Two persons allegedly engaged in "sex trafficking" were arrested and eight women, five of them minors, were rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Antipolo City.
The NBI identified those arrested last Sept. 14 as Ronneth M. Tolentino and Reny Tumbali.
It said those arrested were charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ) with violations of Republic Act No. 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2002, as amended by RA 11862 enacted in 2022.
Those rescued were turned over to a shelter facility, it said.
Tolentino and Tumbali were arrested during an entrapment operation conducted by the NBI’s Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Division (NBI-AVAWCD).
The NBI said it received information that “pimps ‘Trixie’ and ‘RB’ were recruiting and offering minor girls online to clients for sexual exploitation in exchange for a fee.”
“Investigation conducted by AVAWCD operatives confirmed that ‘Trixie’ and ‘RB’, identified as Ronneth Tolentino y Montealegre and Reny Tumbali respectively, were offering female victims with ages ranging from 16 to 23 years old, for sexual intercourse in exchange for a fee ranging from P5,000 to P10,000 depending on the age of the women and sexual services to be performed,” it said.
During the operation, the NBI said those arrested presented the women inside the van to agents who posed as customers.