EDITORIAL - A front for prostitution business

Many are wondering how those 34 women from China who were rescued recently by operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation Central Visayas ended up working at a high-end karaoke bar in Lapu-Lapu City.

For NBI-7 Director Tomas Enrile, however, these women were victims of human trafficking, recruited in China on a promise of legal employment through the Philippine Online Gaming Operation (POGO).

“It appears that they were recruited from China… they were promised jobs here in a legal gambling operation at POGO but they ended up as high-class prostitutes in Cebu," according to Enrile, who added that the KTV bar in Lapu-Lapu City appeared to be exclusive to Chinese nationals because their informant posing as a customer was not allowed to enter.

As it investigates the incident, the bureau is zeroing on the human trafficking angle considering the fact that the Chinese nationals who were used as high-class prostitutes were recruited as online gaming workers. Of course, the NBI should look into whether or not those behind the trafficking of foreign women have Filipino connections.

Lured by the booming online gaming in the Philippines that has been attracting thousands of South Koreans and other foreign nationals, these Chinese women were perhaps legally recruited in China to work in the country.

The fact that they entered the country with valid documents for legal work but ended up as commercial sex workers in Lapu-Lapu City can only mean there are human trafficking syndicates behind the recruitment of some foreign workers.

Since these syndicates were able to operate under the noses of the authorities, there is a high chance they are being protected by some unscrupulous government officials, something that the NBI investigation should focus on.

As the country’s bustling online gaming industry has been drawing thousands from China and other countries, it’s unfortunate that it has been used by syndicates as a front to traffic women for their prostitution business.