Five people rapped for selling ‘lewd tabloids’

Police filed complaints against  five persons who were arrested last Friday for  allegedly selling  lewd tabloids in downtown Cebu City.

Named respondents were tabloid vendors Rosita Lim, Andres Cervantes, and Eldiconda Ministerio, DVD vendor Belal Marcino and Jacinto Ybanez, a distributor of reading materials.

They are facing complaints for violation of Cebu City Ordinance 1408 or the Anti-Indecency Ordinance, and Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines which prohibits “obscene publications and exhibitions, and indecent shows”.

They were presented before Assistant City Prosecutor Mario Montenegro for  inquest proceedings.

The five respondents were arrested during an operation led by the Cebu City Anti-Indecency Board (CCAIB).

Somebody complained to CCAIB about  the proliferation of lewd materials in downtown Cebu City.

CCAIB tapped the  Carbon Police Station and personnel from the Investigation and Detective Management Branch of the Cebu City Police Office for the operation.

They raided magazine and newspaper  stands along the streets of Manalili, Legaspi, Sikatuna Pelaez, and Mabini.

CCAIB chairperson Lucelle Mercado said the tabloids were  “grossly pornographic.”

The confiscated tabloids  nclude Toro, Bagong Toro, Bomba, Remate and Hataw, all transported to Cebu from Manila.

Assistant City Prosecutor Aida Sanchez, a member of CCAIB, said they will continue to conduct operations against persons who sell lewd tabloids and other materials.

“It’s an ongoing operation. I appeal to vendors to stop accepting tabloids which are obscene,” Sanchez said in an interview.

Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said there should be no let up in the campaign against indecency.

Magpale said lewd tabloids contibute to crimes against women and children. /Ador Vincent S. Mayol