Research
Children from the Bahay Tuluyan centers are encouraged to do research pieces. Some of their studies include:
Batang Bugaw (Youth Pimp) Research
In May 2006 the Participatory Research Team of Bahay Tuluyan produced its first publication, ‘Ang Mga Batang Bugaw sa Malate’ or ‘Youth Pimps in Malate’ with the support of Terre des Hommes, Germany.
This research study, which was conducted by former street children of Bahay Tuluyan, focused on the issue of youth pimps. This was an issue which was identified by the authors as one which was an emerging social concern in their community. The study looked at the stories of 6 young people who had all started pimping while they were children or teenagers. A synopsis of the publication is below:
ANG MGA BATANG BUGAW SA MALATE / YOUTH PIMPS OF MALATE
(A SYNOPSIS)
1.2 Preface
Much has been written about exploited and abused children. These publications talk about who abused children are, what they feel and think. They normally end with a challenge to adults, particularly to parents, to solve these problems. There has also been much written about child prostitution, the problem, its causes and effects. However so far, there has been very little written about some of the people behind these problems, youth pimps, or children and adolescents, who pimp for their peers.
This is where this publication differs. This research, which has been conducted by former street children, began as a result of those children identifying the issue of youth pimps as an emerging issue in their community of Malate, Manila, Philippines. They were able to perceive the challenges this issue posed for their community, particularly for children. Consequently, with guidance from Bahay Tuluyan and some adults, eight youth researchers of the Action Research Team of Bahay Tuluyan (ART) looked into this problem and have produced this publication.
The worsening economic situation in the Philippines poses ever increasing problems for parents and difficulties in raising their children. More and more, the poverty experienced in the Philippines leads to problems in the family as well as exploitation and abuse of children. It is the government’s primary responsibility to alleviate poverty. This is particularly critical if the government is ever going to be able to solve related issues, particularly the problems of street children and youth pimps.
The youth is a critically important sector of Philippine society. Children’s experiences within their families and communities have the potential to deeply wound them; leaving scars that eventually have an impact on their whole life. Immediate solutions to problems must be found if irreversible damage to young people is to be avoided.
Through this research, six youth pimps shared their experiences, feelings and thoughts, with the hope that their dignity and self-esteem would be restored. They saw this opportunity as a key for opening pathways for change. They felt that if one of them is able to change, there is hope for the others.
The problems and needs of youth pimps can only be addressed through concerted efforts of young people, concerned adults, and youth pimps themselves. The most viable solution to ensure the rights of children are protected is to strengthen the family system and the community.
The ART believes that although these children, the youth pimps, have been involved in difficult and traumatic experiences, they have been able to retain the strength to confront change. This publication proves that what children are able to share is powerful enough to change society. They believe that this goal, if realized, is a fair price to pay for the difficulties encountered in producing this publication
This publication does not intend to provide solutions to the problems of street children or youth pimps. It only provides initial ideas to focus on. In particular, it emphasizes the responsibilities of adults, especially parents, in protecting the rights of the street children and youth pimps, most importantly their rights to live, develop and participate. Non-realization of these rights will only result in the undesirable reality which youth pimps currently face.
Importantly, unlike many other publications, this research does not focus on the women and children who are prostituted and the issues that they face. It is acknowledged that the prostituted women and children are the primary victims in the problem of prostitution and the most deeply damaged by their situation. However this publication does not seek to consider this side of the problem as much as it aims to consider some of the other pivotal players in the problem of prostitution; the pimps, particularly youth pimps.3 By understanding the situation of these pimps more comprehensively, we are in a better position to help the women and children who are forced into prostitution to escape from this vicious and damaging trade.
The ART, Terre des Hommes Germany and Bahay Tuluyan dedicate this publication to parents, to those who care for the Filipino youth, and to the children who continue to fight for their rights and fulfill their responsibilities.
3. SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS
After identifying the respondents, the ART conducted fieldwork, visiting the respondents at their place of work and spending time with them. They interviewed the young people about their background, their work, their motivations, their problems and their dreams. This is a summary of the responses given by the six youth pimps.
