[asia-apec 248] WOMEN, APEC, AND GLOBALIZATION

[GABRIELA-Philippines]

Information Dispatch
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		WOMEN, APEC, AND GLOBALIZATION


	"APEC and this so-called `globalization' being flaunted about by the Ramos
government can only mean an upswing in prostitution and the widescale
displacement of women."  This was the gist of a statement issued by the
militant women's alliance in the Philippines, GABRIELA.  The group was
reacting to news reports that bars and night spots along Roxas Boulevard
were being spruced up in time for the APEC summit.  The statement was also
issued in response to government plans of turning the former Clark Air Base
into a world-class tourism and entertainment center.

	According to Liza Largoza-Maza, national secretary-general of GABRIELA,
"What, in effect, we are seeing isthe `internationalization' of the flesh
trade in the country as the Ramos government transforms the country into an
international rest and recreation capital.  Without first providing for
sustainable and gainful employment for women who are being displaced en
masse under this regime of globalization and free trade, the Ramos
governmnt has turned Filipino women into a `global' commodity for the
consumption of foreign men of various nationalities.  This, plus the fact
that some of our own government officials are themselves involved in the
lucrative job of selling women, makes the Philippines a sure and excellent
supplier for the global flesh trade.

	Maza cited the case of Olongapo City where US warships continue to dock
five years after the Senate voted to oust the US Bases.  These servicemen,
together with male tourists of British, German, Australian, and Japanese
nationalities, constitute the clientele for the sex industry in the city,
particularly in Barangay Barreto where the "nightlife" has shifted to after
bars on Magsaysay Drive closed when the US Bases pulled out.

	GABRIELA also cited the cases of Cebu and Davao cities which has seen a
worsening of the sex industry.  Since tourism became a second priority
strategy in the "internationalization" of Cebu, there has been a rise in
the number of commercial sex workers (CSWs).  In 1995, there was a total of
2,988 registered CSWs.  For the first two months of 1996 alone, 1,520 women
have already had their check-ups with the City Health Office.  In Davao
City, there are already 1,525 CSWs, especially after karaoke (sing-along)
bars became the newest fad in the night scene in Davao.

	The influx of US servicemen from foreign, especially US warships, docking
in both Manila and Subic ports to provide security for the APEC summit will
certainly invigorate the pockets of flesh traders in the country.  "This is
a downside of the APEC summit which the Ramos government will never tell us
about," the statement concluded.