Mail Order Brides: A Thing of the Past?

 The Philippine Commission on Filipinos Overseas is redrafting the law on mail-order brides to bring it into the 21st century with provisions to monitor the underground industry’s move to the internet.

Under the increasingly outdated law, it is illegal to arrange the marriage of Filipino women to foreign nationals via mail order, advertisements, publications or dating clubs. The draft of the new law has not been finalised, but penalties will be increased substantially and the law will include websites and blogs.

In 1990, when the law was introduced, the Philippines had earned the dubious distinction of being one of the major centres for mail-order brides in the world, a stigma that lingers today despite attempts to end the practice.

This year during an interview on The Late Show with David Letterman, Alec Baldwin, a US actor, joked that he wanted to have more kids so “I may have to get a Filipina mail-order bride”.

While the joke brought laughter from the audience, it created a national uproar in the Philippines; so much so that Baldwin apologised for the insult.

“Since the law was introduced we have fought hard to try to end the practice of some foreigners preying on the poverty of this country to buy a wife,” said Maria Galias of the commission’s migrant integration and education division.

“These are innocent girls. Many of them are from poor backgrounds and just want to escape poverty. They don’t know what they are getting themselves into.”

While mail-order catalogues are a thing of the past, new technology has filled the void, opening up a bigger world where women can be enticed into marriage – some good, some bad – with some simply disappearing into human trafficking networks.

“That is why we need to redraft the law on mail-order brides to make it relevant to the 21st century and the internet,” Ms Galias said.

“When the law was drafted, the internet was not around and the maximum fine was just 20,000 pesos [Dh1,600] or eight years in jail.”

But since the law was introduced in June 1990, there has not been a single conviction.

“It is very difficult to get these girls to file complaints against marriage brokers or matchmakers,” said Janet Ramos, a senior emigrant officer with the commission’s human trafficking task force.

“We estimate there are about 200 [internet] sites out there focusing on mail-order brides. It is hard to close them down as the sites are located outside the Philippines and beyond our reach.”

The Philippines is one of the few countries in the world with a mail-order bride law. There is very little it can do to stop dating sites unless they originate in the country.

Despite the inherent dangers, in internet cafes all over the Philippines, thousands of women search dating sites for a foreign husband.

The commission said many sites are used to exploit women not only in the Philippines but in other countries, especially Russia and other nations in the former eastern bloc. Most countries do not ban dating sites or sites for women seeking husbands, but some sites are fronts for trafficking. Trying to work out which are genuine is the problem, especially in a country like the Philippines where people are strapped for cash.

The commission was established in 1980 by Ferdinand Marcos to strengthen ties with Filipinos overseas. One of its tasks is to educate women who are marrying foreigners about hidden dangers, especially when it comes to culture and language.

According to data from the commission, about 300,000 Filipinas married foreign nationals over the past 20 years, about one-quarter of these were arranged by syndicates. Some, operating through contacts in the Philippines, arrange paid tours for foreigners that culminate in a gathering at a local hotel where girls are paraded in front of them.

In 2007, 23,927 Filipinas married foreigners, according to data compiled by the commission. Under Philippine law, Filipino spouses of foreign nationals must attend a guidance and counselling programme known as the pre-departure orientation seminar before they are issued a passport.

Although data for 2008 have not been compiled yet, the figure is expected to be roughly the same according to the commission, with more than half going to Japan or the United States.

Brenda Kuehn, 25, from Surigao, northern Mindanao, met her husband, Kyle, 51, online four years ago. She will soon leave for the suburbs of Sacramento, California, and what she hopes will be a much better life than the one she has in the Philippines.

“There is nothing for me here. I just want to be happy and have a better life,” she said.

“I have friends and relatives who have met their foreign husbands on the net. I could never imagine how anyone can have a romance in cyberspace,” she said.

“But it can happen, it happened to me.”

Brenda said she and her husband talked for up to five hours a day from her cyber cafe in Surigao.

They met face to face in March 2007 when Kyle flew out to meet her. They married in November of the same year.

“I was a little scared at first when I met him, but he quickly put me at ease. Age is not a problem. He has been divorced for 20 years and has no children.” An only child, Brenda has no regrets about leaving the Philippines. “I know Surigao has some of the best surfing beaches in the Philippines and foreigners who go there say it is paradise, but I grew up there and I know there is no future for me there.”

Ms Galias said many of the women who find husbands on the net becoming “willing victims”.

“Some find happiness; some find themselves trapped by culture, language and abuse. Our job here is to make sure they know what they are getting themselves into,” she said.