[10][11] During the Spanish colonial period, most prostitutes in the Philippines were either working class Filipinas or migrant Japanese from Hong Kong.
The American Insular Government of the Philippine Islands encouraged the system, calling it a "military necessity", and even transported prostitutes from other areas such as Davao.
Media attention tends to focus on those areas catering to sex tourism, primarily through bars staffed by bargirls.
[16][17] When Mount Pinatubo, a volcano, erupted in 1991, it destroyed most of Clark Air Base and the United States closed it down in 1992.
Poverty is but one reason, as cultural factors and the attitude of people toward money and the social acceptance of prostitution play a major role.
[20] A large number of girls who come to Angeles City tend to be provincial, especially from Visayas particular in Cebu, Samar, Leyte, Negros Island and Mindanao, having seen their friends live a better life because of their job in the prostitution industry.
Angeles and Olongapo health authorities passed on photographs of sex workers who had failed STI tests to the U.S.
[29][30][31][32] Women and children involved in prostitution are vulnerable to rape, murder, and AIDS as well as other sexually transmitted diseases.
[34] Over 50% of the women surveyed in Philippine massage parlors said they carried out their work "with a heavy heart", and 20% said they were "conscience-stricken because they still considered sex with customers a sin".
[34] Interviews with Philippine bar girls revealed that more than half of them felt "nothing" when they had sex with a client, and the remainder said the transactions saddened them.
[34] President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs" since 2016 has been used by some members of the police to harass women in prostitution and extort money or sexual services from them.
A significant number of these migrant workers are subjected to sex trafficking, particularly in the Middle East and Asia, but also in all other regions.
Persons displaced due to the conflict in Mindanao, Filipinos returning from bordering countries without documents, and internally displaced persons in typhoon-affected communities are vulnerable to sex trafficking in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, central and northern Luzon, and urban areas in Mindanao.
In addition, young Filipino girls and boys are increasingly induced to perform sex acts for live internet broadcast to paying foreigners in other countries; this typically occurs in private residences or small internet cafes, and may be facilitated by victims’ family members and neighbors.
Reports in previous years asserted police conduct indiscriminate or fake raids on commercial sex establishments to extort money from managers, clients, and victims.