Dear Noynoy: Let’s Get Real About Burgos Street

It always surprises me when I tell Filipinos who have lived their entire lives here in the Philippines what goes on in Burgos Street.

Burgos Street is less than a kilometer away is Makati’s central business district, one of the few signs that we aren’t entirely a third world country over here. Even closer is Rockwell, probably the second poshest village in the Philippines, behind only Forbes Park. And just don’t the street are the Peninsula and Shangri-La or what I call The Hotels Burgos.

The rules are simple:

1) Prostitution is illegal in the Philippines

2) Practically no business or government body enforces this law

3) Men are horny. Always. Especially when its hot and humid outside. And the white ones. Watch out.

So what you have going within the flashy neon lights of Burgos Street is the world’s oldest profession – practiced clearly out in the open.

You can bring a girl home for as little as $50, so for the foreign guys reading this, just tell the mamasan “patawad” which means discount and you’re well on your away for bargaining for your next blow job.

And for the girls, I’m not here to judge them. They’re doing whatever they think they need to do to survive not only for themselves and for their families – I wouldn’t want to be in the same situation to have to make that cruel decision of hoeing yourself out.

So don’t judge something you will never understand. It is what it is.

So President Noynoy, here’s my proposal:

Let’s create a sin tax and officially recognize what we’ve been turning a blind eye to for DECADES. Let’s charge a 100% tax on what’s called the “bar fine” – this is the amount you pay to the house to get the girl out. Typically 1200 – 3500 pesos. We can even charge a 500% tax on it.

Men will pay.

They’re already laughing all the way back to their countries at how cheap the sex was here. And the quality – best in the world. It is sad to say, but people really are biggest product. Or commodity.

So let’s get real and recognize what it is (prostitution) and maximize the flow of money from the hands of rich individuals (if you can afford to pay for sex, you’re right in my book) and into the hands of your government.

Then you can use all of that money to fund the educational and social systems we need to create to prevent 800,000 women from having to make this decision every day.

Until then, the reality is, there are just far too many people making a lot of money from the BILLIONS OF PESOS generated in prostitution here every year for there to be any change.

It won’t happen now – it might not happen ever. That’s just reality.

So President Noynoy, I urge you to take a stand. Do something. There’s too much at stake to not take a serious look at this issue. Let’s give Bangkok and Amsterdam a run for their money.

And for the guys, as glamorous as they look on stage in their glitter and bikinis, the reality is the girl you’re about to fuck lives in absolute, gut-wrenching, living over feces, poverty. Think about that for a second before you stick your dick in there.

She ain’t so hot anymore is she huh?