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Yields in Metro Manila are exceptional, by international standards.

However transaction taxes (known as 'capital gains taxes´, but not actually such), and (if observed) official income tax rates applicable to non-resident investors, are high. You may think that it will be easy to avoid these taxes, it being the Philippines. But it ain´t necessarily so. Once the local authorities have their eye on you, they won´t willingly let go. Plus, the sheer bureaucracy of actually paying can be irritating.

Buying prices for condominiums are from US$2,800 to US$4,200 per square metre, considerably up on previous years. Unusually, yields are not always highest on the very smallest units, which suggests that smaller condominiums are oversupplied. It therefore makes a lot of sense to get a larger unit, since the general management cost and hassle of a larger unit is less.

The highest-yielding units that we found are 50 square metre units in Ortigas (which have gross rental yields of nearly 9%). Great! We don´t have enough information to know whether these high yields apply in Ortigas to other apartment sizes.

The year before last we found that yields were surprisingly good generally on very large condominiums in Metro Manila (250 square metres), at around 9%, but this year we were not able to assemble a database of this dimension. This may be an optimal size for investment.

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Philippines: rental yields in Manila range from good to excellent

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Yields in Metro Manila are exceptional, by international standards. However transaction taxes (known as 'capital gains taxes´, but not actually such), and (if observed) official income tax rates applicable to non-resident investors, are high. You may think that it will be easy to avoid these taxes, it being the Philippines.

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projects to educate youth

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HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY CATW engages in creative, principled advocacy and campaigns designed to create the social, political, and legal conditions that are inhospitable to human trafficking. As part of CATW's Global Campaign for a Sex Trafficking Free Internet, CATW led the successful protest in front of Craigslist's corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California that resulted in the removal of their "Adult Services" section, which was facilitating sex trafficking in the US and internationally.

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Angeles' sex industry is fueled by sex tourists who travel from all over the world

One former prostitute was able to leave the sex industry with help from Renew Foundation

U.N. estimates 60,000 to 100,000 children in the Philippines are involved in prostitution rings

Angeles City, Philippines (CNN) -- Sitting in the backyard garden of a women's outreach center, a woman recounts a life that seems to belie her young age of 20 and her name, Joy.

"I started working as a prostitute in Fields Avenue when I was 15," said Joy, a native of this city in the northern Philippines.

"I needed the money to support my baby, as I was already so poor. But after awhile the bar's "mamasan" (the name given to a woman who oversees work in businesses such as brothels and bars) said I should go to Malaysia to work, where I could make a lot more money."

After her mamasan organized the contract, Joy found herself working in Sandakan in eastern Malaysia, but the promise of good money and working conditions quickly evaporated.

"First I was made to take drugs. Then I was made to service as many as 20 men a day. If I refused they threatened to put me in jail without food," she said.
World's Untold Stories: Undercover to combat child sex slavery
The traffickers refused to let her go home, and she was only able to make her way back after her grandmother's continual pleading with Philippine government officials. Six weeks later, Joy returned to Angeles without having received a cent.

Broken financially and in spirit and determined to leave Angeles' sex industry, Joy was able to make contact with a non-government organization called the Renew Foundation, established in Angeles in 2005 in order to help eradicate trafficking and empower victims of prostitution.

Funded by individual donations, as well as grants from UNAIDS and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, Renew offers shelter-based programs, housing, food, legal representation and education courses, all of which aim to help women return to their families or reintegrate into the community.

Renew also has a keen interest in helping child victims of the sex trade; an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 children in the Philippines are involved in prostitution rings, according to Minette Rimando, a spokeswoman for the U.N.'S International Labour Organization's Manila office.

"Most child prostitutes are recruited from rural areas to work in urban areas or even abroad," she said. "They are exposed to hazards that include contraction of STDs, physical violence and harmful psychological effects."

Cities such as Angeles can present all of these hazards for girls and women.

A two-hour drive north of Manila, Angeles (pronounced "angle-ease") sits opposite what used to be the massive Clark U.S. Air base.

In 1991 the cataclysmic volcanic eruption of nearby Mount Pinatubo helped prematurely close the base, culminating in some lean years for Angeles' well-established prostitution trade, experts said.

