I did this for my baby, says woman saved from sex trafficking ring

A woman who was rescued from a sex-trafficking operation in Lipa, Batangas admitted that she was forced to join the illegal activity to support her child.

Interviewed on Raffy Tima's "24 Oras" report, Quinn (not her real name), admitted that she regretted entering into the sex trafficking operation.

"Of course I think of my baby. This is my source of livelihood,"" she said when asked if she thought about her child before engaging in prostitution.

"We are doing this for our family. Since our world turned chaotic, of course our lives worsened, we have nothing to eat, so we had to choose this job even if it is bad for us," she added in Filipino.

Quinn is one of the 14 women who were rescued by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)  Special Task Force from sex traffickers at an apartment  in Lipa, Batangas.

Of the 14, three were minors, one was pregnant while another victim has a nine-month-old child.

Attorney Bernard Dela Cruz, head of NBI Special Task Force, said they found that the suspects' operation victimized about 30 women who are believed to be former employees of nightclubs that were closed due to the pandemic.

"The suspects were not directly related to these victims. They are grooming these women, brainwashing them, making them believe that they are helping their families by doing this," Dela Cruz explained in Filipino and English.

For his part, suspect Wilson Ebreo said he is the mastermind of the operation. He also protected his so-called accomplice from the authorities.

NBI said it will also look for other victims of the sex trafficking operation. —Consuelo Marquez/NB, GMA News