Filipina brides online? Beware<\/p>\n
Michael Barker, Reuters, Manila<\/p>\n
Dian Marie, a domestic helper from Cebu in the Philippines, is
\nlooking for a husband on the Internet and there are only two
\nmajor requirements listed -- he has to be Catholic and he has to
\nbe a Westerner.<\/p>\n
\"I'm interested in marrying a foreign guy...I will prefer a
\nCanadian, Italian, English or American gentleman with high moral
\nvalues, (who is) positive, humble and must be Catholic,\" says her
\nadvertisement on www.filipina.com.<\/p>\n
The advertisement is accompanied by a photograph of a petite,
\ndark-skinned young woman. Marie says she is 20 and her potential
\nhusband should be 30 to 50 years old.<\/p>\n
The advertisement is typical of hundreds posted on three U.S.-
\nbased Web sites to matchmake Filipinas and foreigners.<\/p>\n
Most of the women seem to be seeking marriage and Westerners
\nand Catholics are preferred. But often the only requirement is a
\nforeigner willing to help them find a life overseas.<\/p>\n
Local critics say the sites are no more than mail order bride
\nservices, banned under a 1990 law, which are exploiting Filipinas
\nand in many cases trapping them into prostitution abroad.<\/p>\n
\"They exclusively and boldly sell Filipinas as brides and sex
\ncommodities,\" says Senator Loren Legarda.<\/p>\n
Bitter poverty and lack of employment in the predominantly
\nCatholic Philippines push hundreds of thousands of Filipinas to
\nwork abroad every year, while many women also choose to seek
\nforeign partners as a way out of penury.<\/p>\n
The lack of work has forced tens of thousands of women into
\nprostitution, and over the years the Philippines has earned a
\nreputation as a destination for sex tourists.<\/p>\n
Legarda has urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to seek
\nUnited States government help in investigating the owners and
\noperators of the Web sites.<\/p>\n
And she has called on local enforcement agencies to track down
\nand prosecute recruiters who are suspected of enticing naive,
\nyoung women into joining the sites and helping them with the
\npaperwork when they leave the country.<\/p>\n
The Web sites contain databases of hundreds of women with
\nphotographs and personal details, including contact information.<\/p>\n
To access this information, site users pay around US$2 to $4
\nper woman they seek to know more about, plus a handling fee, or
\nfor a larger sum they can become members, giving them access to
\nall the womens' contact details.<\/p>\n
One of the sites boasts, \"We guarantee that these listings are
\nof girls who have told us that they are interested in
\ncorresponding with Western men for the purpose of marriage.\"<\/p>\n
Left-wing political organization Bayan Muna claims that many
\nof those who join online services in the hope of marrying into a
\nbetter life abroad end up as sex workers in Asia, the United
\nStates and Europe.<\/p>\n
It estimates up to 150,000 Filipinas have left the country in
\nthe past decade as fiances of foreigners.<\/p>\n
In 1990, the government enacted a law to ban mail order bride
\nservices after a host of complaints that agencies matching
\nFilipinas to foreigners for marriage were luring women into the
\nsex trade or into forced domestic labor.<\/p>\n
Web site operators reject suggestions they are breaking the
\nlaw or enticing Filipinas into the sex industry, however.<\/p>\n
\"No one can honestly believe that it is possible to lure a
\nFilipina into any kind of sex trade by a months- or years-long
\nprocess to get a United States spouse or fiance visa,\" Larry
\nPendarvis, the owner of filipina.com, told Reuters by e-mail.<\/p>\n
\"I defy anyone to produce one single girl who was lured into
\nthe sex trade by someone who helped her marry an American.\"<\/p>\n
Florida-based Dale Davis, who runs two Web sites that have
\ncome under fire and who married a Filipina last year, also
\ndismissed the criticism.<\/p>\n
\"We do not have partners in the Philippines soliciting
\napplications, everything is done and publicized on the
\nInternet...we also do not offer any sex traffic options, we are
\nvery much against that type of thing, both morally and legally.\"<\/p>\n
He says his services were designed to \"help people from all
\nover the world to get together as friends first, with the
\npossibility of finding the happiness that Josie (his wife) and I
\nhave found\".<\/p>\n
Lennie Dineros, a 40-year-old Filipina who works in a Manila
\nbar catering mainly to expatriates and is a member of several
\nonline matchmaking sites, also scoffs at claims of exploitation.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think the Web site has anything to do with
\nthat...it's up to you if you would like to enter, you register at
\nyour own risk,\" she said, adding most girls she knows who join
\nmatchmaking sites do so for companionship or to meet foreign
\npenpals.<\/p>\n
She also believes some girls are open to the idea of a
\nmarriage to a foreigner which can be abruptly ended once they are
\nhave settled overseas.<\/p>\n
\"The idea is to go there (abroad) and then divorce, most girls
\nare thinking that way...the guys are the ones being exploited,\"
\nshe laughs.<\/p>",
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