NINETEEN women and four pimps were “rescued” by personnel of the Department of City Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), City Intelligence Unit and Abellana Police Station 2 in Mango Square, Juana Osmeña Extension, Barangay Kamputhaw, Cebu City at 1:35 a.m. Monday, March 27, 2023.
The operation was headed by DSWS head Joel Joy Chua.
It was conducted after the Cebu City Government received reports that the women had returned to the area to beg for physical pleasure.
Major Nolan Tagsip, chief of Abellana Police Station 2, they received a series of phone calls regarding the presence of women standing on the side of the road on Juana Osmeña, allegedly extorting money from foreign and local tourists.
Tagsip said what they do not want to happen is when these women resort to committing crimes by stealing their target’s personal belongings.
Tagsip said they will keep roving in areas under their control to deter crimes and to catch minors breaking the city’s curfew ordinance.
The commercial sex workers and pimps were turned over to the Samaritan’s Rest Shelter in South Road Properties where they will undergo crisis interventions by the DSWS.
They will be facing charges for violation of City Ordinance 1631 or the Anti-Mendicancy Law. (AYB/TPT)