THE police arrested a 64-year-old Japanese national for allegedly printing nude pictures of women in a photo shop inside a mall in Cebu City yesterday afternoon.
Shigeru Mashi Masuno was caught by operatives of the Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC)-Visayas Field Unit past 1 p.m.
PO2 Michelle Pajantoy said that most of the women are reportedly dancers of a bar in Mandaue City and added no one in the pictures looks like a minor, Balitang Bisdak reported.
The WCPC office was informed by a person, who happened to be in the photo shop.
Seized from the foreigner were 294 pictures, a camera, secure digital (SD) card containing allegedly pornographic material, P52,000 in cash, and 4,000 Japanese Yen.
Masuno arrived in the country last Aug. 24 and he was supposed to leave on Sept. 29.
He had visited in the Philippines thrice before his arrest yesterday, according to Pajantoy.
Investigators still have to know the motive of the foreigner for taking the pictures, whether if it’s for personal consumption or trade.
A complaint, however, for violating Section 4 (b) and (e) of Republic Act (RA) 9208 or the Anti-trafficking in Persons Act as amended by RA 10364 is being prepared for filing before the Office of the City Prosecutor.
Section 4 (b) of RA 9208 states that “any Filipino woman” should not also be matched “to a foreign national, for marriage for the purpose of acquiring, buying, offering, selling or trading her to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage.”
The law’s section 4 (e) punishes a person who maintains or hires “a person to engage in prostitution or pornography.”