MANILA – Filipino girls, as well as trafficked Chinese women, are being pimped like a food menu in prostitution dens often disguised as massage or spa facilities, Sen. Risa Hontiveros revealed Tuesday.
Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, presented at a livestreamed Senate probe the findings of her investigation on the rescues of sexual trafficking victims in Metro Manila.
Hontiveros said that there was a menu of sex services catering to Chinese expatriates, who work mostly in offshore gaming operations, called POGOs by local authorities.
She even claimed that some of the girls are pimped on the Chinese super app WeChat using codes such as “new tea” for girls and “fast food” for quickie sex.
Hontiveros added that some offer Chinese women for P10,000 per hour and Russian or Korean women overnight for P32,000 and P45,000, respectively, as revealed in the conversations in chat groups.
“May menu of services, parang restaurant,” said Hontiveros. “‘Yung mga babae, parang inoorder lang sa app ng mga Chinese members ng chatgroup. Parang Grabfood, may menu, may presyo, then darating na lang sa hotel o condo mo.”
“Hindi pwedeng nagiging pugad tayo ng Chinese prostitution dens,” she added. “Pag nakikita ko sa TV ang mga babaeng nahuhuli sa raid na punong puno ng hiya at takot, isa lang ang tumatakbo sa isip ko: this girl is someone’s daughter. And we have failed her.”
One of these victims shared her affidavit at the probe under the alias Carina and via a video call from elsewhere
Carina told the senators that a friend recruited her to work as a masseuse in the massage parlor owned by a Chinese man and his Filipina wife before she was pimped to Chinese workers later on.
“Minsan pupunta kami sa condo, minsan sa hotel tapos pagkatapos namin magmasahe, mag-ooffer kami ng extra service na ibig sabihin makikipagtalik kami,” said Carina.
She added that the customers, usually Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian nationals, pay the girls between P3,000 and P7,000, half of which will be given to the massage parlor owner.
Carina also said she has a co-worker, 14-year-old Shaina, who is still being pimped by the massage parlor owner despite being sick forcing the latter to runaway from the parlor.
“Pinagamot naman po si Shaina pero tumakas na po siya kasi hindi na po kaya,” Carina said. “Kasi kahit po may sakit, nilalakad pa din po sa mga customer.”
In light of these revelations, Hontiveros called for the Bureau of Immigration to suspend its Visa Upon Arrival program for Chinese nationals, a scheme that has readily assisted the rise of Chinese criminals in the country.
“We need to suspend the Visa Upon Arrival scheme for Chinese nationals,” Hontiveros said. “Security threat na kasi ito sa atin: To our women and to our girls. Pati ‘yung mga sarili nating kababaihan at kabataan, nabibiktima na.”
The senator also urged the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police to conduct an immediate crackdown on POGO-related prostitution dens across the Philippines.
Hontiveros is studying the suspension of all POGO operations in the country, while reviewing the economic implications as well as ensuring that there are safety nets in place to protect our women and children.
“Kailangan na nating umaksyon. We need to look into suspending POGO operations because they attract criminals into our country,” Hontiveros said./PN
