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First Posted on Inside Mindanao (www.insidemindanao.com) on June 28, 2010

Mining in Sibugay village breeds child labor, child prostitution
By Antonio M. Manaytay

Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay (June 28, 2010) — The waxing moon looks like a silver coin above the rim of the Balabag mountain dotted with thatched houses and makeshift huts of miners. Occasionally, the evening silence is disturbed by incessant barks of dogs that mingled in the air with boisterous laughter of men inside the village's favorite videoke store.

Inside the store were several men — five, to be exact — from their looks, men in their 40s who have gone through the rough and tumble of life. Each downed a bottle of beer just like drinking water with gusto.

Opposite their table sat three girls whose girlish features cannot be hidden by heavy make–up. They are not customers for it is no place for children like them especially at a time where they should have been in their beds sleeping.

One of the men called the person behind the cashier's counter and whispered something. The person behind the cashier's counter then called one of the girls to join the men in their table. Later, the remaining girls joined.

"Ingon ana ang amo trabaho. Tig–lingaw mi (That's our job here. We entertain)," Sandra (not her real name), one of the girls at the videoke store said in an interview the following day.

Eleven–year–old Sandra comes from the nearby town of Imelda. The third in a family of five, she stow away from home when she had a disagreement with her mother. Unable to stand her mother's scolding, Sandra decided "to leave home together with my friend who is also with me here."

"We work first as waitresses in a small restaurant in the town proper (of Diplahan) ...," Sandra said.

When someone invited them to come to this village for an "easy work," Sandra and her friend decided to accept the offer.

In an apparent attempt to divert the attention to other children, she pointed her frail and thin finger to a boy that passed by.

The boy, she said, is working in nearby mine pit earning as high as P150 (roughly $3) a day."There are many more like him," she offered, adding "... we earn P500, the least, every night."

At this point, she admitted that aside from entertaining the customers in the videoke store "we also accept the offer to sleep with them."

"All of us here are doing that," she revealed.

Mining woes here go beyond health and environmental issues. It is threatening, more than anything else, the lives of children and their future.

A barangay official, who asked not to be named, admitted that child prostitution and child trafficking have become a common fare in the community where small–scale miners thrive. There are at least, 50 small–scale mining operators are in the area.

These young girls, he said, are being "maintained" by pimps, whom he will not identify. The pimps received the payment and only give P500 to the girls — an allegation that was hard to verify because of the refusal of alleged "pimps" to be interviewed.

A videoke store owner said that "it is the girls' business and I never interfere."

The town's police chief admitted child prostitution and trafficking as "problem in the community."

Aside from prostitution, some children are also hired as mine workers, either helping their parents or helpers in the different mine sites that dotted the mountain believed to be rich in gold.

Police Inspector Arnel Galaben told media that his office has monitored rampant child labor, prostitution, and trafficking in Balabag village.

"Child trafficking and prostitution are a big problem here," the police chief said.

The local police, he revealed, have already initiated the filing of criminal cases against some people suspected to be involved in prostitution and trafficking.

The provincial social welfare officer was not available for comments but an office colleague admitted that "the cases of violence and abuse against children in the province are rising especially in remote areas where there are economic activities."

When asked if "these areas" include that of Balabag village, the office staff said "we have not monitored that."

Small–scale miners, around 500 of them, have been operating in the area for decades now.

"These small–scale miners have been operating here for many years now, perhaps over a decade after gold was discovered in the area," said a government militia, who introduced himself as George, assigned in the village.

The village itself has a long history of large–scale mining. In the 1970s, the Samar Mining Company operated in the town. Cebu Ore Mining also ventured in the area looking for ore, an important component of steel. And 168 Pacific Ferrum Mining started its operation last year despite opposition from the indigenous people in the community.

Last April, the Toronto Ventures Incorporated (TVI) has started its operation after conducting a successful study on the viability of operations. TVI's entry is viewed by most people in the community with disbelief especially those affected economically.

"We have been here for most of our lives. Our future is here," Julian Ceriales, a ball mill operator, said in a dialect.

With TVI, he added, "we are no longer certain of our future."

When asked on the reported prostitution of children, he said, "The situation will get worse now with the big miner coming in," he opined.

But the record in the provincial office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) contradicts the facts in the field.

Imelda Gatinao, DoLE provincial director, in an interview said child labor had already ceased operating based on the recent inspection conducted by her office.

The provincial labor chief clarified that "per inspection conducted by our office, the groups who are hiring children for work have already left."

"Besides, these groups are not registered with our office," she said.

She saw the need to strengthen at the barangay level the mechanism to prevent child prostitution and labor.

"In fact, we have already talked with the barangay officials for them to institutionalize the Inter–Agency Committee Against Trafficking (IACAT) as a concrete step to prevent child exploitation in the community," she added.

Although, she admitted that it is difficult to monitor and solve the problem "knowing the realities we have." She did not elaborate.

Based on the 2010 human trafficking report of the US State Department released last June 15, the Philippines remains on the US government's human trafficking Tier 2 watch list. Tier 2 watch list rank means that the country "does not fully comply with, but is making significant efforts to meet the standards. Inefficient judicial system and corruption in government were the reasons cited by the report.

"Widespread corruption and an inefficient judicial system continue to severely limit the prosecution of trafficking cases. The vast majority of initiated trafficking prosecutions are usually unsuccessful, largely due to lack of evidence after victims disappear or withdraw cooperation," the report said.

There is a Philippine Law that seeks to protect children from trafficking and prostitution. Republic Act No. 7610, as the Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, seeks "provide special protection to children from all firms of abuse, neglect, cruelty exploitation and discrimination and other conditions, prejudicial their development; provide sanctions for their commission and carry out a program for prevention and deterrence of and crisis intervention in situations of child abuse, exploitation and discrimination."

END