3.1 What is a Pimp?
The six respondents said that “to pimp” is to earn from the female prostitute. A “pimp” is a go-between for a customer and a prostitute. It is the pimp who contacts potential customers. Respondents said they pimp to earn money.
3.2 Why do they pimp?
Why do these children pimp? Who and what pushed them into this kind of work?
3.2.1 Peers/buddies/gang mates
There were those who said their peers/buddies convinced them to do it. Leo said the group he used to be with pimped in Malate. Every time they earned something, they would share it with him. And since he was often there, he felt he might as well go into it. He has been pimping every night since.
The same thing was said by Ong. He said he used to wait in parking areas every night at Malate and he observed the pimps. It became so familiar to him that he decided to do it himself. He started earning big money, so he has continued pimping until now.
3.2.2 Financial reasons
They said it is easy to earn big. You just have to stand, wave at a potential customer and you have money straight away.
For Junie, he could get to know lots of women. Many prostitutes would mistake him for a pimp and approach him. He felt he could not say no once a prostitute approached him to pimp for her. He does it for the money.
3.2.3 Family influences
One of the respondents said his father and a relative are pimps. He thinks they were the ones who influenced him, particularly his father.
3.2.4 Child abuse
Some of the respondents said that they were sexually abused while they were still young. That was what pushed them to pimp.
JR was ten when he was sexually abused. He said he was playing house with an older boy. They were alone in the older boy’s house when he had sex with him. JR did not tell his parents; he was too afraid. He just avoided the boy who abused him so that he wouldn’t be abused again.
Junie was only twelve when his peers sold him, five times. His customers were usually older men and his earnings were Php500 each night. He said he was happy enough, he had money. Also, he said he barely knew anything then, so it was okay for him.
It was family problems that pushed Pepe into the trade;
“My Kuya Cardo and Kuya Delio used to beat me when I was small. I was a smart alec then, if I talked back, they would hit me with a piece of wood, two inches by two inches. Other times I would be slapped, I’d be lucky if I only got hit on the back of the neck. My father would usually intervene, most of the time too late. My mother would just cry, her tears didn't help. There were times I got beaten so badly and it only stopped when I went to Bahay Tuluyan because of my friends, you are one of them. You were with J, remember, you brought me to Bahay Tuluyan. We used to have breakfast there, remember?”
3.2.5 Drug addiction
One of the boys confessed he pimps to buy shabu which he uses with his fellow pimps when they go jamming.
He said the smallest amount they use is one gram, which they get cheaply at Php300. They usually get it from Ka P because he is powerful officer in their barangay so they don’t get caught.
3.3 How do they pimp?
Where do these children pimp? Do they earn a lot of money from this work? Who are their customers?
3.3.1 Where?
All of the youth pimps work in Malate. The pimps frequent the streets of San Andres, across from the Aristocrat, and at Leveriza. There are those at Dakota, Ma. Orosa, and Roxas Boulevard. Others ply Madre Ignacia and the Raja Soliman plaza. Some work at the corner of Aurora Elementary School, the farthest being Harrison Plaza.
3.3.2 When?
On what days and times do they usually operate? Do they ever have rest days?
The youth pimps said they have varying schedules. Some said weekdays are slow days because their clients usually have work. There was one who works Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. He said these were rest days for his clients, at which time they would usually go to him.
Another said he works Monday to Sunday; because it was the only trade he knew, hence he had no day off. They usually start about ten in the evening until four or five o’ clock in the morning.
3.4 How much do they earn?
The youth pimps said their earnings are dependent on the type of customer and the prostitute.
If the customer is a foreigner, they pay Php 1,500.00 per prostitute. The pimp gets Php500.00. If the customer is Pilipino, they give Php 700.00 if the prostitute happens to be very young. The pimp gets Php 200.00. But if the prostitute is above 20 years old, usually they are paid only Php500.00, so the pimp gets only Php100.00.
The highest a pimp will make in one night is Php5,000.00. The pimp’s share may be from Php1,500.00 - Php2,000.00. What is left will be divided between the prostitute and her manager.
There were those who said a pimp’s income varies each night. Depends on how one goes about it. There are nights when a pimp only gets very little money, particularly if there are police raids.
