CROSSING BORDERS. Almost 12 years on, Kimberly recounts her journey from Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte to Ulsan in South Korea. Now, she is one of hundreds of thousands of marriage migrants living abroad. / photo by Anna Nicola Blanco
Kimberly* was almost 30 when she left her humble hometown of Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte in 2002 for a new life in the developed city of Ulsan in South Korea.
Kimberly is only one of the 477,834 Filipino marriage migrants since 1989. Of those marriage migrants, only 1 in 3 is classified as having sufficient knowledge of the country and the life that they getting into.
When Kimberly was spending her vacation at home, she was visited by her neighbor, Yeng*. Yeng made her an offer: to be arranged for marriage to a Korean man. She was told that she need not pay for anything, she only needed to give her consent.
She had everything to gain and nothing to lose, Yeng kept telling her. With all of Yeng’s promises, Kimberly was enticed to say yes.
All of this would have violated the Anti Mail-Order Bride Law of 1990 (RA No. 6955) which prohibits the “[attraction and introduction] of any Filipino woman to become a member of any club or association whose objective is to match women for foreign national.”
But it was not just any organization, it was a church―the Unification Church.
After a year of submitting documents, both authentic and forged, Kimberly married and settled with a Korean man who shouldered all the expenses that amounted to 3 million Korean Won (P 100,000).
Considering that expenses charged from Korean men range from 2 million to 6 million Korean Won (P80,500 to P200,000), Kimberly fell in the middle of the price range.
Laws and prayers
CHURCH OF MATCHING. The headquarters of the Unification Church along Samar Ave. in Quezon City is quietly hidden amidst residential houses. Various activities of the Unification Church are held here, including the matching process. / photo by Anna Nicola Blanco
The Church of All Religions
The Unification Church is the church of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification religious movement established in Korea in 1954. Sun Myung Moon, its founder, envisioned the church as a catalyst for world peace. It entered the Philippines in 1979 and was recognized by the Philippine Government as a church in 1984.
The church was founded not as a religion, but a movement and a way of life. This means that the church accepted people from all religions despite its teachings being founded solely on the Christian bible. All of their teachings are written in a book authored by Moon himself: The Divine Principle.
For the church, marriage is the perfection of God’s love and the bridge to resolve conflicts. It is at the center of their movement, and at the apex of their mission. This mission is realized through their processes of matching and blessing.
The organization that recruited Kimberly, the Unification Church, is the church of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification religious movement established in Korea in 1954. It entered the Philippines in 1979 and was recognized as a church in 1984.
The family, they say, is the key to world peace. This is their mission as a church and movement. This mission is pursued through international and intercultural unions which begin with a process called “matching”.
Matching is at the center of the Unification Church. It refers to the church leaders’ divine foresight to pair men and women for marriage. According to church member and lecturer Adolf Subrado, matching is done both internationally and interculturally “to prevent barriers between different cultures”.
After a rigorous application, the matching process is conducted by the church leaders through photographs sent by their members. Whoever is matched to a member is considered as providence.
“Kahit anong nationality, kahit sino, pangit or guwapo man iyan, kailangan mong tanggapin kasi ginusto mo iyan. Kumbaga, naniniwala kami na iyon yung pinrepare sa’min ni God,” Church member Salvador Basco said.
(Whatever the nationality. Whoever that is. Ugly or good-looking, you have to accept it because you wanted it. In other words, we believe that it’s what God prepared for us.)
However, the Unification Church’s Legal Department head Isidro “Sid” Carumba clarified that matching is a suggestion, and they do not force their members to consent to the person they have been matched with. Carumba admitted that because the matchings are done based solely on physical appearance, “[success of the relationship] is not guaranteed.]
To ensure commitment and dedication, members usually wait for 3 to 7 years before they qualify for matching. During these years, they must do missionary work assigned by the Church, after which they will be eligible to apply for matching.
After having been chosen a match through the church leaders, the members will meet their match face to face. Once they approve of their partner, the blessing follows, and the legal process begins.
Blessing is the closest ceremony that the Unification church has to marriage. It is how the church seals a matched couple. The blessings are usually done in large numbers, with the women dressed in white and men in suits. All members are encouraged to be blessed in Korea at their world headquarters.
For this, the Unification Church requests invitations from their main headquarters in Korea, stating that the members will be attending a “religious tradition.” This makes the visa application process easier.
“Once we have the invitations, we would ask the participants to provide also the necessary documents here in the Philippines. It is either [the member] collects all the documents or someone from my department collects all the documents, [then] schedule an interview with the [embassy] and after that, they can go,” Carumba explained.
