Agnes Chan, ambassador of the Japan Committee for UNICEF, as well as a popular TV personality and pop singer, visited the Philippines from June 2 to 6 on a fact-finding mission for the UNICEF Japan group to see for herself the plight of children there, especially conditions surrounding the commercial sexual exploitation of children, and to exchange opinions with people there working to improve the situation.
By AGNES CHAN Special to The Japan Times With her back to the famous Manila sunset, May (not her real name) takes off her bandanna. Her short-cropped, bleached hair makes her look like a boy. She ran away from home three years ago.
"Sometimes I do it for 500 pesos (1,200 yen)," she says. "Sometimes for 1,000 pesos."