Cops rescue 16 women, arrest 7 in Laguna sex trade

SAN PEDRO CITY – The police rescued 16 women and arrested seven people allegedly involved in illegal sex trade in Calamba City in Laguna province on Friday.

The entrapment operation, led by the Philippine National Police-Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC), happened past midnight in a hotel named Getz Inn along the national road in Barangay (village) Lecheria.

Calamba police chief Supt. Joselito Desisto, whose unit was tapped to carry out the operation, said the women, of different ages and who came from different provinces, were alleged sex workers.

“They were staying in that hotel where they also received their clients,” Desisto said in a phone interview.

He said seven people were arrested for allegedly running the illicit trade.

Desisto said the suspects were detained at the national police headquarters in Camp Crame, while the WCPC took custody of the victims.

He said the police would investigate the hotel’s complicity in trafficking of persons.