11th Street), Brooklyn, NY 11211. The first stop out of Manhattan on the L train (Bedord Ave).
Why: Social Networking for Social Change

Learn more about ALL DAY BUFFET.

Poverty, Perversion & Progress

My experiences after 66 days in the Philippines

Start
I have been in the Philippines for a little over two months, the sights and sounds of New York faded like distant memories.

It feels like I’ve been here a year and counting… that’s a good thing so far, I've yet to tire of the action and adventure.

It’s difficult to summarize my experiences, but bear with me for these next few paragraphs while I try to make sense of it all.

It has been an action-packed couple of months: my work, interests, and personal contacts have led me on a wild goose chase around Luzon and the 7,106 other islands comprising the Philippines.

I have visited run-down courthouses where metal detectors are present and functioning but not at all enforced: feel free to bring a gun, knife, or any other object you desire to your trial. I have relaxed in upscale lounges with pricey martinis, live jazz music, and plenty of foreign faces. I have talked politics with activists and businessmen alike moving from smoky, dingy, bohemian enclaves to polished, corporate board rooms with shiny elevators.

I have drank in meat-market girlie bars filled with sex tourists and Filipinas from the provinces, many of them victims of trafficking. I have stumbled upon nightclubs filled with the gyrating bodies of the young Filipino elite wearing the latest fashions, dancing to the latest Jay-Z single. I have experienced the warmth of comforting home-cooked meals and wandering conversations. I have smelled the harsh tin, concrete, and burning trash of squatter communities.

I have glimpsed the cream and the dregs, the good and the evil, the hope and the despair of the Philippines.

The Human Trafficking Project
As for my trafficking project, I have attended several conferences, made dozens of contacts, and am essentially bouncing from non-governmental organization (NGO) to NGO interviewing staff, clients, and observing programs with the goal of developing an overview of the anti-trafficking NGO community in the Philippines and the different approaches being used to combat trafficking. For example in the past few weeks I have interviewed staff at the Department of Education, which has integrated a trafficking module into the school curriculum for middle and high school students, observed a court case of eight trafficking victims against an illegal recruiter, and interviewed a social worker who counsels victims of trafficking.

I am also working on a music project and looking into developing film shorts, more on that in the near future.

To tell you the truth, at times it can be downright exhausting. To go from a morning of interviewing trafficking victims and learning first-hand about the poverty and unemployment that promotes migration and creates an endless population ripe for illegal recruitment and exploitation to eating lunch with activists and photojournalists and discussing the People Power movement and the various Muslim and communist guerrilla movements dotting the country to going out with rich Filipino college students who’s first language is English and are more interested in embracing other cultures than their own- it’s like seeing the life of a country flash before my eyes in the span of a day.

Statue of Jose Rizal, the Filipino national hero who's martyred
death in 1896 sparked the Philippine Revolution.

The exhaustion has been worth it, though, because I have been able to better understand both my work on trafficking and the foreign culture and society I’m living in. The diverse conversations, interactions, and experiences have helped me view the Philippines with a more refined, understanding eye, which ultimately benefits not only the quality of my work, but also the relationships I form and the cultural stimuli I ingest.

Disparate Experiences
It is depressing to hear the plight of pro bono lawyers who spend their time filing suits against traffickers only to have their cases dismissed time and time again because the defendant’s lawyer is the judge’s second cousin. The victims are then sent home to their respective provinces re-entering the same situation of unemployment and poverty that motivated them to leave in the first place thus fueling the trafficking cycle.

Fighting an uphill battle to convict traffickers in a corrupt justice system, a lawyer
from the Kanlungan Centre checks on one of his cases in the Pasay City courthouse.

It is enraging to see the sex tourism and the commodification of Filipino lives- to see swarms of Americans, Europeans, and Asians flocking to the Philippines to leverage their economic clout to freely pillage the bodies of Filipina women and children. To see the carnivorous look in the eyes of foreign wolves preying on these “natives”, these “little brown people.”

It is eye-opening examining the cultural differences, connecting with locals and foreigners alike, and sitting back amidst ridiculous scenarios to think how on earth did I end up in this situation and wondering what people back home are doing at that moment. At no other time in my life have I found myself in so many situations where I didn’t know anyone in the group yet felt right at home and was treated as a close friend, a credit to the genuine warmth of Filipinos.

Preparing to make rice in the countryside.

It is refreshing to see life from a different perspective- to laugh at myself in awkward situations examining my paradigms and beliefs and destroying and rebuilding them, accounting for this new land.

It is comforting to be embraced by long lost family with open arms, winding conversations, non-stop jokes, and steaming pots. I have slowly been learning about my family history and am, for the first time, connecting with a culture that I have really only heard about.

My relatives. Not pictured- the scores of other cousins, uncles,
aunties, lolas, and lolos I have yet to meet.

Lastly, it is inspiring to speak with professors, artists, lawyers, journalists, taxi drivers, intellectuals, housewives, social entrepreneurs, film directors, and activists about their love for their country and the great potential that exists for transformation, for evolution, for progress.

Closing
I have spent my time in the Philippines immersed in disparate environments amongst a motley crew of characters that span the economic food chain and the occupational spectrum. It has been exhausting without a doubt, but at the same time it has opened my eyes to the different realities that co-exist here- from the terrible and malicious to the hopeful and brilliant.

So there you have it- after an exhausting first two months I am in the process of transcribing interview after interview, licking my wounds, recharging my batteries, and preparing for whatever comes next. It has been a dizzying road of surprises, challenges, horrors, setbacks, and small victories...

