Police raided on Friday a KTV bar allegedly being used as a prostitution den in Makati City, resulting in the arrest of its two Taiwanese operators and 14 Chinese customers, and the rescue of 13 Filipino women.
Major Gideon Ines Jr., Makati Police Investigation Unit chief, said the penthouse of a 29-storey hotel in Barangay Poblacion was being rented by the operators identified as Shih Fang Chen, 65, and Po Yi Chen, 55.
Based on a police report, members of Makati City Police raided the penthouse of the hotel located on Burgos St. in Barangay Poblacion around 3:40 a.m.
Ines said the rescued women admitted that they were being offered at the KTV bar to foreigners, mostly Chinese men.
“The Chinese men transact with the operators of the bar through the We Chat app. They were being told to check-in at the hotel in order for them to have access to the KTV bar located at the penthouse,” Ines said.
“Actually, we were able to seize the tablet of the KTV bar. All their transactions were recorded there in the We Chat app,” the chief investigator added.
The KTV bar operators were just renting at the hotel, Ines said. “They were paying R400,000 a month to the owner of the hotel.”
According to Ines, the owner of the hotel vehemently denied that he has involvement in the alleged prostitution den.
The Makati Police Investigation Unit chief revealed that they also retrieved condoms from some of the women.
“We found condoms inside the bags of some women. They really admitted that they are into the sex trade,” Ines said.
Weeks before the raid, Ines said a 22-year-old woman from a province went to the KTV bar and applied.
“However, when she learned that there was sex trade there, she immediately left and reported it to us,” he said.
The arrested Chinese men, who are POGO workers, were still held at the police headquarters as of Friday, he said.
“We believe that these arrested POGO workers are customers of the alleged drug den,” said Ines.
Makati Police said the suspects will face charges for violating Republic Act 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Person Act of 2012, while the rescued women were turned over to City Social Welfare and Development Department. (Jel Santos)
