Police to intensify drive vs commercial sex workers

Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) Director Ricardo De la Paz on Wednesday ordered Station 1 commander Chief Insp. Ulysses Ortiz to intensify their campaign against commercial sex workers at Bacolod Public Plaza and downtown area.

De la Paz said the Station 1 personnel should continue their massive campaign against commercial sex workers after the latest result conducted by Bacolod City Health Office that out of 18 commercial sex workers who were arrested last Monday and Tuesday night, 13 of them were turned positive of Sexually Transmitted Diseases or STD.

He said based on the results, it’s already dangerous to the costumers of commercial sex workers who continued to patronize them, claiming that majority of the commercial sex workers are positive of STD.

De la Paz directed Ortiz to eliminate the commercial sex workers at the Bacolod Public Plaza and downtown area where some of them are also involved in stealing the valuables of their customers.

Ortiz said last Monday, about 14 commercial sex workers were arrested at the Bacolod Public Plaza and Locsin Street and another four were arrested Tuesday night at Luzuriaga-Locsin Streets.

He said the arrested commercial sex workers were examined by Bacolod City Health Office and 15 of them were positive of STD.

“It’s already alarming since most of the commercial sex workers were examined positive of STD, and we should to act on it,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz said every night, they will continue to arrest the commercial sex workers at the Bacolod Public Plaza and at the downtown area and will bring them to the Bacolod City Health for the examination.

“We should keep the cleanliness of our Public Plaza since it’s the center of Bacolod City, and it’s one of the landmarks of Bacolod that we should be proud of,” he said.

He added the apprehension of commercial sex workers is not only for the protection of the person who patronized them but also for their health. He noted that most of the sex workers arrested are not only residents of Bacolod City but also from different cities and municipalities of Negros Occidental.

Ortiz claimed that most of the commercial sex workers are single parents and it’s only their way to support their family. He said some of the sex workers claimed that they only earned P300 per day.

Ortiz disclosed that they will continue their operations against commercial sex workers at the Bacolod Public Plaza and downtown area, citing that from 10 p.m. until morning no women are allowed to stay at Bacolod Public Plaza.