I spotted this news item, which is certainly excellent news: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-...sted-child-trafficking-20144761913662719.html If an Ambassador can be detained for child abuse, this may scare off other perverts.. However in the text of the article I noticed a reference to a 1992 law which says that any adult seen in public in the company of a child more than ten years younger and not related may be referred to the Police. Be very, very, careful never to be alone with your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband's children, nieces, nephews, etc. It's common sense anyway, but the opportunity for blackmail is there.
Section 10 would seem to apply to anyone not just foreigners, at first glance it prohibits someone from say inviting their kids best friends to go on a short holiday to the beach even with permission from the child's parents. I could have fallen foul of that law back in 2007 as we took James' best friend to Splash Mountain resort in Laguna along with James and the rest of our family. Scary!
It is also against the law to reprimand a child - regardless of whose it is - hence one often sees children whose behaviour is less than stellar in shops, malls and restaurants. That is punishable with 40 year to life imprisonment and a fine of at least two million pesos. But like many laws here, child protection and ant-trafficking laws are unequally enforced: always in the case of foreigners, rarely where Filipinos are concerned.
When I visited Philippines and street children asked for money I sometimes took them to the nearest street trader selling food. Paid the seller and then went on my way. And I thought that was better than just giving them money!