But the city's sex industry has since come back, fueled by sex tourists who travel here from all over the world. Many are older men, looking for their version of fun with some help from so-called "Viagra" pills -- sold on street corners like candy, chemical makeup unknown.

The city appears grimy and soulless. There are no pristine beaches or tropical forests, the traffic snarls and the poverty is endemic. But there is sex for sale, it's cheap, and there's a lot of it.

"Mate," an overweight, chain-smoking Australian growls in between gulps of a San Miguel beer as he teeters on a bar stool. "This place is heaven -- the girls are young, the beer's cheap, and it's never cold. What's there not to like?"

Along Angeles' main road of Fields Avenue where Joy once worked, the bars are filled with inebriated men leering at young women walking by. Most of the women are dressed in skimpy outfits and walking shakily as they plod along in poorly made high-heels.

The road is lined by countless bars where sex is readily available from dancers for about 1,200 pesos ($26).

Focusing on those bars and brothels in Angeles City, Renew uses outreach workers to identify women who have been trafficked or abused, said director Paulo Fuller.

"If someone needs help escaping from the industry," he said, "our outreach workers liaise with police and authorities to help initiate a rescue. We also have cards with contact numbers that are distributed throughout the area, and flyers."

Most of those helped fall into four categories: Girls and women subjected to sex trafficking; girls exploited in the commercial sex industry; and girls who are at risk of being prostituted and/or trafficked.

Renew director Fuller claims a high success rate. "Just over 80 percent of the women who come into our program don't return to prostitution," Fuller said. "After providing them with the support they need, like housing, education courses and employment, that's the figure that don't return back to the bars."

Joy has been living at Renew's shelter now for just over two months. She says she's not sure when she'll leave, but wants to try and finish her studies first. "After I leave I hope to get work to support my son and work as a hairdresser or in a beauty salon," she said enthusiastically.

Back at the bar, the chain-smoking Aussie is informed of Joy's harrowing experience in Angeles. He shrugs his shoulders half heartedly, weighing his reply as a bunch of Harleys driven by riders adorned in Swedish flags rumble past.

"I don't know, I mean it's just all a bit of fun. Those girls have a free will, right?" he asks. "Live and let live, I say."

And with that, he walks off down Fields Avenue through the stifling heat, dodging the tumult, lighting up another cigarette.

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Filipino group helps women find life outside of trafficking

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Angeles' sex industry is fueled by sex tourists who travel from all over the world One former prostitute was able to leave the sex industry with help from Renew Foundation U.N.

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DROP-IN CENTER PROGRAM

Journey Out realizes that change is difficult and fraught with many dangers for those who are being sexually exploited. Journey Out provides a safe place to discuss all of the issues related to exiting a life of abuse, violence, and poverty. We also discuss common challenges and ways to move forward from the experience and thrive.

The Journey Out Drop-In Center Program offers assistance to individuals seeking a way out of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. We provide them with survivor-led support groups including: Getting Out of The Life, Healing Through Art, Ending The Game Intervention Program, and an Empowerment Group. We meet our clients "where they are," utilizing the best practice theories and intervention modalities of harm-reduction, trauma-informed treatment and the stages of change.

Our clients need more than support groups to exit a lifestyle they have become trapped in...they need support services. In response to those needs, we offer case management and referrals, survivor mentorship - giving peer-to-peer support and counseling, individual therapy and crisis counseling, GED tutoring and preparation, HIV testing and education, medical and vocational referrals, and meeting basic needs by providing food, clothing, hygiene products and condoms.

DIVERSION PROGRAM

The Prostitution Diversion Program (PDP), is offered by Journey Out in collaboration with the LA City Attorney as an alternative to incarceration. The PDP allows for a prostitution-related offense to be dismissed upon completion of the program, it also provides access to desperately needed services. The PDP is also available for transgender individuals and men.

ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS: Journey Out has a South Los Angeles Satellite Office where we offer our diversion program three times a week. Additionally, Journey Out offers our diversion program at APAIT (a nonprofit organization located near Koreatown) for Asian speaking clients. APAIT offers professional translators that work collaboratively with our Survivor Group Facilitators to offer a culturally appropriate program.

