He's Stalking You.
Now What?

Pokpokan Blues
By Makisig Santos

“Iba ka (You’re different),” Mikee M. says to me, just as he was handing me the amount we agreed upon, the day after he hired me.  “You don’t pester me at all.”

Apparently, and this happened to him more than he can count already, the sex workers (SWs) he hired “abused me – not physically (though there were threats of that), but financially through (some forms of) blackmail,” he says.  One time, “the SW won’t leave my place unless I added P500 to what we already agreed upon.  Another time, the SW followed me everywhere, wouldn’t leave my side, until I gave him P100 more.  Yet another time, one threatened to beat the crap out of me, and he even accompanied me to an ATM machine to get extra cash.”

Mikee M., I later discovered when I started asking around, isn’t the first (and the last) to experience these – other “approaches” include asking for office addresses to “shame” the client to pay up more money, else risk exposure; taking whatever in place of cash; scandalizing to force the client to cough up more; et cetera.

As a SW myself, I would like to apologize for the opportunistic tendencies of SWs – though I’d have to say that the SWs who do these are no SWs but extortionists in the guise of SWs.

And when encountered, here are some of what clients may be able to do:

• Learn karate – a chop will do him good, if it came to that. That, or pick up boxing. Let’s see if he can still use his face after you Manny Pacquiao-ed him.  And this is not a joke.
  
• Early on, SETTLE THE ACCOUNTS – no, you need not pay yet, but agree on the price, and insist to STICK TO IT.
• Tell somebody, anybody, about your pick-up.  Yes, yes, it may be embarrassing; but doing so may not just save you money, but even your life (ever heard of those gay serial killer stories?).  People you can tell include: your househelp, your best friend (or any friend who, you think, will run to your side when needed), a relative, a housemate, et cetera.  The idea is, if/when the extortion happens, you can tell him to F himself, and, yes, you have somebody there to back you up if/when he doesn’t.
• If/when meeting elsewhere, do not bring valuables with you (actually, even if/when at home, don’t leave valuables lying around – that’s common sense).  This means, forget those designer sunglasses, leave those ATM cards, hide that collectible watch, et cetera.  Basically, just bring with you the amount you need, no more.  That way, you cannot be forced to give something up – what’s there to give up, when you don’t have anything to give up?
• Learn to lie.  I know of one client who was forced to give his office address to a SW, who, then, went to visit him there to collect what the SW said was owed him.  When asked why he gave his address, in the first place, he said he was “intimated to do as he said.”  Good for him the office had a guard, who then told the SW (after the client told him, of course) that the person he’s looking for no longer worked there.  Thing is, if/when you have to, lie.  Give him the address of Malacañan Palace, if you have to.  Or a mental institution.  Or the NBI.
• Have a back-up plan, e.g. If/when he decided to follow you around, go to the place (with him following still) of somebody you know he may be wary of, e.g. policemen, a much bigger relative, a barumbado friend, et cetera.  Fear works both ways, you know.
• Use your mouth.  Yeah, you do, we know.  But this time, not on him. Either say “NO!” firmly, or start making noises to get other people’s attention.  Shame works both ways, you know.

Picking up sex can be fun.

Just use your head.

The one up there.

Isn’t it time you should?

Makisig Santos, 24, is an on/off sex worker, who believes that since the profession is inherently dangerous, SWs need to be provided with as much know-how as possible for them to be able to protect themselves in whatever situation they find themselves in – and this is the very intention he intends to achieve here, with Pokpokan Blues.