The Philippines Team is on their route back to the U.S. headquarters here in Old Hickory, TN. They will return on June 17th at Nashville Airport. Below is their latest update before leaving the Philippines.
Philippine Team Update By Mike Garner
The 2009 Philippine team, comprised of Mr. and Mrs. Garner, Jason Carpenter, Julie Cox, Craig Duffy and Alison Loope, has continued to pursue ministry activities in the area of Subic Bay. During an exploratory drive up the coast we confirmed that at the end of every road that leads into the mountains we find the Negritos. The Philippine peoples known as Negritos are also called Aeta. We found Aeta people in the hills surrounding Angeles City and all along the coast of the Zambales mountain range.
We have also continued our efforts to learn about the problem of sex trafficking in the area and have visited many of the girls that are victims of the disparity of wealth found along economic zones like the SBMA (Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority) and the former Clark Air Base facility which has also been converted into an economic zone.
The town of Calapandayan is home to some of the most horrendous sexual abuse of young women. Retired military men, foreigners from Europe and Australia, and some of the men from the ships in Subic Bay can all be found at the many bars where girls are bought and sold. The streets are filled with aggressive men that will grab a foreigner by the arm and attempt to pull them into the many bars that line the streets. These girls suffer a life of imprisonment where they are bound by their poverty, lack of education, and continual degradation to a world that is nightmarish. The eyes of these girls look dead.
In Angeles City the foreigners are the same, only the trafficking of young girls is accompanied with the illusion of legitimacy. The bars are theme bars like ‘Bedrock’ (like the Flintstones Cartoon); the front of the bar looks like a Disneyland ride and the music playing is in keeping with the feel of a theme park. Most of the men are over fifty and prefer this illusion to the reality. The girls however seek reality and hate the illusion.
I have witnessed girls as young as 14 years old being held in the bars of Calapandayan and offered to men for a small amount of money. The rooms for abusing these girls are available for a fee and located right inside the bar along the side wall. I wish that the governments of wealthy countries would prevent their citizens from participating in such activities. I wish the church in the Philppines and the United States would respond to the ongoing problem of global sex tourism.
