World’s oldest profession much alive in Cebu City

Four women who were taken into custody last Thursday night in Barangay Kamagayan reportedly upset when they were brought to the DSWD 7 center where they will be interviewed about their background and will be asked to submit a birth certificate and an NSO certificate They were supposed to undergo intensive rehabiltation, which had to be scrapped for lack of manpower, funds

RICA is three months away from giving birth. The 24-year-old was one of four commercial sex workers police picked up in Barangay Kamagayan, Cebu City’s unofficial “red-light district,” last Thursday night.

A concerned citizen was worried about her condition and wrote authorities.

According to City Intelligence Branch Chief Romeo Santander of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), a police officer masquerading as a customer went to the area at 10:30 p.m., with a team on stand-by.

A pimp let the police officer pick who he wanted to take out. But when they discovered that it was an entrapment, a commotion erupted. The four women were taken into custody but the pimp got away.

Santander said Rica is a native of the northern town of Daanbantayan. She told police she steers clear of any sexual penetration.

“She prefers oral sex as much as possible. But if her customers insist, she said she is willing to give in,” he said.

Act of survival

The other victims, age 21, 22 and 26, are also out-of-towners. Two of them have children.

Senior Insp. Joan Guia Arnoco of the CCPO’S Women and Children’s Protection Desk said women are forced to resort to prostitution because they can’t find any other decent livelihood.

“Kapit sa patalim na lang ni ilaha (They’re just trying to survive),” she said.

Arnoco said the four women were supposed to undergo intensive rehabilitation, which didn’t push through because of lack of manpower and financial support.

“They go back to plying the streets once they’re released anyway,” she said in Cebuano.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 will be on hand to assist the women.

Maria Gemma Ompad, DSWD social worker, said they will need the women’s birth certificate and NSO certificate to verify their age.

She said they will interview the women so they can assess their needs and their background, which includes their family composition and work.

She admitted the women were upset when brought to their center.

“They may be referred to their respective local government unit, so they can receive proper guidance and not go back to prostitution,” she said in Cebuano.

Ompad added that the women will undergo a medical checkup.