Prostitution was and still is a thriving "trade" in Olongapo City, where
U.S. soldiers used to frequent the bars for their rest and recreation.
A
teenage working girl has just woken for a 10am interview. After washing her
face with tap water, she broke into a sheepish smile and said, I am
sorry, I just woke up. I slept late. The girl then took her mobile phone
and started texting some messages. This fair-skinned, chinky-eyed young lass
is Maya (not her real name), an entertainer at a videoke bar along the
streets of Subic in the province of Zambales.
“Ate” is Evelyn Marzan, an organizer of bar girls from a women’s
organization, 'Organize Women', who assisted this reporter for this
interview.
Maya had no idea she was going to be interviewed and upon realizing it, her
smile broke into a giggle. Are you a reporter? she asked. I also
want to be a reporter like you. she said as her face turned red. Don’t be shy, Evelyn told her. After a little prodding, Maya took her
seat and was ready for this interview.
Although she insisted she is 19 years old, Maya’s lanky, underdeveloped body
and mannerisms gave away her real age. She said she was in third year high
school when she stopped schooling this year. Evelyn later confirmed Maya is
only 16. Evelyn also said she had met a 15-year old girl who just arrived in
this bar last week.
In a separate interview, Buklod president Alma Bulawan said the present
generation of bar girls is aged 15-25 years old: Customers today want
young girls, not like in our time when any age will do. Bulawan was a
prostitute during the 1980s when what is known today as the Subic Bay
Freeport was still a U.S. military base.
The Philippine Senate voted against the extension of the U.S.-RP Military
Bases Treaty when it expired in 1991. But the area continues to serve as a
military station for U.S. warships after the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)
was approved in 1998. During the five decades that the U.S. military base
was in Subic and Olongapo City, the area surrounding the base had long
strips of bars, which are actually brothel areas, where American servicemen
spend their “liberty,” a U.S. military term for rest and recreation.
Prostitution became the most convenient job for women and children then,
Bulawan said.
Provincial officials initiated a clean-up drive against prostitution after
the bases treaty was scrapped. In fact, the base area was converted into an
industrial and recreation hub, which hosts multi-national corporations,
hotels and casinos. But with or without the bases, Bulawan said, the sex
trade never has stopped in Olongapo and Subic, as it never did elsewhere. At
present, there are about 3,000 Guest Relations Officer (GROs) in Olongapo
alone, she added. During the time of the bases, she said, their number rose
to about 16,000.
The biggest proof, Bulawan said, is the girls’ health cards given out by the
local government itself. Precy, a GRO in a videoke bar in Olongapo, said
they are being checked by the city’s health center every week. We undergo
pap smear she said. They are made to pay P30 per check up and are not
allowed to work if they do not comply. The Customers also want to make
sure. They want to see the health card first before sleeping with them, Bulawan said.
Since then, there have only been a few changes: sex trade hubs in and out of
the Freeport are now known as videoke bars and bar girls are now called GROs.
She said videoke bars in this area offer three dance sets every night for
their customers. During the first set, the girls would still be wearing
clothes. In the second set, they would be in their bikinis. On the third,
they go all the way, meaning they dance in the nude, Evelyn said.
These girls, Evelyn said, get drunk or even take drugs before doing the
dance shows. They won’t have the courage to dance nude in front of people
if they are not drunk or stoned, she said.
Maya started working in the bar only last September when her father sent her
there: He wants me to marry an American, she said. Maya said she had
a cousin who also worked as a GRO here and was able to marry an American
serviceman who was a customer at the bar.
But money never comes easy for Maya. She said she is paid a measly P100 a
night as a dancer. At first, it was enough to “just dance and drink.” She
said they are encouraged to drink a lot because they get a commission in
every order. Girls are given P40 for a drink that costs P80 and P50 for a
P120 drink. Back then, I would not agree to be taken out. That’s because
I was still a virgin when I arrived here, she said.
To take the girl out for sex, a customer has to pay a bar fine, Evelyn
explained. After a few weeks, Maya finally agreed to go out with a customer.
To earn more she said.
But her father’s American dream could not materialize, she said while
smiling. I am afraid of Americans. You know why referring to the
belief that Americans have a large penis. And I do not understand English.
Maya said her customers were mostly Filipinos, Chinese and Taiwanese who
come to Subic to gamble at the casinos.
These customers pay a bar fine of P1,200 but Maya said only P550 is given to
the girls, the rest going to the bar. Not knowing anybody in Subic, Maya
decided to live with the other GROs. There are seven of them staying in a
room at the back of the bar where they work. Maya pays P200 a month. They
each have a bed and share the bathroom, wash area and kitchen. They pool
their money together to buy food.
Like most girls working in bars, Maya is trying to look for another job but
could not find one. She said she wanted to apply as a contractual worker in
one of the companies inside the Freeport but is not qualified being an
undergraduate. Thus, like many of the girls in Subic, Maya is forced to
survive by selling her body to earn a few hundred pesos.
At a little before noontime, Maya was already shifting restlessly on her
seat, looking at her mobile phone and asking her bar mates for the time. She
soon excused herself and ended the interview. By 2pm, she would have to put
on her make-up and wear a tiny, skimpy dress. For Maya, the show begins at 4
p.m.
© 2005 Bulatlat ¦ Alipato Publications
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its
author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