DOMESTIC MINOR SEX TRAFFICKING PREVENTION
& INTERVENTION PROGRAMS

Journey Outworks with youth in group homes and in community centers providing prevention curriculum programs; My Life My Choice and Word On The Street. These curriculums are designed to empower young women and educate girls on the tactics that pimps and traffickers use to recruit victims into the commercial sex industry.

The Ending The Game curriculum is a powerful and innovative new intervention designed to educate and empower child victims of sex trafficking. The curriculum provides guidance and first-hand knowledge of survivors to aid victims and guide them on their path to recovery and out of the hands of pimps and traffickers.

DIRECT STREET OUTREACH

Staff and volunteers drive the prostitution tracks of Los Angeles and hand out information about services available to victims. Information about emergency shelters both within California and outside of California are given in case the victim needs help when being trafficked to another city. A lipstick with the Journey Out phone number is put in every outreach packet. The label is discreet and easy to conceal from pimps and traffickers but also gives victims a lifeline.

In addition to Street Outreach, Journey Out collaborates with law enforcement as victim advocates during police task force operations. During these operations, we offer our programs and services on the spot to victims. Journey Out has been involved in the FBI Innocence Lost Task Force operations locally and is known as the "go to" organization for law enforcement for victim advocacy and service provision for adult victims of sex trafficking.

COMMUNITY & AGENCY EDUCATION

Journey Out provides education to the public about issues of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, as well as specialized training for law enforcement and social service providers. We educate the general community through informational speeches at colleges, universities, high schools and for community groups throughout Los Angeles. Educating the public is an important aspect of prevention, especially for youth who have little to no knowledge about the tactics pimps and traffickers use to recruit victims into sex trafficking.
Survivor Stories >

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DROP-IN CENTER PROGRAM Journey Out realizes that change is difficult and fraught with many dangers for those who are being sexually exploited. Journey Out provides a safe place to discuss all of the issues related to exiting a life of abuse, violence, and poverty.

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Evolving Approaches to the  Study or Childhood Poverty and Education Emily Hannum

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Evolving Approaches to the  Study or Childhood Poverty and Education Emily Hannum

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Children rely on their parents to protect them from bullies, shelter them from harm, keep them safe. But while some children are trying to get around the internet and TV controls their parents set up to prevent them from seeing mature or inappropriate content, others are forced to create that content.

What happens when parents are the bullies, the causers of harm, and the ones who threaten children's safety? What if, rather than blocking harmful content like pornography, parents force their children to produce it?

They are robbed of their childhoods.

That's exactly what happened to 9-year-old Jennifer*, whose mother ran a webcam sex tourism business out of their home in the Philippines. Two years ago, Jennifer and four other children (ages 7-10), were rescued from a home in Manila during a police raid - they were just about to put on a "show."

These "shows" are nothing like the cute plays most children privately put on in their backyards for their parents. These "shows" are live-streamed overseas to a paying customer, who can request sexual acts to be performed on or by the children - including sexual acts performed by the children on one another.

Sadly, there's nothing unique about Jennifer's story. Child pornography, particularly, the live-streamed sexual exploitation of children, is a billion-dollar industry. And the Philippines is its number one source.
The nature of the problem
Of 15,000 tips the Philippines Office of Cybercrime received in 2015, 80% had to do with child sexual exploitation. The industry is believed to be thriving in the Philippines because of high levels internet access (relative to other developing countries), the widespread knowledge of English, and persistence of poverty.

18.4 million people in the Philippines live in extreme poverty - live on less than USD $1.25 a day - and the dire conditions can drive people to desperation. For Rosalyn and her sister, falling below the extreme poverty line was the final push for their parents. Afraid they wouldn't be able to feed their seven children, their parents forced them to perform sexual acts online in exchange for wire-transfer payments from foreigners (the estimated price of a live-stream session is between $5 and $200). Wire-transfer payments are easier to make to the Philippines because remittance systems are well established to cater to the large number of Filipinos who work abroad and regularly send money home.

Over 10 million Filipinos live and work abroad (out of a population of 92.2 million) as "overseas Filipino workers" often as care-givers, domestic helpers, or in service industries. The income they earn and send back to their families supports close to half the households in the Philippines, but means that 9 million children are missing a parent leaving them more vulnerable to exploitation. Three of the children rescued with Jennifer* were living with Jennifer's mother because their mothers were working abroad and were unable to physically care for them.

