The World Lends a Hand
Tapping the Power of the World Community Grid
By P.A. Castro

When Mark Velasco, now 17, was 10 years old, he started using drugs. It was somewhat a “normal” path to take since he grew up in a household “full of drug addicts,” MacMac, as he wants to be called, says.

“By the time I turned 13, nag-start na ako sa kalye.  Sadya ya mga upod ko sa kalye kay kong sa balay lang ko indi ko sadyahan puro lang problema (I started living on the streets by the time I turned 13.  I liked it there because I enjoyed the company of other children.  At home, it was all problems),” MacMac says.
MacMac soon found out that living on the streets is no walk in the park.

“Katama nga ara ka sa kalye ga estar kay kinahanglan ko pa magpang-agi para lang makakaon lang kag kakwarta (It was hard living in the streets.  I had to engage in undesirable acts just so I can earn money to buy food),” MacMac says.

There were times when MacMac scavenged through McDonalds’ garbage to look for leftovers.  “Kung may mga bilin bilin bala nga mga burger o ano da ginkuha namon kag ginakaun eh (Whatever was left, we took them to eat),” he says.

MacMac also frequented beauty parlors to offer himself to gay beauticians for sex in exchange for money.  Other times, petty jobs came in handy.  “Upod sa akon mg amigo nagapang-agi kami kag pang car wash sa mga salakyan para makakwrta kag makakaon (With my friends, we looked for gay guys in beauty parlors, or work as car wash boys just to have some money and buy something to eat),” he says.  “Gutom gid kung sa kalye ka (You’re always hungry when you’re on the streets).”

Even sleeping was an ordeal.

“Sang gatulog ko sa kalye, nakapensar man ko eh nga basi magmasakit kami, kag ma-disgrasya kami bala, kag basi mabun-an ko o tripingan.  Gapangaman lang ko eh (While sleeping on the streets, it occurred to me that we may get sick, or have an accident, or someone high on drugs may stab us.  So we were cautious),” MacMac says.

Disturbingly, running to government officials for help was not an option.  MacMac recalls having street fights with other groups of street children, and when the police would round them up, “kung kis-a ginkastigo pa kami (sometimes they beat us),” he says.

Drug use soon followed.

“Involve man lang ko sa drugs kay grupo ko bala sang una ga suyop man da nahagadan ako eh nga mag bisyo man upod sa ila (I was involved in drugs because of my group, they were sniffing and I was introduced to the habit with them),” MacMac says.  It was, again, a natural progression for MacMac, since even before he started using drugs, he was already pushing marijuana and methamphetamine.
His case may be overly dramatic, but, unfortunately, MacMac’s is a common case on the streets of the Philippines.

GROWING CONCERN

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) estimates that of the 1.5 million street children all over the country as of 2003, an estimated 60,000 were prostituted (ECPAT, 1996).  This figure sadly increases by 3,266 every year, making the Philippines the fourth country with the most number of prostituted children (Intersect, 1995).

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