ILOILO City – Dressed in a miniskirt and blouse, Joy, 28, stood in semi-darkness waiting for men looking for sex. She lost her job in a deepening economic crisis brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
After the first confirmed case of the viral illness crept in Iloilo City mid-March last year, the single mother and lady guard was laid off.
She took another job – as a massage therapist.
But the health crisis’ far-reaching impact also jeopardized Joy’s second work.
Facing the shutting of doors one after another, a recurring thought made the unemployed mother desperate. Her children could go hungry.
Hearing her two kids ask, “Ma, ano kan-on ta?” Joy knew she had to put food on the table even if that meant pursuing the world’s oldest profession.
PANDEMIC STRUGGLE
While the city was placed under varying quarantine classifications, Joy and her children hopped from one boardinghouse to another, with furious landlords shooing them away for failing to pay their monthly leases.
At a boardinghouse they were able to settle in, she became friends with a single mom like her, but a sex worker.
Joy would often borrow money from the woman until the latter convinced her to try the job, too.
“Naghambal sya, ‘Kon gusto mo, Ne, easy money ‘ni pero baligya mo lawas mo,’” shared Joy. “Siling ko daw indi ko kaya. Siling ya, ‘Indi man na buot silingon nga nagtrabaho ka sang amo sina, para sa kaugalingon mo ukon para may palautwasan ka lang. Gamiton mo lang lawas mo para makakaon kabataan mo.’”
Joy hesitated. She was afraid of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
But by December she and her kids felt extreme financial pressure. She would beg leftover rice from neighbors and cook it into lugaw (rice soup).
Both her kids also fell ill, and it shoved her off of sanity. She decided to let go all of her inhibitions and started 2021 as a commercial sex worker.
“Daw indi ko kapati. Gina isip ko lang nga damgo lang ni,” she said.
Her first time did not come easy. With eyes welling with tears, Joy dove into some others’ skin eyes closed – with the image of her children in mind.
“Nahigkoan gid ko ya,” Joy said, sobbing. “Tapos siling sa akon sang customer ngaa kuno nagsulod ko sa amo sina? ‘Ibaligya mo gid lawas mo para sa amo sina?’ Siling ko ‘Sir, wala ka lang kabalo para ni sa bata ko.’”
Joy said she preferred telling her customers she had kids as well as the circumstances that led her into the job.
“Iban gatago nga may bata sila. Siling ko kon indi niyo na paghambal sa customer nyo, indi na sila ka intindi, gina-discriminate kamo,” she stressed.
Her main reason – she still wants respect despite her job.
“Okay lang na kis-a wala ka customer, importante, may respeto sa imo,” she said.
Joy recalled having a customer who, after hearing her story, just gave her money without laying a finger on her.
For every customer, Joy is paid P1,000 – P700 of which would be her income; P200 for the bugaw (pimp); and P100 for the room.
“Maka-customer lang ko ya isa, okay na ko ya. Bal-an mo kon ngaa? Ang lawas mo ang makaluluoy,” she said.
As soon as she gets enough money, she would go home to her children left under her co-boarder friend’s watch.
To make sure she is not infected with STDs, she does regular check-up at the city’s Social Hygiene Clinic.
With her kind of job, Joy knew she had to deal with the judgment of others, including that of her own family.
“Una indi nila mabaton. Siling ko sa ila, ‘Kapila ko mangayo bulig sa inyo, kapila ako magpakitluoy,’” Joy lamented.
“Ngita ka da paagi, antusa na!” was the reply, she said.
While she understands that sex work – a job that is intimate in its very nature – could expose her to COVID-19, Joy is banking on her one great weapon, a prayer that she will be spared.
‘WE DESERVE RESPECT’
Joy has a wish not only for herself but for all the women on the job.
“Indi lang kami pagbastuson, respeto lang. Tani indi kami pagtratuhon nga panulok nila nag obra kami sini kay ginusto namon,” she said.
Joy was a college undergraduate (Food Technology course). Her dream was to work in an international ship but her father’s illness forced her to stop schooling to take care of him. Her father eventually died though.
Joy said she has no plan of permanently staying on the job. She wants to find a decent job or finish her education.
“Matapos lang ‘ni ang tanan tanan indi na ko magbalik sa amo ‘ni nga obra,” she said./PN
