KTV charged for trafficking; 43 rescued

Saturday, January 21, 2012

CEBU CITY -- Large-scale and syndicated human trafficking charges were filed against six employees of a KTV bar in Lapu-Lapu City whom the police arrested for allegedly trafficking 43 women, including minors.

At 3 p.m. Friday, the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Central Visayas Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force filed the charges against the six employees of White Castle KTV Bar.

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None of them can be named in this report, in keeping with Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, which they are now accused of violating.

The 43, of whom three are believed to be minors, were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Central Visayas after the raid that led to their rescue last Wednesday night.

DSWD-Central Visayas social welfare officer Clavel Saycon said some of the victims came from Mindanao and Manila. And while the agency is providing their food and shelter, while social workers assess them, “We still deal with negative reactions from the victims,” Saycon said. “They look at us like enemies.”

After the case was filed in the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office Friday, the six suspects, including their Korean manager, asked the handling prosecutor to allow them to sign a waiver of detention. That will give them time to file counter-affidavits, while remaining in detention.

Minors

The suspects declined requests for an interview.

Chief Inspector Maria Teresa Macatangay, the arresting team’s leader, told reporters that just before they conducted the operation, they placed the bar under surveillance late last year.

She said the operation was based on an informant’s testimony that minors were working as bar girls there.

Macatangay said the victims were 16 and older, based on their dental examination. Most of them are from Central Visayas, while some are from Davao and Manila.

Based on a trip ticket they found, some rescued victims had just arrived in Cebu.

Along with the International Justice Mission (IJM), the operatives were led by Macatangay.

At least one adult online forum identifies the White Castle KTV Bar, which is located in Barangay Pusok, as a place to pick up girls.

Rescue

Two social workers from the DSWD-Central Visayas were present during the rescue at the bar.

“This case clearly shows that the urgent, inter-agency fight against trafficking in persons will continue in 2012,” Andrey Sawchenko, director of the IJM Philippines, told Sun.Star Cebu on Friday.

The IJM, an international human rights organization, helps in the rescue of victims of trafficking and in the prosecution of traffickers.

Not everyone welcomed the results of the operation, though, Saycon of DSWD said it is common for victims of trafficking to react negatively toward their rescuers at first.

“For them what we did was a raid, but for us, it was a rescue,” Saycon said. (JKV/RSB/Sun.Star Cebu)