Online sex trafficking operation busted in Iligan; 5 women saved

ILIGAN CITY –– Operatives of the local police and personnel from the Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC) rescued Thursday five women who are being offered online for sexual exploitation.

Their pimp was also arrested in an entrapment operation inside a pension house in Barangay Ubaldo Laya here.

Major Abogado Mautin, chief of Iligan City Police Station 4, said the suspect, Mardy Amor Sumalinog, 22, was nabbed after receiving P2,000 marked money as payment from police assets for one of the five women.

Mautin disclosed that Sumalinog used the name Mawie Wilson to transact online.

Through her Facebook page, Sumalinog posted pictures of women she called ‘angels’ and directed potential customers to negotiate with her for their ‘services’ through private message.

“We have put her under surveillance for three weeks now. The women, although they are not minors, and they went with the suspect with their consent, are still considered victims,” Mautin said.

“We are saving women from being sexually exploited and could be exposed to HIV,” Mautin added.

In an interview with reporters, Sumalinog admitted she was engaged as an online pimp for two years now, an activity she is familiar with as she used to be an ‘angel’ herself.

She said she only wanted to augment the income of her husband, who is a truck driver. The couple has a 9-month-old baby, who stays with her to be breastfed at the police detention cell.

Sumalinog revealed that she got a P500-commission from every P2,000 paid by a customer for the ‘services’ of an ‘angel.’

She is facing charges for violation of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012./lzb