60,000 kids being forced into prostitution; Lacson

By Michael Lim Ubac
August 07, 2004

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Friday expressed alarm over the state of poor children in the country amid a report showing that about 60,000 children were being forced into prostitution. “There are about five million child laborers and more than 1.5 million street children in the country. And there are 60,000 prostituted children and their numbers increase by 3,266 annually, making the Philippines the fourth country with the most number of prostituted children,” said Lacson.

Lacson blamed the plight of poor children on the Arroyo administration’s laxity in managing population growth.

“No thanks to an unchecked population growth, the state of children from poor families can now be considered bone-chilling,” said Lacson, who stressed that millions of Filipino children were “underweight, suffer from stunted growth and are forced to work at a tender age.”

Lacson proposed a bill that will create a multiagency council to formulate, promote and implement policies on family planning, and start reproductive health education at grade 5.

Lacson is supportive of the two-child policy bill filed in the House of Representatives, saying that while it was up to parents to determine the number of children based on their personal and religious beliefs, the state should encourage two children as the ideal family size.

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