Five persons arrested during a raid of a videoke bar allegedly operating a prostitution den in Alaminos City in Pangasinan will be charged with human trafficking, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Thursday, Dec. 19.
Those arrested last Dec. 12 and set to be charged before the prosecutor's office were identified by the NBI as Rochelle Cortez, Edmund Lanayog Corpuz, Ramones Jervy Mendoza, Bonifacio Esta, and Jester Cruz Sison.
The NBI said "the operation also resulted in the rescue of ten (10) trafficked victims, seven of whom were revealed to be minors based on the Dental Aging Examination conducted on them."
“The rescued victims were turned over to the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) in Lingayen for counselling and social protection,” it also said.
The five suspected operators of a prostitution den at the Shayawayne Videoke Bar were arrested during the entrapment operation conducted by the NBI Alaminos District Office (NBI-ALDO), the NBI said.
It said the entrapment operation was conducted after “the NBI-ALDO received information from a non-government organization that Shayawayne Videoke Bar is engaged in prostitution of women, including minors.”
“A series of surveillance operations conducted by NBI-ALDO confirmed the veracity of the information revealing that Shayawayne is indeed offering women, including minors, for sexual services in exchange for a fee,” it also said.
Thos arrested will be charged with violations of Republic Act (RA) 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, it added.