The widespread devastation wrought by storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng in Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog and Central and Northern Luzon has brought so much suffering to millions of our countrymen.
Providentially, Filipinos here and abroad have responded generously to appeals for help for their countrymen. Their charity has greatly helped assuage, at least for now, the hunger, the trauma and the psychological burden of the victims of the disasters.
There is, however, a more worrisome problem that stares all of us in the face. And this is: how to confront the long term need to rebuild the shattered lives of those who not only have to bear the pain of losing their loved ones but whose homes and entire belongings were swept away by the floods and the landslides that devastated entire communities.
This early, some of my friends have expressed well grounded fears that the difficulties faced by many poor families could well lead to an increase in the exploitation of women and children. They, after all, are the sectors of society most vulnerable to exploitation.
Child prostitution and pornography, for instance, have been a major and continuing concern of religious and civic groups and of government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for a long time now.
I remember that Edu Manzano, former chairman of the Optical Media Board even made an audio-visual presentation before women journalists, of the shocking discovery that he and OMB agents made in the course of their raids against film piracy and illegal copying of CDs and DVDs.
They found thousands of DVDs showing children as young as three years old in various stages of sexual abuse. And you have to be utterly insensate, and devoid of humanity, not to feel outraged over what Manzano showed.
However vehemently we may rant about it, child prostitution and child pornography are realities that we simply cannot brush off. And the equally shocking truth is that there are parents who consent – or even push – their young children into this despicable pit of human depravity.
We can always condemn those who use hunger and poverty as an excuse for allowing the perpetuation and proliferation of this abomination. But can society be honestly judgmental in situations like this?
In its latest survey on hunger for the third quarter of this year, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) reports that hunger among Filipinos had declined from 20.3 percent (or 3.7 million families) in June to 17.5 percent (or 3.2 million families) in September. Definitely sounds good news, doesn’t it? The catch is that the survey was conducted from September 18 to 21, or days before Ondoy and Pepeng unleashed their fury on virtually the whole of Luzon.
Significantly, the survey also found out that in the highly urbanized area that is Metro Manila, hunger actually went up by two percent, from 550,000 families in June to 600,000 families in September.
Wouldn’t it be logical to expect, then, that in the wake of the immense losses inflicted by these twin calamities on the people, the incidence of hunger is bound to increase? I suppose it doesn’t really need so much logic for us to appreciate the inevitable leap of this “rise-in-hunger” premise from theory to reality.
And when (not if) that happens, wouldn’t it be wistful thinking for us not to expect a similar escalation in the number of women and children who will be forced by circumstances to use their bodies as instruments to stave off hunger and want?
So how many more women, and how many more children, will be compelled to endure being debased and dehumanized? Kapit sa patalim, as writers and social analysts call it.
It may be assumed that on account of their being older and more mature, the elder among the women may be fully aware of the pitfalls and consequences of what they would be getting into. But what about the children?
It is comforting to know though, that as a result of what they discovered, Manzano has turned rage into an advocacy and together with two other officials of the OMB — lawyers Rosendo ‘Resty” Meneses and Cyrus Valenzuela — initiated the formation of the Anti-Child Abuse and Pornography (ACAP) Foundation, Inc.
Now that Manzano has resigned both his position in the OMB and his slot in the morning program, “Umagang Kay Ganda” of ABS-CBN, it is reasonable to assume that he has more time in his hands, although there is talk that several groups are inviting him to join their senatorial tickets for next year’s elections.
But regardless of whether he enters politics or not, I personally believe that Edu’s being a high profile media personality can work wonders if he decides to really give his anti-child pornography a much more vigorous push. I understand, of course, that for sometime now, he has been going around and appearing before diverse groups and making the same audio-visual presentation on child pornography that he showed to us, women journalists some months back.
What I am saying is that he can, perhaps, ask those people who compose the audience in his appearances as guest speaker to contribute their own effort in this worthwhile endeavor - like reporting the presence of suspected pedophiles. Or alerting authorities about suspicious activities involving children, especially if there are foreigners around who are apparently engaged in such questionable activities.
In the manner of his noontime TV program, it could be a simple matter of tossing to his audience the question of “Mga kaibigan, kayo ba’y game nang tumulong sa kampanya laban sa child prostitution at child pornography?”
I’m sure that the venue of his talks and appearances would reverberate with shouts of “Game Na!” I am informed that in a talk before a sizeable crowd in San Pablo City, a member of Congress became so convinced of the need to fight child pornography that she pledged to contribute an appreciable sum to the ACAP Foundation.
If he has a mind to, Manzano can even capitalize on his popularity and public acceptance to encompass other issues. It could include being “Game na para sa kalinisan ng ating paligid. Game na para sa patuloy na pagtulong sa mga biktima ng Ondoy at Pepeng. Or Game na laban sa corruption.”
“Game Na!” could possibly be transformed into a conceptual instrument that would harness the dynamics of community involvement in undertakings that could reinforce and expand civic mindedness to an extent that we may not have imagined possible. What is needed, perhaps, is a person with the charisma, the charm and the credibility of Edu.
But the first thing that should be done is to ask Manzano if he, himself, is “Game Na!”.
My email: dominimt2000@yahoo.com