PHILIPPINES: 65 young women rescued from bars

EXPLOITATION


MANILA, Philippines – Police rescued 65 young women, aged 18-27, during raids in the past three days in five Quezon City establishments.

Seven male dancers were arrested at the Makisig gay bar on Timog Avenue, Barangay Sacred Heart.

Some of the women were allegedly forced by their manager to engage in prostitution.

At around 2:30 a.m. yesterday, QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) operatives rescued 13 dancers from the Encounter KTV Bar on Quezon Avenue after receiving information that they were allegedly forced to perform lewd acts.

Policemen arrested the bar’s floor manager, four cashiers and checkers, and 20 male customers.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) had arrested or invited for questioning at least 120 persons since it started last week its crackdown on suspected prostitution dens in the city.

Chief Inspector Cherry Lou Donato, chief of QCPD-CIDU’s Women and Children’s Desk, said one of the women was caught dancing in the nude.

Donato said the 19-year-old girl told them she and most of the women in the bar were forced by the club owner to do lewd acts on stage.

“But even if the women consented to what their manager said, it was still a violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act,” Donato told the Inquirer.

About 11 p.m. Saturday, QCPD-CIDU agents, led by Inspector Roberto Razon, apprehended 22 guest relations officers (GROs) from the Flirt Disco Bar in Cubao. Arrested were floor manager Normita Aguilar, five waiters and two cashiers. The GROs were later released after presenting work permits from the city government.

Another group of policemen swooped down on Bartolina II KTV Bar, also in Cubao, and rescued 17 GROs and dancers.

Meanwhile, QCPD Station 10 members raided the Executive Spa on Quezon Avenue, Barangay Roxas, after an anonymous informant reported that massage attendants offered sex to clients for P1,500. Thirteen massage attendants were brought to the Kamuning police station but were later freed.
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