This was the case during their first blessing in 1996 when almost a thousand gathered at the Philippine International Convention Center that brought attention to the UC.
Because of the “mass blessing”, the church faced a lot of controversies and was accused of violating the Anti Mail-Order Bride Law (RA 9655) that talks about the act to attract or introduce any Filipino woman to become a member in any club or association whose objective is to match women for marriage to foreign nationals either on a mail order basis or through personal introduction for a fee and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (RA 9208) which mentions the recruitment, with or without the victim's consent or knowledge, within or across national borders by means of deception, or taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person.
Carumba explained that they are not violating any laws. The blessing does not require a legal marriage. Although marriage is the ultimate goal, contracting a marriage license is not guaranteed by the church.
According to him, their practices are considered justifiable because they are done for religious purposes, alluding to the freedom of religion mandated by Article III, Section 5, of the 1987 Constitution.
Final judgment
Atty. Danny Chan, a professor at the Ateneo de Manila University specializing in Family Law, confirmed its legality. Chan explained that the law could not question their practices because they are part of their religious beliefs.
“Sometimes it can be considered undue influence...The legality or illegality depends on whether they are selling you a real product or just trying to recruit you.” he said.
Chan pointed out that indoctrination through the church plays a big role in the legality of their practice because it eventually establishes and reinforces consent. As long as they provide consent and pursue a legal marriage after the blessing, the law has nothing against them.
“For legality purposes, marriage law requires only consent, the capacity to act the marriage ceremony, and the licenses.” Chan said. Therefore, if the person consented to marry because of his/her religious belief, then that is technically accepted in the eyes of the law. “If the person accepts that kind of belief, you cannot do anything,” he adds.
Faith for free?
Although the Unification Church accepts people from all religions, acquiring membership is not as easy as washing the head.
As indicated by the most recent Unification Church Membership Application form, aspiring members are required to obtain a certificate as proof of attending three days of the Divine Principle Seminar, a declaration that they recognize Moon as the Messiah, a certification of attending Church service at least twice a month, a tithes clearance, a membership fee, and proof that they have read the Divine Principle for 100 hours in total.
With these requirements, aspiring members are made sure to be committed and faithful to the church before the matching and blessing begins.
The law is able to interfere in only two cases: when the church recruits people to go abroad without a legal marriage or when abuse is committed to the recruited person.
According to Chan, despite being “married” in the eyes of the church, the blessed couple must still settle their marriage legally or else it takes away the legal protection after migration.
This is because when the purpose of migration is for them to join together in “marriage” but is not pursued legally, no protection would be given to the marriage migrant. This could lead to potential abuses.
There are laws protecting migrant workers and marriage migrants. However, if the purpose for migration is unclassified legally, then it infringes on the right of the recruited person.
“They must marry there, otherwise [they] use marriage as a false pretense to get people [abroad]… It violates the protection when other people join the Unification Church without legal attachments―they just join to have a temporary wife.” Chan said.
However, Sid Carumba explained that the church tries their best to assure legal marriage after the blessing. The Unification church has resident pastors, national and regional ministers who are authorized to solemnize legal marriages.
These marriages are tracked through the church’s Blessed Family Association (BFA). Each couple is urged to report the legalization of their marriage immediately and the state of their marriage regularly. If they fail to do so, the church sends missionaries to check up on them once a week.
Despite these efforts of the church, Carumba explained that they can no longer urge couples to report their marriage if they choose to detach themselves from the church. He explained that their actions already lie in their “principle of portion of responsibility” wherein the members need to look after their own decisions.
“We believe that God provides everything but it is up to man to accept it and utilize it and benefit from provision from God,” explained Carumba.“We believe that 95% comes from the provision of God, 5% needs to be done by man.”
Chan attests that the exploitation of the processes of the church cannot be blamed on the church. He cited the seminars and missionary work conducted by the Unification Church before the matching as sufficient efforts to give members awareness and free will to participate and commit to the practice.
“It's a matter of how they present it. They will not make it [look like] a mail order bride thing. The organization is not emphasizing that part, but it’s to make the people believe them. It is within the boundaries of what is acceptable. It has consent.” he said.
NOT FOOLPROOF. DFA Northeast Asia Director Hans Siriban enumerates the measures that the Philippine Government has taken to inform and protect its citizens looking to marry foreigners. But he admits that there are still loopholes that matchmaking businesses worm through. / photo by Anna Nicola Blanco
Beyond the gates and legalities of the Unification Church, Department of Foreign Affairs Northeast Asia Director Hans Siriban identified that the problem is in the marriage migrants’ lack of knowledge about certain legal processes as well as the presence of a loophole in the Anti Mail-Order Bride Law.
