Raid on Roxas Blvd. joint rescues 19 child-prostitutes

At least 19 child-prostitutes were rescued in a raid on an entertainment establishment along Roxas Boulevard, the Department of Labor and Employment said Tuesday.

 

DOLE NCR head Alan Macaraya said they rescued 60 workers, 19 of whom were "minor girls." The minors were placed under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

 

Following the operation, the DOLE ordered that the Area 51 KTV Entertainment Club be padlocked for employing minors as prostitutes and for staging obscene or lewd shows.

 

"There is basis, in law and in fact, to order the immediate and permanent closure of Area 51 KTV Entertainment Club," explained Macaraya.

 

"Keep it closed and monitor the charges filed by the NBI against the owners," DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz instructed the DOLE NCR head.

 

The DOLE said the National Bureau of Investigation, which conducted the raid, had filed criminal charges against the club owners before the Department of Justice.

 

Baldoz also called for more vigilance in order that firms and establishments employing minors in the worst forms of child labor will think twice before entering into these kinds of criminal enterprise. 

 

The raid was prompted by information provided by non-governmental organization International Justice Mission that the club exploited children.

 

Following a surveillance operation, the NBI led a raid into the club and arrested its alleged operators and managers. — DVM, GMA News