Alleged victims of human trafficking cry police harassment
MANILA, Philippines—The alleged victims of human trafficking have turned the table against their supposed police rescuers from a Japanese-owned cyberschool allegedly engaged in cybersex activities in Pangasinan.
During Wednesday’s preliminary investigation, Christy Bautista, one of the instructors in the Kame Hachi Corporation, said they were not rescued. In fact, they were harassed by the police.
“They were shouting at us. They are taking videos and kept us locked in the kitchen for four hours,” Bautista said. She said there are about 80 instructors locked up by the police, some in the kitchen and some in a separate room. Bautista has been an instructor for one and a half year.
Another instructor, Donita Rose Leyva said they are teaching foreign nationals not only Japanese but also Koreans, Chinese and Russians.
Last March 17, the police raided the school and arrested Takayuki Umeda, 42; Jyunko Wang, 36; Masahiro Kishigami, 26; Erlinda Tandoc, 40; Leonora Ceralde, 38; Josephine Gille, 34 and Rafael “Raffy” Tandoc, 25 for violation of Republic Act 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012 and RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.
But the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered the release of the seven for further investigation after the police failed to present evidence that would warrant the filing of a case in court.
Lawyer Nolan R. Evangelista, counsel for the respondents and the alleged trafficking victims, said the police could just look at the CCTV footage to see if there was something illegal going on inside the school, especially at night.
“But they [police] also took the CCTV,” he said. Accompanying Evangelista are more than 30 instructors from the school to swear in on their affidavit denying allegations of cybersex activities inside the school.
Evangelista said the raid was due to a complaint of a disgruntled person whose application to teach was rejected.
“The complainant made up the allegations that she saw a lot of illegal activities. The school rejected her application because she is not qualified,” Evangelista said. Bautista, on the other hand, said the said applicant was rejected because she cannot even spell the word “national.”
“How can she teach English,” she said.
The police attended the preliminary investigation but refused to give comment on the matter saying the case is still under investigation.
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