Parents peddling daughter for sex nabbed by NBI men

Two parents who allegedly peddle their 16-year-old daughter for sex and their foreign customer have been arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Batangas City.

NBI Director Dante Gierran identified the suspects as Edgardo Maranan, his wife Razel, and foreigner Kim Hyo Soon who used the alias “Rocks” and claimed to be a Mongolian and, then, a Canadian with the name Victor Mescallado.

The three were arrested by the NBI’s Special Action Unit (SAU) in an operation in Batangas City last Thursday evening.

The SAU also rescued the Maranan’s daughter in the same operation from the foreigner.

Gierran said the NBI acted on the complaint of the girl’s aunt, Rodalyn Sial, who said the couple has offered their daughter on several occasions to the foreigner for sex in exchange for money against her will.

A team from the SAU who were accompanied by a team from the Social Welfare Officer from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Department were then deployed to Batangas to monitor the activities of the Maranans.

During Thursday’s operation, the SAU team saw the foreigner arrive.

After a while, NBI operatives stormed the house and caught the foreigner in-flagrante delicto exploiting the minor-victim inside her room.

All three have been subjected to inquest proceedings before the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003) as amended and RA 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act).