3.5 Who are the customers and who are the prostitutes?
Who are the usual customers of these children? Who are the prostitutes they pimp? Are they ever selective about the customers or the prostitutes?
According to these youth pimps, most of their customers are businessmen, foreigners and students. Sometimes there are those who are obviously fathers, sometimes young guys who approach them, looking for prostitutes. Sometimes the customers are foreigners and if they are Americans they usually want young women. But mostly their customers are locals, Filipinos.
Alan said he pimps only female prostitutes. Pepe, on the other hand, pimps children and young females.
JR admits he doesn’t always know if the prostitute is really young because many of them look mature for their age. If he knows the prostitute is a minor he tells her to keep it secret. To his knowledge, the youngest girl he has a pimped was 13 years old, often they are 16 years old.
3.6 What problems do youth pimps face?
In this type of job, what are the problems that they face? How do they cope with these problems?
1. Vagrancy Law
According to the respondents, the most common problem they face is being arrested. Alan said that pimps are often arrested and charged with vagrancy4. Vagrants are taken to the police station and locked up. In order to be released they must post Php200.00 bail. If they are unable to pay bail, they spend the night behind bars, or they are not released until they have posted bail.
Often both pimp and prostitute are arrested. In cases where they are unable to post bail, the prostitute and her services are used to bail them out. However according to Andy, this depends if the police finds the prostitute to his taste. If the police doesn’t like the prostitute, they stay behind bars.
Leo corroborated these remarks. He added that there are instances when policemen beat them before they are released. Or if they cannot post bail they are made to do odd jobs in the police station, like cleaning the place or the comfort rooms.
2. Other pimps
They also have problems with other pimps. Ong related that other pimps impede him from doing his work at times. He feels the others are trying to put him out of business. If he gets caught in such a situation he simply bows out, afraid that the others may gang up on him.
3.6.3 The prostitutes
There are also problems with prostitutes for whom the pimps negotiate. Sometimes a prostitute takes off and abandons a customer who has already paid. When this happens the customer goes back to the pimp and complains. If the problem is not solved the customer gets the pimp arrested.
There are prostitutes who steal from their customers. Usually a prostitute who does this takes off or goes into hiding. The customer then goes back to the pimp. To prevent the customer from going to the police, the pimp tracks down the prostitute and get her to settle the matter with the customer. If the pimp cannot locate the prostitute, he too goes into hiding or takes off.
3.6.4 Health
Another problem youth pimps have is their health. They lack sleep, their work being in the evenings until the wee hours of morning. Constant exposure to the cold evenings and irregular hours of sleep lead to coughs and pneumonia.
Another problem is sexually transmitted diseases (STD). There are pimps who have sex with the prostitutes they pimp so sometimes they also get sick.
If a prostitute gets sick, she can’t work; the pimp then allows her to rest until she gets well. When one of their prostitutes gets sick, the pimp feels it is a shame because it will mean they cannot earn as much.
Often customers contract STD from the prostitutes. When this happens, the customers confront the pimps and complain. Meanwhile the prostitute who was responsible usually goes into hiding or lies low.
If others get to know, they usually banter or poke fun at the prostitute saying, “don’t go near her, she stinks!”. As a result the prostitute sometimes gets edgy or touchy and then the pimp gets caught in the middle, particularly if the target of the teasing is one of his prostitutes.
There are also prostitutes who get pregnant. If they are only four months pregnant, they can still work. At six months, it depends how big their stomach is; if it is still quite small they can keep working. Most prostitutes go back to the streets after giving birth since it is their only source of income.
When it comes to taking care of the prostitutes, the youth pimps said that it is up to the prostitute how she takes care of herself. There are those who use condoms to avoid getting sick.
There are others, however, who don’t like using condoms, especially if the customer is good looking. Sometimes, when prostitutes find the customers to their liking, they give their services for free. There are also customers who don’t like using condoms but most do because they are scared of becoming infected.
3.7 How do they view their work?
Besides their experiences and problems of these children, how do they see themselves and how do the people around them see these children?
Pepe feels proud of himself, being able to help his parents. His buddies feel the same way.