Tens of thousands of children are believed to be involved in live-streaming child sexual abuse in the Philippines: https://t.co/4Zg7zPL2TQ
- UNICEF Philippines (@unicefphils) May 31, 2016

Tens of thousands of children are being exploited, often tricked into abuse by the people they trust most. Children as young as 2 years old have been rescued from cybersex trafficking rings. Many of the children forced into the cybersex business are too young to understand the situation and trust that their parents and other adults would never ask them to do something wrong. These kinds of operations are " open-secrets" in certain neighborhoods where people are hesitant to report their neighbors; in a sense, this normalizes them. As a result, children don't necessarily recognize their situations as abusive.

Years after being rescued from her situation, one girl remained angry at the undercover agent who saved her, and other children. A 3-year-old boy who had been removed from the same home continued to do a "sexualized dance" when he saw adults using mobile phones, assuming they wanted to film him. The psychological impact of suffering this abuse can last long after being rescued; it can follow them through adulthood, predisposing them to becoming sex workers, tolerating abuse, or becoming perpetrators of abuse themselves.
Global impact
While this a massive problem in the Philippines - it's actually a global problem.

The Philippines recognizes the severity of the problem; it has made it their top cybercrime priority and passed legislation in 2009 cracking down on child pornography of any kind. But an increasingly connected and technologically advanced world makes it difficult for the Philippines to tackle the problem on its own.

VPNs, software like Tor, and encrypted streaming and transactions allow internet users to mask their identity, making it increasingly difficult to track down perpetrators and even harder to prosecute them. In the past few years, the number of criminal cases relating to the cyber sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines has risen, from 57 in 2013 to 167 in 2015 - though there have been few convictions. Some operators of live-video child sex businesses have been arrested and imprisoned, but have yet to be tried - largely due to a lack of capacity - and the Philippines' age of consent (12 years old) further complicates the matter.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Even when Filipino enforcement can track down foreign offenders, it is not necessarily within their jurisdiction to prosecute. So although the Philippines is experiencing this problem most severely, they cannot tackle it on their own.

And it shouldn't fight this battle alone because the foreigners paying for these "shows" are as guilty as those running the businesses. Furthermore, child sex tourism doesn't only occur in the Philippines, it's happening around the world. One study identified Montreal, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C. as hotspots in North America.
What can be done
In 2013, Dutch organization Terre des Hommes created a virtual girl, much like Jennifer and other girls forced into cyber sex tourism, to help catch child predators soliciting live-video child pornogrpahy from the Philippines. Over ten weeks, more than 20,000 people, mostly men, approached the girl, named Sweetie. Terre des Hommes was able to identify a sample of 1,000 people of whom the majority were from the US, the UK, and India - they shared their findings with Interpol to take action.

There needs to be a concerted global effort to hold those who engage in child sex tourism, cyber or otherwise, accountable. In 1994, Australia became one of the first countries to criminalize the sexual exploitation of children committed by its citizen abroad. The US similarly prosecutes its citizens for engaging in child sex tourism, and created a task force devoted to catching and bringing predators to justice in 2003.

International initiatives like the Virtual Global Taskforce and #WeProtect are leading joint efforts to eliminate child sexual exploitation and are doing so through collaboration with local governments and NGOs. But the next step is to get internet providers involved, according to UNICEF. As long as predators can hide their identities on the dark web and through other methods, they are able to hide their crimes.

All children have the right to be safe, to be secure, to live a childhood free from sexual exploitation. They deserve to have those rights provided and protected - and that needs to be a global effort.
*not real name

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Thousands of children in the Philippines forced into cyber sex tourism

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Children rely on their parents to protect them from bullies, shelter them from harm, keep them safe. But while some children are trying to get around the internet and TV controls their parents set up to prevent them from seeing mature or inappropriate content, others are forced to create that content.

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MANILA, Philippines - National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents arrested five alleged members of a prostitution ring Wednesday night.

The suspects reportedly pimped minors - the oldest of the 13 rescued victims is 16 years old - to foreigners in hotels and casinos around Metro Manila, with transactions done on social media, said special investigator Anna Labao of the NBI's Death Investigation Division.

