By Davinci S. Maru on September 23, 2013—
“Authorities rescued 43 women and arrested six alleged pimps during a simultaneous entrapment in two bars on Gen. Maxilom Ave., Cebu City late Saturday night, in their largest sex-trafficking crackdown this year.
The joint operation took place in Club Temptation and Pussycat at 11 p.m. and led to the rescue of more than 10 minors.
Senior Inspector Ma. Theresa Macatangay said the operatives raided the bars after the police decoys gave P3,000 cash to the pimps in exchange for sex. Macatangay heads the Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (RAHTTF).
Macatangay said the operation stemmed from information they received that these two bars were prostituting women, aside from being nightclubs.
This prompted the police to conduct a month-long surveillance, during which they noticed some of the entertainers looked too young to be working in the bars on Gen. Maxilom Ave. (still more popularly known by its former name, Mango Ave.).
While some of the women were pole-dancing, operatives entered the bar at 11 p.m., to the surprise of some customers.
“Most of them, 80 to 90 percent, were foreigners who are dirty old men,” Macatangay said.
During the raid, 24 women were rescued from Pussycat while 19 were taken from Club Temptation. Three alleged pimps each were caught in the two bars.
Macatangay said they also had to frisk the customers but released them finding no basis to make arrests.
“There was no resistance,” she told Sun.Star Cebu.
14 minors
Aside from the police, also part of the operation were the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Central Visayas, International Justice Mission (IJM) and Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
Macatangay believed the women were being sold to foreigners, who are able to pay about P3,000 for sexual services.
Kerwin Macopia, information officer of DSWD-Central Visayas, revealed 14 of the rescued women were believed to be minors.
About 28 women, all of them adults, were later released. One was turned over to the police on suspicion of being a pimp.
“The adults signed a manifestation and discharge slips after they were interviewed. They decided not to avail of our services,” he said.
As of Sunday, those who were believed to be minors were placed in the crisis intervention unit, where they were interviewed.”
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