海角大神

From his sprawling establishment overlooking Subic Bay, the Rev. Shay Cullen surveys a city that seems almost as subverted by the trafficking of women, many under age, as it was before the US shut down its naval base here nearly 20 years ago.

The sailors who once flooded the streets on shore leave are no longer here, except on brief visits during military exercises, but the city has never lived down the reputation it got for the sex trade that flourished around what was America's biggest Naval base outside the US.

鈥淪ex tourism is unchecked and trafficking is rampant,鈥� says Mr. Cullen, a Columban priest from Ireland who鈥檚 been crusading since 1974 against what he sees as a 鈥渕afia-like鈥� conspiracy by foreign men and Filipinos to exploit under-age victims. 鈥淭he local government supports the sex industry, the prosecutors are mostly corrupt, and the judges too.鈥�

Cullen seems like a latter-day Don Quixote tilting at windmills as he leads often fruitless manhunts for traffickers among the foreigners who come to this once-thriving base city 50 miles northwest of Manila.

His crusade epitomizes faltering efforts in the Philippines and throughout Southeast Asia to combat the trafficking of women, many in their teens, almost all from poor families living in squalor amid rising prices and fewer jobs. If the challenge appears hopeless, it鈥檚 not for lack of effort on the part of Cullen and others 鈥� dedicated, if nothing else, to raising awareness of the problem.

鈥淲e have a great deal of admiration for what they do,鈥� says Andrey Sawchenko, director in the Philippines for the International Justice Mission, talking about the organization Cullen helped found, PREDA, an acronym for People鈥檚 Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance. 鈥淚t matters hugely to the women and girls they help. Our experience has been that PREDA has been really effective.鈥�

Spurring prosecution

Mr. Sawchenko sees PREDA as having played a leading role in spurring on prosecution of cases of trafficking. As evidence, he cites removal of the Philippines last month from the State Department鈥檚 鈥渨atch list鈥� of countries that are doing little or nothing about it.

The Philippines now has a 鈥渢ier two鈥� rating 鈥� recognition that at least it鈥檚 attempting to combat the problem 鈥� while Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia remain on the watch list. The Philippines got 鈥渢he promotion,鈥� as officials sometimes call it, after prosecutors won 29 convictions against traffickers in a 12-month period after having had only 30 convictions in the previous five years from 2005 to 2010, none the result of PREDA's activities.

Khrisna Avila, a consultant with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, set up by the Department of Justice to combat the problem, acknowledges, however, that nearly 1,200 cases are still pending. The State Department鈥檚 latest country-by-country report on trafficking worldwide is severely critical despite the upgrade.

鈥淲idespread corruption and an inefficient judicial system continue to pose very serious challenges to the successful prosecution of trafficking cases,鈥� says the report. 鈥淟aw enforcement officials鈥� complicity in human trafficking remains a pervasive problem in the Philippines, and corruption at all levels of government enables traffickers to prosper.鈥�

鈥淲e have the laws, we have the rules and regulations,鈥� says Josephine Alforque, advocacy officer with the local office of the nongovernmental End Child Prostitution and Child Trafficking,鈥� based in Thailand. She cites an antitrafficking act passed eight years ago but complains, 鈥淭here are no NGOs on the Inter-Agency Council.鈥�

The problem, says Ms. Alforque, is worsened by the rapid proliferation of electronic devices for organizing criminal syndicates. 鈥淭echnology has added to the tools in exploitation of children,鈥� she says. 鈥淵es, there are foreign men involved, but there are a lot of local men, too.鈥�

Cullen鈥檚 investigations of abuses by foreign men, from military veterans to tourists and retirees, extend inland to the one-time US base town of Angeles City. On the streets and alleys outside the former Clark Air Base, which closed in 1991 after the eruption of nearby Mount Pinatubo, bars and shops catering to foreigners flourish, as in the old days.

The fact is, however, the sex trade in Angeles never stopped. It seems to have never even slowed down.

Lured by the promise of jobs

Cullen cites a raid on a nightclub in Angeles run by a man described by police as 鈥渁n Irish fugitive.鈥� Dozens of women said they had been lured to Angeles after having been told they would find jobs in factories, offices or restaurants, according to a police report, but instead were forced to become sex workers.

Despite frustrations, Cullen is proud of the program he runs for victims whom he and his staff claim to have rescued from sexual exploitation.

鈥淲e have two homes for victims, 27 victims of abuse by their fathers and relatives, 18 saved from sex clubs,鈥� Cullen says. They鈥檙e 鈥渞eintegrated when recovered鈥� 鈥� and eligible for financial aid for 18 months.

Some foreigners say Cullen is looking for publicity and donations rather than real solutions to a festering problem. One retired US Air Force master sergeant, Alan Dale Edmonds, has been battling Cullen's claims in court for years.

"I have been consistently exposing them," says Mr. Edmonds. "Obviously," he goes on, the point for PREDA is "to garner support and rake in money."

Meanwhile, Cullen appears to revel in the acclaim that he鈥檚 whipped up for his program. Amid repeated attacks by Edmonds and other foreign retirees, Cullen boasts he鈥檚 twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 鈥� recognition that he proudly advertises on banners posted on the wall at the base of the drive up to his establishment.

Regardless of whether Cullen is successful in court, many say he's at least drawn attention to the issue.

鈥淭here is a big improvement,鈥� says Danny Abunalen, with the Visayan Forum Foundation, which focuses on immigration and trafficking. 鈥淔oreigners come into the country for young women. Most of our cases are actually foreigners.鈥�

Critics agree with the State Department that the problem of trafficking in the Philippines is not as bad as when sailors on leave flooded the bars 鈥� but say Cullen鈥檚 influence has nothing to do with it.

鈥漈here is not as much money as there was in the heyday of the bases,鈥� says Edmonds. 鈥淭here were many more incidents then because women often offered their children in an attempt to get them adopted, [and get them] a better home.鈥�

Yes, he adds, 鈥渂ecause of the bad apples that any military is stuck with, there were those who took advantage quite often of the poor and the children.鈥�

Cullen meanwhile has a ready explanation for why it鈥檚 difficult to get convictions for foreign club operators offering under-age girls. The government believes sex charges against foreigners are 鈥渂ad for tourism,鈥� he says.