Lapu-Lapu City KTV charged for trafficking; 43 rescued | Sun.Star.

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.

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