They allegedly used cars bearing "8" or congressional protocol plates to bring the minors to their clients.

Labao said the suspects recruited their victims from the provinces by offering them jobs as models. They were initially told they would be brought to hotels for "photo shoots" with clients, she added.

One of the victims, a 16-year-old girl, escaped in April from the condominium unit along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay.

"She complained that she was held at that alleged prostitution den after being enticed for employment as a model," Labao said.

She added that they were sold to foreigners staying in casinos and hotels and paid P15,000 to P25,000 depending on their age and cosmetic enhancements.

In a sting staged on Wednesday night, NBI agents bought the services of three girls for P15,000 each.

The three later led law enforcers to a condominium unit in Pasay City, where 10 others - six girls and four boys - were being held.

Most of the victims said they want to get their share of the clients' fees so they could go back to their home provinces.

The NBI agents arrested Nehemiah Velasquez, alias Kuya Joey; Hillary Acosta, alias Violet Sy; and drivers Adrian Carido, Orlando Abarca and Alex Balane.

They also found a white Toyota Avanza and a Hyundai Starex van with "8" plates.

Velasquez denied pimping the victims, but admitted to using the Avanza - allegedly owned by a politician named "Miss A" - to bring the "models" to the hotels for "photo shoots."

Abarca and Balane insisted on their innocence, claiming they were only a driver and cook. They said Francis and Nimfa Velasquez owned the cars.

Labao said they would send the car plates to the Highway Patrol Group for verification.

She said the NBI busted another group using the same modus operandi at a condominium unit in Makati City two years ago, but only rescued the victims. No arrests were made.

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MANILA, Philippines - National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents arrested five alleged members of a prostitution ring Wednesday night. The suspects reportedly pimped minors - the oldest of the 13 rescued victims is 16 years old - to foreigners in hotels and casinos around Metro Manila, with transactions done on social media, said special investigator Anna Labao of the NBI's Death Investigation Division.

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MEND Job Training Program participants receive on-the-job training in one of 14 different career tracks, such as food services, retail, customer service, computer data entry, warehouse management, medical and dental assistance, and clerical services.

The Job Training Coordinator provides follow-up and monitors each participant's progress. Through this program, job trainees learn how to:

Meet employers' expectations

Communicate effectively in the workplace

Work as part of a team

Solve problems effectively,

Learn customer service skills

Dress appropriately for job interviews and the workplace.

Participants also receive training on completing job applications, building resumes, and practicing mock interviews. Through MEND's Adult Education program, the participants can enroll in ESL and computer classes and obtain GED class referrals to enhance basic employment skills.

Job Training Program Partners

MEND is grateful to its current partners for enhancing our clients' professionalism and skills.
"My job training experience has been relatively satisfying. I enjoy working with different people of all walks of life. I found it very helpful that I got to take a computer skills course to learn and refresh Windows. Also, thanks to this program, I am now CPR certified. Last, there's room to move between different departments based on skills a Job Training participant needs for further employment." Melissa Franklin, Clothing Center Volunteer

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MEND Job Training Program participants receive on-the-job training in one of 14 different career tracks, such as food services, retail, customer service, computer data entry, warehouse management, medical and dental assistance, and clerical services. The Job Training Coordinator provides follow-up and monitors each participant's progress.

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shows how large the industry is in the Philippines and work force from the Philippines, also shows probable incentives and causes

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US Dept of State 2016 Trafficking Report

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US Dept of State 2016 Trafficking Report

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PHILIPPINES: Tier 1

The Philippines is a source country and, to a lesser extent, a destination and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. An estimated 10 million Filipinos work abroad, and a significant number of these migrant workers are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor-predominantly via debt bondage-in the fishing, shipping, construction, education, nursing, and agricultural industries, as well as in domestic work, janitorial service, and other hospitality-related jobs, particularly across the Middle East, Asia, and North America. Traffickers, typically in partnership with small local networks, engage in unscrupulous recruitment practices that leave migrant workers vulnerable to trafficking, such as charging excessive fees and confiscating identity documents. Traffickers use email and social media to fraudulently recruit Filipinos for overseas work. Illicit recruiters use student, intern, and exchange program visas to circumvent the Philippine government and destination countries' regulatory frameworks for foreign workers. Many victims experience physical and sexual abuse, threats, inhumane living conditions, non-payment of salaries, and withholding of travel and identity documents.

