‘There’s no place for prostitution in our province’

LAGAWE, Ifugao — "Ifugao women don’t cost P30. But rather cost tons of love and care."

These words on one of the placards carried by hundreds of indignant residents in a rally here last Saturday were aimed at what they dismissed as disinformation about the supposed flesh trade involving Ifugao women and minors.

"We are here today to express our humiliation and anger to certain people in the government for making us prostitutes in the face of the world (who) can be bought for only P30," said Susan Chandnani of the Ifugao Federation of Women Organizations.

The rallyists, mostly women and students, urged the government and the media to clear the Ifugaos, especially the women and minors, of alleged involvement in the flesh trade.

"Ifugaos live in beautiful valleys and mountains where there’s no place for prostitution," stated one of the placards held by students of the Lagawe Central School.

Saturday’s rally was preceded by a much bigger crowd in Banaue town the previous day when at least 2,000 students from various schools took to the streets to condemn the prostitution issue.

Jun Dumar, junior adviser of the Ifugao Student Organization, said the Banaue rally was an organized protest against attempts to "besmirch the dignity of the Ifugao women."

The outcry stemmed from reports that Ifugao women and minors, especially in this capital town, were allegedly engaging in the commercial sex trade.

"If you are from this province and read or hear the revolting news that sex can be bought at P30 only in Ifugao, what would you feel?" asked Karen Lipio, a high school student.

"We deplore those sowing this disinformation to the detriment of the Ifugao women in particular and the Ifugao people in general," said another high school student from the Catholic-owned Immaculate Conception School here.

For her part, provincial board member Nora Dinamling blamed the Philippine Information Agency here and other media entities for sensationalizing the prostitution issue that depicted the Ifugaos, especially the minors, as sex objects.

"I don’t mean to put the whole blame on newspapers and television stations which reported the issue without verification. But for God’s sake, they have to first verify information that reaches them before printing or airing it for the whole world to read and hear," she said.

"This report on child prostitution is baseless since this is only an isolated case of a minimal number of children who have behaved errantly and waywardly. This kind of story given a biased angle is derogatory to the development efforts of the province as a tourist area," Dinamling added, quoting a manifesto of the provincial board.