For Junie, there are times when he feels remorse and ashamed of himself. Very few know he is into that type of work and he is afraid he may be exposed to his schoolmates. There are times when he comes across his clients near his school. At times, however, he feels happy enough because he is able to afford the things he needs, even some luxuries.
Alan also feels remorseful at times because he often gets caught by the police. However if he doesn’t get caught and he is on the outside, he doesn’t feel any regret.
Leo’s conscience sometimes bothers him because the women he pimps remind him of his sisters. However he feels he just has to accept it as he doesn’t have any other source of income.
Ong does not care, nor does he mind what others say. He says you have to be confident and strategic so you can earn big.
JR is happy now because he is able to study.
3.8 How do other people see them?
Other people who get to know what the youth pimps do to earn a living usually say that what these young people do is bad.
When Leo’s brother got to know he was a pimp, his brother beat him, asking why he was doing it. His brother told him to stop it because it is bad. Leo simply ignored his brother and continued with his work.
Alan’s mother told him to stop but he refused. He said that if he did what she said, they would not be able to eat.
For Pepe and some of the others, they said their parents don’t really care what they do. They don’t interfere in each other’s lives. The people around them and their neighbors also don’t care what they do because many people from their area do the same thing.
These young people do not think there is even a law against pimping. They say that if there was all the pimps and prostitutes would have been arrested.
For them, there have been few, if any, non government or government organizations that have really helped them. They feel that they are just used by these organizations, who make a lot of promises but lack action. They feel that the government cannot help pimps like them.
3.9 What type of help do they expect?
How can we help these children? What kind of help do they want the government and other agencies to give them?
For the six young people, all they want is to have a good, decent and simple job, even if they don’t earn much – as long as they have a regular source of income. Some of them also want to go back to school to continue their studies. They want to be given financial support so that they can in turn help their families. Some said that they wanted to be given training in skills and business.
Some of them do not trust the government to help them. They have no hope that the government can help them because the Philippines is getting poorer and poorer.
They also want to get help for their health and free medicine. They said that even though health centers have medicine, there is not enough for all the poor people. If you have money you can buy medicine, but if not you just have to put up with the problem.
3.10 What can be done to stop pimping?
For Ong, Pepe, JR, Leo, Alan and Junie, they need to be given good work so that their attention is diverted from pimping. They want respectable and decent work, even if they only receive a small income they will be satisfied, as long as they have a job.
All of them want to have a chance to study again, to keep their minds busy and to keep them off the streets. They also want to have access to and be given counseling. They want a center for pimps which can teach them their rights because this can help to reduce and stop pimping.
For more information or to obtain a copy of the research, please contact Bahay Tuluyan.
Other Research conducted by Bahay Tuluyan
Bahay Tuluyan has also completed several research studies in cooperation with volunteers from Australian Volunteers International Youth Project. These are:
- Children’s Rights in Victoria, Laguna – 2005
- Children’s Rights in San Antonio, Quezon – 2005
- Children In Detention in Laguna - 2006
Participation in research studies
In the past few years, Bahay Tuluyan has participated in the following studies and publications:
- 'If I Had the Chance… Artwork from the Streets of Asia and the Pacific' published by the Asian Development Bank, 2003.
- 'Small Steps, Great Strides - Doing Participatory Action Research with Children' by Ma. Teresa dela Cruz, Elizabeth Protacio-de Castro, Faye G. Balanon, Jay A. Yacat, Carolina T. Francisco
- 'Integrating Child-Centered Approaches in Children's Work' by Elizabeth Protacio-de Castro, Ph.D, Faye A.G. Balanon, Agnes Zenaida V. Camacho, Michelle G. Ong, Arlyn G. Verba and Jay A. Yacat.
- 'Trust and Power - Child Abuse in the eyes of the child and the parent' by Elizabeth P. Protacio, Ma. Teresa C. dela Cruz, Faye A.G. Balanon, Jay A. Yacat and Carolina T. Francisco.
- ‘Surviving the Odds: Finding Hope in Abused Children’s Life Stories’ by Violeta Bautista, Aurorita Roldan & Myra Garces-Bascal
- ‘Surviving Cruelty – Combating Violence Against Children in Southeast Asia’ published by Terre des Hommes Germany & Netherlands
