Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday called on the Bureau of Immigration to suspend the visa-upon-arrival scheme for Chinese, saying the proliferation of prostitution dens catering to Chinese clients have become a “security threat” to Filipino women and girls.
Hontiveros led a Senate investigation into Chinese sex trafficking activities in the country, and heard testimony from victims such as “Carina,” 15, who was kept in a Makati house to service Chinese clients who typically paid P6,000 per job. Half went to the Chinese handler.
Hontiveros found that Chinese traffickers offered a menu of sex services, including photos of trafficked Chinese women, passed around through messaging apps Telegram and WeChat. The services were related to the operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations or POGOs, staffed by Chinese workers.
“May menu of services, parang restoran,” said Hontiveros. “Yung mga babae, parang inoorder lang sa app ng mga Chinese members ng chatgroup. Parang Grabfood, may menu, may presyo, then darating na lang sa hotel o condo mo,” she said.
“We need to suspend the Visa Upon Arrival scheme for Chinese nationals,” she said. “Security threat na kasi ito satin: to our women and to our girls.”
Hontiveros said she was studying the suspension of all POGO operations in the country, including its economic impact.
“Kailangan na nating umaksyon. We need to look into suspending POGO operations because they attract criminals into our country,” she said. (PressONE.ph)