87 rounded up in Chinese-run sex den

MANILA, Philippines — At least 87 persons were rounded up during a raid on a spa allegedly used as a prostitution den in Parañaque City on Wednesday night.

The operation was jointly conducted by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), Parañaque City officials and police and the Bureau of Immigration’s fugitive search unit.

NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said police officers rescued 51 Chinese sex workers, who held tourist visas.

The raid on the Manila Wellness Spa, located on the third floor of Diamond Bay Tower along Roxas Boulevard in Barangay Baclaran, resulted in the arrest of nine male and four female – all Chinese – maintainers of the prostitution den, 18 customers and seven Filipino utility workers.

Eleazar said they have no report yet on whether the spa is connected to the sex trafficking ring busted in Makati City, which led to the rescue of seven Vietnamese sex workers.

Lt. Col. Rogarth Campo, who heads the NCRPO’s Regional Special Operations Unit, said the spa’s customers, mostly Chinese and foreigners, transact through the WeChat app.

“A customer would be fetched at the ground floor, brought to the receiving area where the girls would be paraded before him. After selecting his partner, the customer would pay over the counter before proceeding to the room assigned him,” Campo said in an interview.

The sex workers’ prices ranged from P9,000 to P22,000, he added.

The spa has 37 rooms, seven of them described as VIP rooms, Eleazar said.

“I was able to interview the Filipino utility workers and they told me that they would clean each room five times a day,” he said.

Eleazar said the said business is lucrative as Campo and his team seized P1.8 million from the spa’s counter, believed to be the establishment’s earnings for the day.

Eleazar said they could not identify the operator of the spa as it has no business and occupancy permits from the city government.

The 13 spa employees will be charged with trafficking in persons and the 18 customers the use of trafficked persons, he said.

The seven Filipino utility workers would be used as witnesses, according to Eleazar.