MANILA, Philippines — It is possible that “personnel within our PNP” are colluding with syndicates and protecting groups involved in Chinese prostitution in the country.
Senator Risa Hontiveros offered this theory as she raised doubt about the continued proliferation of prostitution dens nationwide despite supposed anti-crime drive.
In an interview with ABS CBN News Channel, Hontiveros was asked if she thinks it is possible that members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) are conniving with crime gangs involved in prostitution.
“That’s possible kasi kung sino ang nagbabantay, kung masyadong marami ang nakakalusot o hindi nabibigyan ng pansin, hindi na su-surveillance, hindi nare-raid, hindi nare-rescue ‘yung mga prostituted women, magdududa ka talaga that there may be personnel even within our PNP who are also colluding and being corrupted, profiting from it, even protecting those trafficking and prostitution syndicates,” Hontiveros said.
(It’s possible because they are the ones who are monitoring it and if there are those who are able to skirt the law, they are not being surveyed, raided, or women are not being rescued, you will begin to suspect that there may be PNP personnel who are colluding and being corrupted and profiting from it, and even protecting syndicates.)
Hontiveros said hotels and other establishments could report any suspicious activity “for the welfare of their guests” with a specific focus on protecting women from possible trafficking and prostitution.
This could be done through a hotline or a “person-to-person coordination” between the hotel’s concierge or guest officers with the police, she added.
“There should be some kind of quick response mechanism,” the senator said.
The Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, which Hontiveros chairs, opened an inquiry on Tuesday on the rise of Chinese prostitution dens being raided by police in the country.
During the hearing, “Carina” a 15-year-old victim of a sex den in Makati City testified that she was hired as a massage therapist but later found out that the work included “extra services.”
She was paid at least P6,000 “per job,” an amount that increases if she was asked to spend the night or perform sexual services.
Carina disclosed that most of the prostitution den’s clients are Chinese, but there are also some Japanese, Korean and American nationals. One of her co-workers, a 14-year-old girl identified only as “Shaira,” was also offered to customers despite having contracted a sexually-transmitted disease, she said.
READ: Chinese prostitution fronts’ shenanigans bared; Pogo suspension eyed
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said that such illegal establishments have emerged when Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) were established in the country as the customers are mostly Chinese employees of Pogos.
READ: POGOs blamed for Chinese sex dens in Philippines