Sex toys seized in Quiapo raid

Several sex toys were seized in a raid led by social welfare authorities in the downtown Quiapo district in Manila on Wednesday. The Department of Social Welfare and Development led the raid after learning such items were being sold openly in some areas, radio dzBB reported on Thursday. Operatives managed to arrest some of the vendors who initially denied selling the items but eventually admitted to the practice. Some of the vendors even admitted having male students as "suki" or regular customers, according to the report. Many vendors have been observed to sell sex toys, which range from plastic rings to battery-operated vibrators, in the Sta. Cruz and Quiapo districts in Manila. In many cases, the toys are sold in the open, including at some overpasses in the Quiapo area. A separate report on "24 Oras" Wednesday night said the vendors were arrested at the pedestrian overpass and near Quiapo Church. Manila social welfare department head Jay dela Fuente said the raid stemmed from complaints from citizens about the items being sold. Dela Fuente said the exhibit and sale of such items is banned under Presidential Decree 969, which prohibits "immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibition, and indecent shows." In May 2001, a lawmaker filed House Bill 4509 seeking to curb the supposed "influx" of these "obscene" devices, which he said may lead to the rise of sex-related crimes in the country. "The proliferation of these obscene devices which are insensitively and openly displayed in shops or stalls are very alarming. The public, especially minors, being exposed to these obscenities may suffer disturbing effects and could trigger sexually impure ideas," Buhay party-list Rep. Irwin Tieng said upon filing the bill. Tieng specified that the distribution or intent to distribute, sale or resale and production of these sex toys as "unlawful" acts. The lawmaker proposed penalties ranging from one-year imprisonment to a fine of P20,000 for violations of the provisions stated in the bill, if it becomes a law. — LBG, GMA News