Service, Ser? (Service, Sir?)

(as published in Sun Star Davao, Sunday Essays, November 20, 2011)

illustration by: the hobo with access to Adobe Photoshop

          “Serbis, ser?” (Service, Sir?)

           This is exactly what I expected to get and lo and behold, I got it the moment I reached my destination.

           It was out of curiosity, and not of phallic urge that I decided to explore the infamous world of the sex workers in the downtown streets of Davao City. I’ve heard stories and somehow the skeptic in me wills to see and experience it myself before I believe the existence of such.

          As I walked the squalid street of San Pedro a few minutes past midnight, I was welcomed by this lengthy array of women in minis and “kigol shorts” who are accompanied by their “manager-slash-employer”, or in our local dialect is known as the “bugaw.” These potbellied individuals are in-charge of negotiating with possible customers hoping to get a good share of pecuniary interest.

          There I was. All around me was a spate of sexual offering. And for a moment I felt like these red-blooded women are feasting on me with their coruscating eyes looking at me like they want to rip my clothes off. But that short moment of vanity vanished when the bugaw told me how affordable their service was. It was my wallet they wanted to rip off, and so are those of other passersby.

          For them, everybody’s a prospective customer. Even if you will not make any eye contact or any sign of interest whatsoever, when you pass in front of them, they will still offer you their flesh like you were in some sort of public market.

          It is unnerving to think about how these people survive in this underground economy of leasing their bodies for a few hours and be used as a tool for sexual catharsis. I wonder how they are willing to reduce their selves to lesser human beings just to earn money. I pity them.

          There is no denying that a huge percentage of our city’s population is aware of these activities and so do our local government officials. It’s all happening under our noses and no one dares to do something about it. Everyone seems to tolerate this kind of immoral behavior. I pity us more.

         I stopped walking for a moment; scandalized by all those “servicers” I’ve encountered. It was weird because I sympathized them but I’m still disgusted of what they are doing. Then I asked myself, could I really blame those women?

        Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere disrupting my meditation. “Serbis, Ser?” I looked back and I saw this thin man. I cringed. Just when I though it couldn’t get any worse.