Roga’s sad story–and reports of a ghoulish trade in human body parts–have sparked a furor in the Philippines. The Roman Catholic Church denounces the business, which came to light last summer, as unethical and exploitative. In response, the government imposed a moratorium last month on organ donations by nonrelatives. But doctors and needy kidney patients are lobbying to scrap the ban; they instead have composed guidelines to bar brokers and regulate donations more stringently. “What’s wrong with compensating donors?” asks Jhoanne Reyes, a 25-year-old kidney patient. “Patients are willing to pay any price just to live,” says Marilou Garcia, a Kidney Transplant Association of the Philippines officer. “It’s [the donors’] chance to break away from poverty.”
The controversy erupted after assassins last June killed the 22-year-old daughter of Filoteo Alano, former executive director of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute. Gunmen reportedly sprayed his house with bullets last December, too; an investigator said the murder had “something to do with the kidney business.” Alano has gone into hiding for fear of his life. Though criminals are obviously involved, prosecution is difficult: organ-selling isn’t illegal. Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez says some doctors may be colluding with syndicates trafficking in organs.
In Tondo kidney-selling is just another way to make a peso. Until the moratorium, Dalmacio Zeta, Roga’s 47-year-old stepfather, earned $300 per kidney. Since 1990 he has worked as a scout for a Japanese man and a Filipino woman who buy the kidneys. “I treat this as a business, and I didn’t force any of the them to sell,” he says. “They are desperate, like gripping a knife’s blade.” People still ask Zeta to help sell their kidneys. About 100 Tondo men reportedly sold theirs.
The government wants to ban the trade for good. Doctors are seeking a middle ground. “Maybe we can allow some remuneration in kind,” says Juan Flavier, who launched a Senate inquiry last month. The goal, he says, is to “prevent people from commercializing the donation.” Doctors say Japanese brokers pay the most for kidneys for Japanese patients who come to the Philippines–as much as $25,000, according to one transplant surgeon. “The greed behind this practice is immoral,” says Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. “The poverty that pushes people to sell their organs is also immoral.”
Roga’s kidney didn’t get him much. His son died. The money ran out two years ago. With only one kidney, he tires easily at the docks and takes home only $1.75 each day. “It’s too late for regrets,” he says, touching the scar on the right side of his body. “At least I’ve helped someone.” Organs are scarce, and poverty is rampant: why would the trade ever stop?
