Suspected pimps face trafficking case

The six alleged pimps arrested in two bars in Gen. Maxilom Avenue in Cebu City will have to face human trafficking charges in court.

Assistant City Prosecutor Aida Sanchez yesterday recommended the filing of charges against the respondents before the Cebu City Regional Trial Court for large-scale human trafficking, a non-bailable offense under Republic Act 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012, after they waived their right to undergo preliminary investigation before the Cebu City Prosecutors Office.

Large-scale human trafficking is committed when three or more people conspire to commit human trafficking.

The suspects identified as Mary Cris Brigole, Ma. Kristine Noquera, Janice Cabardo, Charo Palima, Crisanta Caramelo, and Marcia Damo-og are detained at the female dorm of the Cebu City Jail since their arrest last Saturday.

Meanwhile, the complaint against Pussycat Bar owners Matthew Gerard Davies, an American, and Robert Walton, an Australian are pending before the prosecutor’s office. The complaint will undergo preliminary investigation since both of them remain at large.

The charges against the owners of Club Temptation, on the other hand, has yet to be filed by the police.

Manila-based lawyer Gilberto Alfafara will represent the respondents from Club Temptation while former Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City chapter president Alex Tolentino is the counsel for the Pussycats bar.

In an interview yesterday, Tolentino said he will ask the court to allow his clients to post bail pending resolution of the case.

He said he may also seek for a reinvestigation of the case.

“My clients are just employees of Pussycat bar. They are not pimps,” Tolentino said.

In a separate interview, Sanchez said at least nine of the rescued women executed affidavits against the respondents.

Sanchez said the victims claimed they were taken out of the bar by customers who pay P2,000 to P5,000. Last Saturday, the Philippine National Police Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the raids on Pussycats and Club Temptation.