2 nabbed for selling girls for sex

MANILA, Philippines — Two men were arrested in a sting in Manila for cybersex trafficking of minors to foreigners, the Philippine National Police’s Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC) said yesterday.

Jamil Sampaga and Anthony Mabansag, both 22, were arrested along Roxas Boulevard at around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 15.

They were offering a 17-year-old girl for sex in exchange for P5,000 to a police operative posing as a customer.

They were charged with violating laws against human trafficking, child pornography, cybercrime and child abuse before the Department of Justice.

Based on intelligence reports, Sampaga and Mabansag have been peddling girls aged 10 to 15 years old to foreigners abroad  for online and actual sex over the past five years.

For P20,000 to P30,000, a foreigner can have a girl for a week at a hotel, Senior Superintendent Villamor Tuliao, who heads the WCPC Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, said in a press conference.