Forced labor and sex trafficking of men, women, and children within the country remains a significant problem. Women and children from indigenous families and remote areas of the Philippines are most vulnerable to sex trafficking and some are vulnerable to domestic servitude and other forms of forced labor. Men are subjected to forced labor and debt bondage in the agricultural, fishing, and maritime industries. Many people from impoverished families and conflict-areas in Mindanao, undocumented returnees, and internally displaced persons in typhoon-stricken communities are subjected to domestic servitude, forced begging, forced labor in small factories, and sex trafficking in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, central and northern Luzon, and urbanized areas in Mindanao. Trafficking also occurs in tourist destinations such as Boracay, Angeles City, Olongapo, Puerto Galera, and Surigao where there is a high demand for commercial sex acts. Child sex trafficking remains a pervasive problem, typically abetted by taxi drivers who have knowledge of clandestine locations. Very young Filipino children are coerced to perform sex acts for live internet broadcast to paying foreigners; this typically occurs in private residences or small internet cafés and is facilitated increasingly by victims' close family relatives. NGOs report greater numbers of child sex tourists in the Philippines, many of whom are nationals of Australia, Japan, the United States, and countries in Europe; Filipino men also purchase commercial sex acts from child trafficking victims. Organized crime syndicates allegedly transport sex trafficking victims from China through the Philippines en route to other countries. The UN reports armed militia groups operating in the Philippines, including the New People's Army, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Abu Sayyaf Group, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, continue to recruit and use children, at times through force, for combat and noncombat roles.

Officials, including those in diplomatic missions, law enforcement agencies, and other government entities, allegedly have been complicit in trafficking or allowed traffickers to operate with impunity. Some corrupt officials, particularly those working in immigration, allegedly accept bribes to facilitate illegal departures for overseas workers, reduce trafficking charges, or overlook unscrupulous labor recruiters. Reports in previous years asserted police conduct indiscriminate or fake raids on commercial sex establishments to extort money from managers, clients, and victims. Some personnel working at Philippine embassies reportedly withhold back wages procured for their domestic workers, subject them to domestic servitude, or coerce sexual acts in exchange for government protection services.

The Government of the Philippines fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government convicted 42 traffickers, including five for online child sex trafficking and two for forced labor. Although pervasive corruption undermined efforts to combat trafficking, the government convicted two immigration officers and charged five officials allegedly complicit in trafficking. In an effort to prevent trafficking of migrant workers, the government increased its funding for the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) to facilitate anti-trafficking prevention campaigns for migrant workers, and authorities expanded training and awareness events for government officials, prospective employees, and the general public, doubling the number of persons reached. Officials proactively identified trafficking victims exploited within the country and assisted roughly 1,500 during the reporting period; however, it did not identify any foreign victims. Although domestic protection for male victims remained limited, the government opened and fully funded a temporary shelter for male Filipino trafficking victims in Saudi Arabia. To reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, justice officials prosecuted eight cases against foreign child sex tourists during the reporting year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PHILIPPINES:

Increase the availability of shelter and protection resources that address the specific needs of trafficking victims, with a particular focus on male victims and mental health provisions; develop and implement programs aimed at reducing the demand for commercial sex acts, including child sex tourism and online child sexual exploitation; increase efforts to identify labor trafficking victims, especially children subjected to forced labor, including via training for Department of Labor and Employment inspectors on proactive identification mechanisms; increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict labor traffickers who exploit victims within the country; increase efforts to investigate and prosecute government officials for trafficking and trafficking-related offenses; expand efforts to ensure victim-friendly criminal justice proceedings for victim witnesses, particularly child victims, to prevent re-traumatization from multiple interviews and protracted shelter stays throughout the duration of court cases; widely implement the continuous trial mechanism pilot program to increase the speed of trafficking prosecutions; expand prevention efforts against the recruitment and use of child soldiers and vigorously investigate any such allegations and hold accountable those who are involved; and broaden trainings for front-line officers on appropriate methods to assist children apprehended from armed groups.