“The problem happens when Filipinos who get married don't know what these legal requirements are, and that is when they fall prey to so-called marriage brokers,” Siriban explained.
Secretary General of Migrante International Mic Catuira explained that Filipinas are prone to marriage brokerage schemes, even to the point of pursuing it with a lack of knowledge, because of a lack of security in the Philippines.
“Kadalasan naman kaya nasasangkot ang mga kababaihan dito dahil gusto rin nila lumabas,” Catuira explained. “Gusto nilang magkaroon ng trabaho abroad. At nakita nilang pamamaraan dito ay iyon, magpakasal ng mga Koreano.”
(Most of the time the reason why they participate is because they want to go out [of the country]. They want to have a job abroad. And they see a way towards it is through marrying Koreans.)
Kimberly, like all other Unification church members, was given a missionary/religious visa. And this, according to Hans Siriban, is one loophole in the Anti Mail-Order Bride Law.
“You cannot determine, on face value, whether or not the person really intends to go to Korea for religious reasons,” he explained.
“It is not within our ambit, within our control necessarily, to prevent someone from getting married,” Siriban admitted “As long as all the papers are in order, it's difficult to ascertain trafficking per se.”
With the gaping loophole, Siriban said that the the best thing that the government can do is to inform the potential marriage migrants what the conditions are and what their options are.
“Some people go into this with their eyes wide open; they know what they're getting into,” Siriban said. “But some people don't know what they're getting into.”
He cited that there are orientations and ways in which they try to inform Filipino marriage migrants about the things they should look out for. “The best thing we can do is to inform the community,” said Siriban.
Accordingly, Migrante’s Mic Catuira emphasized the teaching of rights to Filipino marriage migrants as “their main weapon” in case the worst is to happen.
At the forefront of this battle to ensure that marriage brokerage and mail-
order bride operations are prevented and the teaching of rights is the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO).
AT THE FOREFRONT. While sifting through his presentation for counselling, CFO Counsellor Gregorio Jabal explains what the GCP program of CFO is actually for. This program, mandated by the law, requires marriage migrants to attend a 3-hour seminar before leaving for their spouse’s home country. / photo by Anna Nicola Blanco
Before a person leaves the country with a marriage or fiancée visa, the Anti Mail-Order Bride Law mandates a Guidance and Counseling Program (GCP) by CFO. This GCP is one of the agency’s Pre-Departure Orientation Seminars (PDOS). Upon completion of the session, marriage migrants are given a certificate of attendance, which must be presented at the Bureau of Immigration’s departure desk before their flight to their spouse’s country.
This 3-hour counselling session and orientation, seeks to instill cultural sensitivity and awareness of personal rights. The future marriage migrants are made to do expectation setting, prompting them to think about their lives abroad.
In addition to attendance, Attache II Janet Ramos said that the counsellees would need to present documents to prove the validity of their marriage during the individual counselling sessions. This is their way of identifying any potential victims of abuse or violence.
“They have to establish that they have a relationship,” she said. “To prove that, they have to show documents, like pictures, because there [have been] a number of marriage fraud cases.”
At the end of the session, the counsellors assess each of the attendees and mark their
forms accordingly before distributing them. The forms are pre-signed. Only the counsellors have the power to release and withhold them. These forms are a requirement along with the marriage migrant’s passport and visa before leaving the country.
“Yung sa forms, pag finorward yun at inokeyan ng counselor, then ibig sabihin that’s for release. Pag nilagyan ng “H,” then that means temporary hold for some reasons,” said CFO Counsellor Gregorio Jabal.
(When the forms are forwarded and given the OK by the counselor that means it’s for releasing. When the counselor marks it with an “H,” then that means the attendee’s certificate will be held for various reasons.)
However, Mic Catuira said that CFO does not really deter the possible abuses that
comes with marriage migration. Instead, they reinforce the need for migrants to be submissive.
“[Ang sasabihin ng CFO] ‘Ganito ang mga kailangan mong [gawin] para maging masaya ang relasyon mo sa mapapangasawa mo... Kailangan maging submissive ka.’ Ganun yung ginagawa nila. They teach us how to be submissive. Para hindi kami mapahamak. Pero hindi naman ganun yun eh. Narere-inforce nila yung abuso. Time will come na hindi naman sapat ang mamaster mong pasensya at pag-titiis.” he said.
(What CFO would do is they would instruct us on the things we need to do to have a happy relationship with the future husband. They teach us to how to be submissive so we don’t get into trouble. But that is not how it works. They just reinforce the possible abuses. But a time will come when you can’t be be patient and endure anymore.)
