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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 001827 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KTIP CVIS RPSUBJECT: Prostitution, Human Trafficking, and U.S. Immigration 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  

The Big C Question Clarified Over Cellphone Risk



It has beena little more than a decade since I first saw people glued to a black device (or what was the beginning of SMS in mobile phones. The paging network was the “in” thing before that. The pagers made those who have it appear quite important. People would send them a note through and operator that you have to call.

 With the advent of mobile phones the status symbol was shattered. Although in the beginning having a cellphone came at a steep price (for what appears to be very limited capabilities and features in today's standards), the prices later hit bottom with almost everyone doing well to have more chance to connect without having to route their important messages to somebody out there (as the operator).

For some time, technology everyone with its improved capabilities. For severeal yeas, some people became scandalized via cellphones. Owing to the democraticization of cellphone prices and subscription services, almost everyone can get informed almost instantaneously. People trooped to the streets protesting which turned out to be the second EDSA. This was how powerful cellphones came to be.

It is undeniable that every Filipino seems to have a penchant to have a device in tow all day long (and even all night long). To text or not text, or better yet call and get glued all day and night on the phone. Afterall, what is unlimited service if it doesn't hold its promise.

The question that has been bugging everyone is if there is any risk for cellular phone users of developing cancer. A study involving 2.8 million Danish adults perhaps hold the answer.

According to the study, people who used the cell phone for 10 to 11 years do not have higher risk in developing acoustic neuroma than those who do not use cell phones at all. Acoustic neuroma, also known as Vestibular Schwanoma, is a slow growing tumor that affect the nerve that runs from the brain to the ear.

People who develop acoustic neuroma experience ringing of ears, balance problems and dizziness. In some cases this form of cancer becomes life-threatening if it grows large and impinge the brain.

Since regular and frequent cellphone users place their phones in their ears and therefore absorbing more energy transmitted by the device, the researchers hypothesized that the this part of the body will have the tendency to develop cancer, if at all.

Dr. Joachim Schuz, a member of World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and lead researcher of the study published last June 2011 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, concluded that they no found no association between use of this device and cancer growth.

He was also quick to point out that since this form of cancer is slow-growing, the study conducted only begun in the 1990s. Beyond the period they covered, the actual outcome among users have yet to be determined.

Notwithstanding these findings it is still prudent to keep calls and texts limited. The direct effects on the ear and thumb are troubling enough to avoid even the possibility of developing cancer in the long run.  

Good Friday, Good News and Good Life: Infinite Singularity and Infinite LoveProfessor Anton Meemana


In the beginning of the universe, there was Infinite Singularity and that means that the universe began with Infinite Love, and the universe is governed and run by Infinite Love and it will also end (whenever and however it will end) in Infinite Love. And that Love shall never end. In the beginning, 15 billion years ago, an immensely dense and tensed fire ball exploded and gave birth to our universe. It was a moment of self-donation, self-sacrifice, self-immolation and self-giving. The Big Bang was a work of infinite divine love. It burst in order to give birth to a new dimension of cosmic existence. Bursting is birthing. It burst in order to birth forth.

Everything in the universe happens according to the Law of the Cross which is the law of self-donating and self-giving. One thing dies or sacrifices itself in order to give birth to a new cosmic dimension. There is no new life without death and there is no death without new life. The Law of the Cross is an all-embracing and over-arching reality; in spite of death, life continues and in spite of life, death continues. Nothing can escape its paradoxical dynamics. Good Friday is the ultimate manifestation, the zenith, the supreme expression, the high watermark of this divine truth.

World Health Organization (WHO) Health Profile of Swaziland

Swaziland, a country of around 1.2 million people, has one of the lowest average life expectancy rate. Unlike other countries, males and females in Swaziland live on average 48 years. This is contrast to a relatively longer global average lifespan among citizens of other countries. 

The low lifespan average among citizen of Swaziland can be attributed to a high HIV and Tuberculosis infection incidence rate.

HIV infection is quite high in Swaziland. Around 261 per 1000 population aged 15-49 years old are afflicted with the dreaded disease.  

Swaziland is also besieged with numerous health issues. Among the many health woes the subjects of the Kingdom of Swaziland face is the wide inequity posed by a large doctor to patient ratio of 1.6 doctors per 10000 people and almost a quarter of births delivered in the absence of health professionals. 


Consequently, the citizens of Swaziland have a high infant mortality rate of around 100 babies per 1000 deliveries. Pneumonia and prematurity are two of the top three leading cause of death among children under five years old.