Alarm raised on increasing incest cases among OFW families

MANILA, Philippines - They know it is happening but there is no sufficient data to show how serious the problem of incestuous relationship among the family of overseas Filipino workers is today. “It is part of the social cost of migration," said Ellene Sana, executive director of the Center for Migrant Advocacy. “Pinag-uusapan ‘yan (incest relationship) among OFWs communities, but if you’re looking for data or figure how many cases of incest relationship are happening on OFW families each year, wala siguro," Sana told GMA News.TV. She explained that if an incestuous relationship happens in a family where the mother leaves the home early in the morning to sell goods in the market, leaving the father and the daughter at home, how much more if the mother works thousand of miles far away from home. “Gut feel ‘yan. Alam na nangyayari pero walang nagsusumbong dahil maselan na bagay ‘yan, kahihiyan sa pamilya," Sana observed. Erwin Puhawan, paralegal of the Kanlungan Center Foundation, shared Sana’s observations that families tend to be discreet about problems of incestuous relationship. He said it is an “open-secret" among OFW communities and they talk about it in private. “Pinag-uusapan nila ang kapwa OFW na may ganyang problema pero hanggang sa kanila lang ‘yun, hindi inire-report. Kaya walang indept study kung ilan ang ganyang kaso dahil sa kultura natin na Filipino na kahihiyan sa pamilya kapag nalaman ng iba," Puhawan said. Even the biggest OFW group, Migrante International, admits it doesn’t have data on incestuous relationships among families of migrant workers. On the government side, the Overseas Workers and Welfare Administration (OWWA) also does not have any record on the issue. Jonathan Panlilio, media coordinator of Migrante, said the group is aware of the problem and, in fact, considers it as one of the major concerns among the social costs of migration that it presents in different fora. Growing problem The Women’s Legal Bureau, Inc. for SIBOL said that the number of incest cases in general (not just for OFW families) in the Philippines has been increasing. Citing data from the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) from 1991 to 1996, the number of reported incest cases reached 1, 835, from 45 in 1991. In 1996 alone, the DSWD documented 624 cases of incest out of the 2, 621 reported cases of sexual abuse among children. The report identified the top five regions with the most number of reported incest cases: the National Capital Region (Metro Manila) with 178 cases, followed by Region IV (Southern Tagalog) with 100 cases, Region III (Central Luzon) with 50 cases, Region VII (Central Visayas) with 44 cases, and Region V (Bicol) with 42 cases. The WLB records on 478 Supreme Court decisions on rape from 1961 to 1992, show 447 or 71 percent of the 630 rapists involved were known to the victims. Some 58 cases were conclusively incestuous, committed by blood relatives, including stepfathers. Incest cases are usually covered as part of studies on rape, child abuse and violence against women. Available data covers only reported cases and is mostly quantitative. Little is known about the profile of incest victims, their abusers and the circumstances behind incest, the WLB report added. And because incest is classified as a crime against women and children, Sen. Pia Cayetano wants the government to exert efforts to increase public awareness on the rights of women and children by conducting community seminars on RA 9262 or the law Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act. She said that as of March 2007, a total of 19,835 barangays all over the country had pending cases of violence against women and children (VAMC). Cayetano also noted records of the DSWD, showing that of the 1,449 victims the agency served for protective and rehabilitative services from 2003 to 2006, 81 percent or 1,175 were women, and 66 percent or 960 were girl-children. Substitute spouses Cayetano, in a statement, has expressed apprehension on the emerging problem of the growing number of women working abroad. She noted that women now comprise 70 percent Filipino workers deployed in other countries, based on the government data. While the number of mothers abroad has been increasing, the number of daughters (especially the eldest) who take on roles at home left by their mother, is also increasing, Cayetano said, “Sometimes to the point of being subjected to sexual abuse and forced to become substitute spouses by their father," she said. "This disturbing phenomenon of the girl-child being turned into a substitute spouse has been happening in our country along with the feminization of labor migration," the lady senator lamented. "The problem remains largely unreported, however, due to its sensitive nature and mainly because of the fear of the girl-child to file a formal complaint against her own father, which would bring severe stress and shame to her and her family," Cayetano said. The senator described the phenomenon as one of the most damaging social impacts of labor migration, which she said can never be measured by any of the government's socio-economic indicators or captured by statistics on labor export. Contributing factors Puhawan of Kanlungan said the structure of the houses contributes to the increasing cases of incest in the country. “Maliit ang mga bahay lalo na sa probinsya, hindi naka-separate ang kwarto ng babae kaya nagkakaroon ng pagkakataon na mangyari ‘yon." But he explained that it is not an excuse for the father to abuse her children. Jovita Mantaro-Montes, counselor for the women’s group Gabriela, explained that the “machismo" image and how Filipino men think with regards to relationships also contribute to the abuse of women and children. She said that some men look at their wives as materials that they can control. Sana, for her part, added that some father think that the eldest daughter logically takes over the responsibilities of the mother, including sexual, who leaves for overseas employment. “Ang nangyayari nga ang papel ng ina ay naipapasa sa anak. Kaya lang may ibang ama na pati ang sekswal na pangangailangan ay hahanapin sa anak. Dapat ang mga anak na naiiwan ay mabigyan din ng oryentasyon tungkol sa kanilang karapatan para maprotektahan sila," Sana said. Bill vs incest Seemingly because of these realities, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez filed House Bill 3595 to criminalize incest and impose harsh penalties on those involved. The lawmaker has expressed his concern over what he described as “alarming rate of incest among families of OFWs." Rodriguez described incest among the families of migrant Filipino workers as the “most damaging social impact of labor migration." He lamented that there is no law in the country which penalizes sexual relationship between family members. The problem, he said, remains unreported due to its sensitive nature and mainly because of the fear of the aggrieved party to file charges against their own father, uncle or brother. The only recognition of incest under the Family Code of the Philippines is the one declaring that incestuous marriages are void ab initio or invalid from the start. Likewise, there is no law which penalizes incestuous sexual relations between consenting parties 18 years of age and above, he said. “The bill criminalizes such sexual relations because they are contrary to public morals and public policy," said the lawmaker, who is also a lawyer. As defined in the bill, incestuous relationship covers those between ascendants and descendants of any degree and between brothers and sisters, stepparents and stepchildren, parents-in-law and children-in-law and adopting parents and adopted child. Although supportive of the bill, Sana said the daughter should be treated as victim in incest cases. “Hindi sila dapat kasamang parusahan kahit involved sila. Ang tatay o kamag-anak na nagsamantala sa biktima ang dapat parusahan," she stressed. Puhawan is optimistic that the bill could become a venue for an in depth study on incestuous relationship, not just on OFW families, but also in every Filipino household. “Sana maging simula ito para mapag-usapan at magkaroon ng malalim na pag-aaral upang mabigyan din ng tamang aksyon ng pamahalaan. Pero hindi dapat i-single out ang pamilya ng OFWs," he explained. – Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV