ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the direction in which the former American military bases in the Philippines are going, transformed in pursuit of the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) from exclusive "rest and relaxation" preserves of the US military into a big brothel for multinationals. Women are proving to be the very backbone on which the government is relying to subsidize the ambitious Philippines 2000 plan. When the floodgates of labor export were opened, trafficking of Filipino women abroad for prostitution became a systematized, large-scale operation. Since the early 1980s, women have been mobilizing to change their situation, and on all fronts—from legal reforms to armed revolution—women are weaving an agenda for liberation. Since 1986, new women's organizations and institutions have been formed, expanding the breadth and scope of the Philippine women's movement. The development of the dynamic women's movement in the Philippines is a sign of hope amidst the myriad problems facing the Filipina today.