Not enough
CFO employs only 12 counsellors in Luzon. Of the 12, only 3 are licensed by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). Either way, licensed or unlicensed, each of the 12 counsellors are allowed to release and withhold certificates.
These counselling sessions done by CFO serve as the first checkpoint for the legality of the marriage that would decide the rest of a marriage migrant’s life.
“Ideally, the CFO should be at the forefront,” Hans Siriban said. “[They] should be able to identify those that are being arranged for marriage and those that are trafficked. I would imagine that the UC, for some time, has been under some sort of a watchlist with CFO.”
The role of the CFO is critical because once the marriage has been signed, neither DFA nor CFO would have the means to monitor each of the marriage migrants unless the abuse is reported.
On the side of CFO, Gregorio Jabal argued that the current format of the GCP is lacking. Jabal said, “Three hours is not enough to handle this kind of counselling.”
For Jabal, the GCP is just a preparation. He emphasized the importance of follow-ups because counselling must not be restricted to the marriage migrants preparing to leave the Philippines, but also those already living abroad. “Counselling is a lifelong process,” Jabal concluded.
The importance of CFO as the front before the departure of marriage migrants proves to be a vital and final step regarding the security of these individuals. Once the marriage migrant leaves the country, they are no longer under the surveillance of national security.
Philippine National Police Investigator PSupt. Emma Trinidad said, “Basta kapag lumabas ng Pilipinas, pag dating nya doon di na namin alam.”
(Once they leave the Philippines and arrive in their host country, we know nothing about their movements anymore.)
In the Philippine, there are only two conditions that allow the PNP to intervene. First, when there is a complaint; second, if the bride is a minor.
Surveillance and monitoring is seldom done without any complaint for fear they might lose and waste time. Trinidad explained that when they act before a complaint, they would be violating personal rights.
“Ikaw naman ay willing, bakit pa ako pupunta? Bahala na kayo diyan,” said Trinidad.
“Siyempre pagpapakasal it's very private. Pag nagkaroon siya ng problema atsaka siya mag rereport sa amin.”
(You are willing, why do I need to go? It’s up to you now. Getting married is very private. If they get a problem, that’s the time when they would file a report to us.)
Trinidad said that they could not check everyone and ask if they are engaging in marriage brokerage, because it would be logistically impossible. In accordance with DFA’s procedure, screening process are done solely on paper.
“‘Pag may passport ka, may visa ka, no problem.” she explained. (If you have a passport and a visa, there’s no problem.)
Trinidad said that there is little they can do in terms of active investigation because of a lack of people and funds. More than the costs, operations also leave officers sleepless for as long as 3 days.
“Sa CIDG kukulang ang tao kasi nga ang requirement is dapat investigator. not every police is investigator. Konti lang ang investigator,” she said. Trinidad is one of only 4 investigators in CIDG.
(There is a lack of manpower in CIDG, because a person has to be an investigator. No every police officer is an investigator; there are only a few of those.)
The problem with finances is their lack of funds. The monthly allotted budget for their operations is Php 40,000. A single operation would already cost about Php 40,000, but they are required to have operations twice a month.
“Kung puwede na hindi kami mag-over. Ang rinrequire lang [kasi] sa amin ay dalawa at anim naman ang office na magoperation. marami na yun. Ngayon kung nagkataon maging tatlo ang operations, aabonohan nalang.”
(If possible, it’s better not to exceed the required operations. We are only required to conduct two operations per month. That’s a lot already. Now, if it so happens we had a third operation, we would use our own money first for the expenses.)
Mic Catuira of Migrante International explained that this phenomenon of marriage migration happens because people believe that their opportunity to have a better life is through leaving the country and marrying a foreigner.
“Essentially ang problema na iyon ay galing talaga dito. Kasi wala tayong security sa trabaho, security sa lupa. Kaya kalalakhan din ng mga kababaihan [na] gusto bumuti ang kanilang buhay ay na-iinvolve sila sa ganitong schema. It’s a scheme. Hindi lang s'ya religious practice.” he said.
(Essentially, the root of the problem is from our country. Because of the lack of security and land, most people, particularly women, would rather be involved in this scheme. It’s not just a religious practice. It’s a scheme.)
Peace beyond the church
Kimberly is 42 now, a mother of two, and happily married to her Korean husband. She currently volunteers at EMBRACE, an organization that helps Filipinas adapt into the life of South Korea.
Not once has she considered herself a victim.
“Masasabi kong kontento na ako sa buhay ko...Wala naman akong pinagsisihan. Siguro yun yung way ko para makapunta doon,” she concluded.
(I can say that I am content with my life. I don’t regret anything. Perhaps it was my fate to go there.)
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.
