Mom sued for ‘pimping’ daughter

CEBU, Philippines - A mother accused of offering her daughter to a foreigner is facing charges before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

Senior Inspector Evan Epe of the Cebu Port Police has filed criminal complaints for attempted trafficking and  violation of Section 10 (c), Article VI of Republic Act 7610 (The Special Protection For a Child Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act) against the  45-year-old mother, a resident of Talisay City, Cebu.

Epe alleged that on several occasions from June to July this year, the mother “offered and delivered” her 15-year-old daughter to Japanese national Masahiro Shinoda, 65.

“The minor and the Japanese in fact eventually slept together in the room of a hotel for several times with only the two of them in the room,” the complaint read.

Aside from the minor’s mother, Epe also filed a complaint against Shinoda for attempted trafficking.

The FREEMAN is withholding the names of the victim and her mother for confidentiality.

Based on the complaint, the mother allegedly registered her daughter at dating website Filipina Heart, wherein the minor was misrepresented as a 19-year-old, sometime in January or February this year.

Epe said that last month, the victim was introduced online by her mother to Shinoda, who needed a guide in touring the Philippines.

Initial investigation showed it was the mother who served as go-between and interpreter between her daughter and Shinoda, as she knew how to speak English and a little Nippongo.

Shinoda allegedly told the minor that he can help them in their poverty as he worked in a foundation in Japan and sponsored poor families and children in their schooling.

While Shinoda was in Cebu, Epe said, the minor slept with Shinoda, who allegedly gave money to her.

Around 11:20 a.m. last July 25, Shinoda and the minor were accosted by authorities at Pier 1, Cebu City on their way to Bohol.

In an interview, the mother of the victim denied that she “delivered and offered” her daughter to the foreigner and that she made the account for her in the dating website.

She said, though, that Shinoda served as sponsor of her daughter’s schooling.— (FREEMAN)