Sex workers rounded up in Quezon City

Fourteen alleged commercial sex workers were arrested the other night by operatives of the Central Police District (CPD) in Cubao and Quezon Avenue in Quezon City as part of an anti-prostitution campaign.

The women were detained at the Quezon City Hall detachment and will be charged with violation of Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code otherwise known as the anti-vagrancy law.

Ages of those arrested ranged from 19 to 25 except for one Liza Morada, 35, of Cogeo Antipolo, who was allegedly a pimp who made deals between the women and customers.

Chief Inspector Bevin Fabillar, Quezon City Hall detachment chief, said his men conducted an operation Thursday in Cubao and Quezon Avenue at around 11:30 p.m.

Fabillar ordered the operation after he received reports that commercial sex workers wait for customers in front of ACT Theater in Cubao and at the corner of Timog and Quezon Avenue.

Police Officers 2 Paul Acosta and Rogelio Viaje apprehended seven prostitutes in front of ACT Theater. Another seven were arrested on Quezon Avenue.

Police, who posed as customers, said they apprehended the 14 women while loitering without visible means of support and having no permanent means of subsistence despite the physical ability to work.

The women admitted during investigation that they were engaged in selling sex for a living. Most of them said they could only plead for understanding because they were the breadwinners of their families. – Pia Lee Brago