PROSECUTION

The government continued vigorous law enforcement efforts. The Philippines prohibits sex and labor trafficking through its 2003 and 2012 anti-trafficking acts and prescribes penalties of six years' to life imprisonment plus fines up to five million pesos ($112,000), which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Philippine law defines purchasing commercial sex acts from a child as a trafficking offense. During the reporting period, police investigated 329 alleged trafficking cases, a steady increase from the 282 and 155 suspected cases it investigated in 2014 and 2013, respectively. The National Bureau of Investigation conducted 40 operations leading to the arrest of 151 suspected traffickers, and separately investigated 67 sex trafficking cases and four for forced labor. In 2015, the government prosecuted at least 569 alleged traffickers, compared with 595 during the previous year. Authorities convicted 42 traffickers during the reporting year, compared with 53 convictions in 2014; of these convictions, five were for online child sex trafficking and two for forced labor. Sentences for those convicted ranged from eight years' to life imprisonment, with most offenders sentenced to life imprisonment. The government did not take any law enforcement action to punish the recruitment and use of child soldiers as no cases were reported; reporting was inhibited by the ongoing insurgency in volatile areas where armed militias, which recruit and use child soldiers, operate. During the year, the Supreme Court employed the continuous trial system pilot project, which continued to expedite trafficking prosecutions; however, endemic inefficiencies, and in some cases corruption, in the judicial system left some cases pending prosecution. Courts resolved the cases of 17 of the 42 convicted traffickers within two years, which is significantly faster than other types of criminal cases. Prosecutions for labor trafficking remained low; law enforcement officials reported difficulties in securing forced labor convictions, sometimes due to misconceptions that this crime requires an element of movement to be tried under the anti-trafficking law.

The government continued to make strong efforts to provide anti-trafficking training to authorities. The Interagency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) conducted 36 trainings in 2015, reaching more than 1,000 government officials, including new investigators and prosecutors. IACAT also led and co-coordinated 280 anti-trafficking trainings, which reached 7,300 government personnel and more than 11,000 civil society attendees across the country, including students, hospitality staff, and bus and taxi drivers. In addition, Philippine regional police facilitated 24 specialized courses on cross-border trafficking issues with Malaysian royal police. Officials also hosted seminars in Cebu and Davao to enhance the capacity of respective law enforcement personnel. Philippine officials continued to cooperate with foreign governments to pursue international law enforcement action against suspected traffickers; officials initiated at least nine such investigations in 2015. During the reporting year, the government investigated 24 allegedly complicit immigration officers and convicted two; it sentenced one official to 15 years' imprisonment plus a fine of 500,000 pesos ($10,800). The government also issued administrative charges-including job dismissal-against five potentially complicit immigration officers; the remaining 17 cases are either pending, referred for additional investigation, or awaiting approval for criminal proceedings. Philippine officials dismissed for lack of merit and insufficient evidence two cases: a 2013 case of an embassy official in Kuwait who allegedly violated the Philippines' anti-trafficking law, and a 2014 case involving a Philippine diplomat and her spouse in Canada who allegedly compelled an individual into domestic servitude.

PROTECTION

The government sustained its proactive identification of victims and increased provision of protective services. Although comprehensive statistics for the total number of victims identified and assisted were unavailable, IACAT reported identifying at least 807 victims, mostly female and children. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported serving 1,465 trafficking victims, of whom 1,037 were female, compared with 1,395 victims in 2014. The government followed formal procedures to identify victims and refer them to official agencies or NGO facilities for care; it also continued to assist its nationals subjected to trafficking abroad. Philippine officials identified victims through rescue operations, border screenings, reports to embassies abroad, and calls to the national anti-trafficking help line, which led to assistance for 62 potential trafficking victims.

The government, through its recovery and reintegration program and in partnership with NGOs, provided victims with shelter, psycho-social support, medical services, legal assistance, and vocational training. It sustained an allocation of approximately 23 million pesos ($490,000) to implement this program. DSWD operated 44 residential care facilities, an increase from 26 in 2015, which delivered services to victims of trafficking and other related abuses; however, available services remained inadequate to address the specific needs of victims, particularly for mental health. The DSWD reported providing temporary shelter to 1,889 victims during the reporting period, an increase from 853 in 2015. An improvement for victims in 2015 saw adult victims residing in shelters being permitted to leave unchaperoned, provided there were no threats to their personal security or psychological care issues. Domestic protective services for male victims remained limited; however, during the reporting period Philippine officials opened and funded a temporary shelter for male Filipino trafficking victims in Saudi Arabia. The government provided an unknown funding amount to NGOs, which delivered the vast majority of specialized services to trafficking victims; however, the lack of long-term care, absence of mental health services, and familial involvement in facilitating exploitation left many victims vulnerable to re-trafficking.

