DOLE permanently shuts down Quezon City KTV bar for employing minors

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has ordered the immediate and permanent closure of Metallica KTV bar in Quezon City for employing minors and having them engage in sexual activities with customers. DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz issued the closure order in connection with the petition of the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) Anti Human Trafficking Division, which raided the club and rescued five female minors.   DOLE National Capital Region regional director Alan Macaraya, who signed the order on Baldoz's behalf, said the establishment was found in violation of Republic Act No. 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act. Carrying out the closure were a seven-member NBI team led by supervising agent Gerald Geralde; Atty. Sam Inocencio, Manila field office director of the International Justice Mission, an NGO partner of the Department of Justice; and DOLE-NCR officials and staff. The operation was conducted on August 22 and 23.   Macaraya said that the five girls, identified as minors through their birth certificates, provided sworn statements that they were working as entertainers at Metallica KTV.   "They also narrated they were required to entertain guests/customers by having or engaging in sexual activities with guests and dancing nude and doing other lascivious acts," Macaraya said.   Four of the five minors, whose names have been withheld by the DOLE, were 17 years old, while the fifth was only 15. Macaraya said that NBI-AHTRAD had produced sufficient evidence that Metallica KTV was employing minors for prostitution, warranting the establishment's closure. — BM, GMA News