Arrest of Angeles City entertainers hit

Sun.Star: ANGELES CITY -- The arrest of female workers in the entertainment business here has elicited strong reactions from women's rights advocates in this city. IMA Foundation executive director Susan Pineda protested the series of police arrest on women alleged to be involved in prostitution in this city. Pineda called on the national and local governments to come up with a comprehensive program to address the roots of prostitution rather than making women as prey for "protection racket." "The government and police should not be naive that prostitution is not thriving in the city nor should be hypocrite about it. The 'sex industry' has never left the city and the government is earning a lot from it," Pineda added. Pineda believed that, probably, the series of raids on alleged prostitution fronts is mainly aimed to force the establishments to pay P50 daily per entertainer as "protection money" by some persons closely connected with City Hall. "Although Mayor Francis Nepomuceno denied knowledge about the said collection, he should conduct an immediate investigation and clear his name, in the meantime let's give him the benefit of the doubt," Pineda said. "Aids (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a baseless excuse for the raids and ill refute of facts and evidence. They should not use Aids or prostitution as the issue here. I hope this is an honest to goodness effort. Instead of 'protection money' why not start a program to comprehensively address the issues and concerns of women and children in prostitution," said Pineda, adding "most often it is the non-government organizations (NGOs) that provide direct services to them." "There should be real effort from law enforces to look into those that really benefit from the sex industry," Pineda said.- SunStar