Under its witness protection program, justice officials protected witnesses from reprisals by providing security, immunity from criminal prosecution, housing, livelihood and travel expenses, medical benefits, education, and vocational placement; however, victims were often interviewed multiple times, which resulted in lengthy shelter stays. During the year, civil society representatives observed judicial officials utilizing victim restitution provisions and awarding damages to victims; however, these monetary penalties imposed upon offenders often went unpaid due to perpetrators' financial incapacity and protracted court proceedings. NGOs confirmed government officials did not punish victims for unlawful acts committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking. While the government did not identify foreign victims in the Philippines during the year, it had long-term alternatives to deportation of victims to countries where victims may face hardship or retribution.

PREVENTION

The government increased its robust efforts to prevent trafficking. The government continued implementation of its 2012-2016 strategic plan to combat trafficking, and IACAT and other government anti-trafficking taskforces met regularly during the year to share data and coordinate interagency policies. IACAT increased funding from 200,000 pesos ($4,500) in 2014 to over 850,000 pesos ($18,200) in 2015 for the CFO to facilitate anti-trafficking prevention campaigns. Consequently, the CFO expanded its community education programs on trafficking and safe migration tactics across 24 provinces, which reached more than 6,300 participants, including prospective migrant workers; it conducted a similar campaign in Hong Kong for approximately 150 Filipino migrants employed there. The CFO also facilitated an awareness campaign in Cebu, focusing on cybercrime and online child sexual exploitation, and disseminated related informational materials to more than 60,000 local residents. During the reporting period, police led 38 awareness-raising programs for 1,500 participants on preventing exploitation of women and children, to include trafficking; they also produced and distributed thousands of flyers, posters, and manuals at the community level nationwide and hosted 28 television and social media engagements for the general public.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) conducted public seminars and community forums across the country on warning signs of illegal recruitment tactics and trafficking. POEA officials investigated 98 cases involving 231 complainants of illegal recruitment and an unknown number of trafficking victims in 2015, which resulted in the closure of 12 non-licensed establishments; officials referred 84 cases for criminal investigation proceedings, as compared with 124 the previous year, and reported six illegal recruitment convictions compared to eight in 2014. The Bureau of Immigration continued to screen for potential victims at airports and seaports, and officials issued amended guidelines on departure formalities for international-bound persons, which set clearer rules for inspections intended to prevent trafficking and other related offenses without deterring legal travelers. Despite significant local and foreign demand in the country's vast commercial sex trade, the government's efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts were negligible, and authorities reported no tangible efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor. Justice officials prosecuted 17 cases against six foreign child sex tourists during the reporting year; however, including previous years, 79 cases remain pending trial. The government conducted three monitoring, reporting, and response training events for 146 local service providers addressing child soldiering issues in Mindanao due to protracted armed conflict and high likelihood for the recruitment and use of child soldiers there; however, the government did not report assisting any demobilized child soldiers. Government military personnel disseminated information against child soldier recruitment in various provinces nationwide, but no law enforcement actions were taken to punish the recruitment and use of child soldiers as no cases were reported. The government provided anti-trafficking training to Philippine troops prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions, and for its diplomatic personnel.

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The Philippines is a source country and, to a lesser extent, a destination and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.

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The Sexual Fields of Empire Emmanuel David

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The Sexual Fields of Empire Emmanuel David

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Centered on sex industry in Philippines

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Philippine Statistics Authority | Republic of the Philippines

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Among the nine basic sectors, farmers, fishermen and children belonging to families with income below the official poverty threshold or poor families posted the highest poverty incidences in 2015 at 34.3%, 34.0% and 31.4%, respectively. These sectors consistently registered as the three sectors with the highest poverty incidence in 2006, 2009 and 2012.