So far so good.

All is well, I hope I can say the same for everyone back home.

Until next time...

Let's Get Free

Human Trafficking 101

Slavery was officially abolished in the United States with the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution in 1865.

Yet today slavery remains a thriving industry...

Human trafficking (trafficking) is modern day slavery. Trafficking generally involves organized crime syndicates who profit tremendously from the forced prostitution and/or labor performed by its victims. Trafficking has become so profitable that it has superseded the traditional cash cows of drugs and arms trade in some criminal organizations.

Source: Corbis

Defining Human Trafficking

The U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 defines trafficking as:

1) Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under 18, or

2) The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

The keywords to understanding trafficking are: deceit, coercion, forced labor, and sexual exploitation.

Filipina domestic workers in Kuwait escape to their embassy after suffering
violence and sexual advances at the hands of their employers. Source: Corbis

Trafficking vs. Smuggling

Trafficking and smuggling are often confused, but are NOT the same. Smuggling is the illegal crossing of a national border, and is a criminal act for the both the smuggler and the person smuggled. Trafficking, on the other hand, is the crime of slavery-like labor or commercial sexual exploitation, and may not involve any transportation at all. It is a crime committed by the trafficker against a victim, and so only the trafficker has committed a criminal act (Polaris).

Regarding forced migration or movement, while a trafficked person may experience forced movement during the trafficking, the forced movement or confinement is not by itself trafficking, absent other factors. It is the slavery-like labor exploitation or commercial sexual exploitation that determines whether trafficking has occurred. In some trafficking cases, little to no movement or transportation occurs (Polaris).

Trafficking does not necessarily require transportation, but it does always signify someone being deceived or coerced into a situation where they are forced to do some kind of labor against their will.

Trafficking is an umbrella term for persons being forced into activities such as:

• Prostitution
• Forced labor (factories, sweatshops)
• Domestic servitude
• Begging
• Soldiering
• Commercial or illegal adoption
• Camel jockeying (young boys)
• Organ trading

Chinese migrant laborers work 12-hour shifts at construction sites for
little pay amidst miserable work & living conditions. Source: Corbis

Source Countries vs. Destination Countries

Trafficking is an issue that connects poor countries to rich countries, the supply to the demand. The flow of trafficking victims is generally south to north, and east to west- in other words the poor moving to meet the demands of the rich. Victims are generally from South East Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Approximately 80 percent of trafficking victims are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors. This can be attributed to the feminization of migration. As demand for domestic help and entertainers, among other female-oriented jobs, has increased around the globe, the vulnerable population of poor women and girls from developing countries seeking employment abroad has kept pace offering up a steady stream of migrants hoping to escape poverty and support their families back home.

Child beggars in Mexico. Often girls like these are part of a larger network
of older women and young children recruited to beg. Source: Corbis

Causes of trafficking

• Lack of economic opportunity- with no jobs at home, people are forced to go abroad or starve
• Feminization of migration- as the international labor market shifted its focus to women-staffed occupations, the population vulnerable to trafficking ballooned
• Organized crime syndicates- elusive and adaptive, crime syndicates have maximized their profits from trafficking by taking advantage of the large number of people seeking work abroad
• Government corruption- trafficking will be difficult to solve with customs officials and other government staff accepting bribes to facilitate the trafficking
  
• Poor education- many uneducated, desperate men and women are duped into trafficking by manipulative recruiters
• Low awareness of trafficking- the fewer people that know about trafficking, the less awareness there is, and the less chance that an effective movement can be mobilized to effectively fight the issue

Illegal organ trade in Pakistan: men selling their kidneys. Source: Corbis

Stakeholders

• Governments- Integral in creating anti-trafficking legislation and enforcing it through a strong justice system, governments also have the resources to develop effective awareness campaigns to educate the public and outgoing migrants on trafficking as well as provide direct services to victims.
• Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)- Key in advocating to create or amend existing legislation, developing new legislation in conjunction with governments, and, because of their in-the-trenches perspective, training law enforcement and social workers about trafficking as well as running awareness campaigns, providing legal assistance to victims, and offering direct services to victims of trafficking. The shortcoming of NGOs is that they often work with extremely limited resources and because of this, operate at the whim of grant stipulations, which can alter their programming and put the stability of their services in jeopardy without guarantees of long-term funding.
• Law Enforcement- Integral in conducting raids to free victims and enforcing anti-trafficking legislation on the streets. Training on recognizing trafficking situations is needed to have a well-informed police force that is aware of the issue in its various forms.
• The Media- Plays a key role in raising awareness and framing the issue in the public's eye. It is important for the media to portray trafficking as not only limited to sexual exploitation but also forced labor and its other forms. Further, the media should portray trafficking not as an exotic, isolated issue but, where appropriate, as an ongoing problem that exists within our communities.
• The Public- Everyday people can do much to stem the tide of trafficking. Awareness by itself is a big step- we cannot begin to effectively address this issue unless we know of it. Further, the more people that are educated about trafficking, the more eyes and ears there will be to recognize a trafficking situation, making it harder for traffickers to conduct their business.

A child soldier in Africa. Often times children can be forcibly removed
from their communities and forced to join armies. Source: Corbis

To Be Continued...

Sources:
Polaris Project. What Is Human Trafficking? Retrieved February 2nd, 2007 from http://www.humantrafficking.com/humantrafficking/trafficking_ht3/what_is_ht.htm.