Almost 60 women rescued from high-end sex dens in Makati

[Mike J]

Those "rescued women" will be looking for another job and the owners are being charged with  "Anti-Human Trafficking Law".  While I agree that there are some characters here, as in every country, that deserve the maximum.  This really does not sound like it.  

Almost 60 sex workers who were allegedly being peddled to foreigners were rescued from three nightclubs in Makati City.

advertisement
According to Emil Sumangil's report on 24 Oras, three of them were found to be minors.

It was around 4 a.m. when the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Anti-Organized and Transnational Crimes Division and Social Welfare Office raided the alleged high-end prostitution dens in Makati City.

The establishments were filled with male foreigners and local women.

“Yung bar, hindi lang pala siya inuman, nag o-offer din ng babae at ang sinasabi dun, pag tinake out ang babae, P10,000 to P25,000. Tapos, bar fine P7,500,” said Attorney Jerome Bomediano, NBI Anti-OTCD Chief.

Ina, nabawi ang ipinaampon na kambal niyang sanggol sa Laguna; kumadronang naningil ng P350K, arestado
(The bar doesn't just serve drinks, it also offers women and what happens if the woman is taken out of the bar, it costs P10,000 to P25,000. The bar fine is P7,500.)

“Ang modus nito, itong mga bar na ito, hindi ito nag o-offer ng babae sa Pinoy, foreigner lang. So kung Pinoy ang papasok, ‘di ka papansinin,” said Bomediano.

(The modus operandi of these bars is they don't offer women to Filipinos, only foreigners. So if a Filipino comes in, he will be ignored.)

A total of 59 women were rescued during the operation.

“Based dun sa dental records, 3 ang minor dun sa 59 na na rescue natin,” said the chief.

(Based on their dental records, there are 3 minors out of the 59 we rescued.)

Twelve persons were also arrested, including the alleged owner, an Iranian citizen, and 11 Filipinos.

The NBI conducted the raid after they received a complaint from former bar employees.  

“Yung mga dating empleyado, nakunsensiya sila, inaabuso na kasi yung mga babae, sila na mismo ang lumapit sa (non government organization), ang NGO naman ang lumapit satin,” the chief added.

(The former employees, their conscience bothered them because the women were being abused, they approached an NGO and the NGO reached out to us.)

The suspects, who refused to give their side, have been charged with violating the Anti-Human Trafficking Law.

[scott h]

17 minutes ago, Mike J said:

rescued

I always shake my head at the term "rescued". I did not see anything in the story about chains or intimidation being used to keep the girls there. (though there have been some in the past especially in the illegal POGO's). Just like they "rescue" folks at the airport. How can you "rescue" someone from a situation that they entered in on their own free will? Prostitution is illegal in the Philippines why haven't these women been charged?

24 minutes ago, Mike J said:

including the alleged owner, an Iranian citizen

But they have an easy out on this one, it has to be the corrupting influence of an evil foreigner. 

[Clermont]

Someone has rocked the boat, this business has been going on for more than fifty years that I know of 

[hk blues]

43 minutes ago, Clermont said:

Someone has rocked the boat, this business has been going on for more than fifty years that I know of 

Longer than that - it's the oldest profession in the world! 

[Lee]

11 hours ago, Mike J said:

(Based on their dental records, there are 3 minors out of the 59 we rescued.)

How accurate of a persons age can one be that they are indeed minors based on their dental records ? How much difference in teeth development can be noted between a minor who is 18 and an adult woman that is 19 years old ?   IDK

 

[hk blues]

4 minutes ago, Lee said:

How accurate of a persons age can one be that they are indeed minors based on their dental records ? How much difference in teeth development can be noted between a minor who is 18 and an adult woman that is 19 years old ?   IDK

 

It's not particularly accurate but is an established method for identifying age.  For females, the variation is +/- 3 years broadly speaking.  So it won't help much if the female is close to 18 but will identify very young girls which is probably sufficient for the exercise.  

[Mike J]

11 hours ago, Lee said:

How accurate of a persons age can one be that they are indeed minors based on their dental records ? How much difference in teeth development can be noted between a minor who is 18 and an adult woman that is 19 years old ?   IDK

 

I agree it would be a stretch to use dental records to establish under/over 18.  That being said, I would think the reason they are using dental records is that the young woman said they were 18, but could/would not furnish ID to establish their age.  I would not be surprised if that was because they were under 18.   My opinion of course.

[OnMyWay]

23 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I agree it would be a stretch to use dental records to establish under/over 18.  That being said, I would think the reason they are using dental records is that the young woman said they were 18, but could/would not furnish ID to establish their age.  I would not be surprised if that was because they were under 18.   My opinion of course.

I don't understand what they mean by dental "records" in this scenario.  Any idea?

[Mike J]

1 minute ago, OnMyWay said:

I don't understand what they mean by dental "records" in this scenario.  Any idea?

I don't think the interview process to work at a brothel includes a copy of dental records.  So I suspect they took a look at the teeth and called the visual inspection "dental records".   

[scott h]

27 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

I don't understand what they mean by dental "records" in this scenario.

It is pretty obvious! As recent events have shown, birth certificates cannot be trusted anymore!