NOT CYBER SEX WORKERS

LINGAYEN—“We are teachers, not prostitutes.”

This was the assertion of 15 employees of Kame Hachi Corporation, an online tutorial center, here that was raided last March 17 as they prepare to file legal charges against operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR) operatives who stormed into the establishment.

The group of English-as-Second Language (ESL) tutors is being aided by the Office of the Provincial Legal Office whom the group had asked for legal assistance.

Provincial Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued said in an interview that she has also asked the assistance of the Integrated Bar of the Philippine-Pangasinan Chapter through Atty. Baby Ruth Torre.

In a press statement, the provincial office said the IBP has already expressed support to the teachers’ plan to file charges to clear their names.

Baniqued said her office has agreed to help given the endorsement of the Provincial Employment Services Office (PESO) saying it can vouch for the legitimacy of the Kame Hachi Corporation’s operations as a bonafide online tutorial center for learning English.

PESO Chief Alex Ferrer confirmed that the corporation has an existing tie-up with his office and participates during job fairs organized by the provincial government.

“What is being destroyed here is not only their business but the reputation of the female workers and the reputation of the province and Lingayen,” Ferrer asaid.

MALICIOUS

 Cristinee Bautista, 25, from Dagupan City who stood as spokesperson of the complaining group, narrated how some members of the raiding team had malIcious smiles on their faces as they took some close up videos of their employees using their cellular phones and cameras.

She warned the team against using the pictures and video clips identifying the employees as prostitutes.

Bautista said she and her fellow teachers, numbering about 100 working in shifts, teach the English language to foreigners such as Japanese, Russians, Koreans, Chinese online via Skype.

Bautista, a graduate of B.S. Tourism, started working in KAME HACHI Corporation in November 2012, said they were “detained” in the office’s dining room for three hours and were being forced to admit they were minors, which the tutors refused to do, in a vain attempt to prove the raiding team’s claim of human trafficking.

“We were not doing anything obscene in fact at the time the raid was conducted, I was online teaching with a flashcard to a child-student,” Bautista said.

Another employee named Lharrie complained that their computers and booths were destroyed by the raiding team, shouting and intimidating everyone.

“Hindi kami gagawa ng isang bagay na alam namin na ikakasama namin, at alam ng mga magulang namin ang lahat ng ginagawa namin dito,” said Shertina, another one of the on-line teachers.

Marilou Austria, supervising staff of the tutorial center, said many of their ESL teachers are Mass Communication graduates and licensed professionals.

Bautista pointed out that the room that was shown in some television reports was a stockroom where tutors take a break or rest before going home.

The alleged sex toy in a television report found in the area was a heavy electric massage machine occasionally used by the employees to help them relax, Bautista said.

CIDG

 Meanwhile, CIDG-NCR said in a press statement that charges have been filed against the seven persons who were arrested for the alleged illegal operation of the company, including three Japanese nationals and four Filipinos.

Among those arrested were Takayuki Umeda, Jyunko Natori, Masahiro Kishigami, along with Erlinda P. Tandoc, Leonora T. Ceralde, Josephine T Gille, and Rafael “Raffy” P Tandoc.

In an interview over local radio Wednesday, P/ Sr. Supt. Roberto Fajardo, CIDG-NCR chief, stood firm in his earlier report that the raid was done in an orderly manner with proper search warrant.

“This is in violation of Human Trafficking Act which we are going to file with  the Department of Justice Wednesday in coordination with the Inter Agency Committee on Anti-Trafficking,” Fajardo said.

The CIDG claims to have three witnesses who are former employees of the company and are supposedly privy to the illegal operations.

A search warrant for violation of the Expanded Anti-trafficking in Persons Act of 2012 was issued by the Regional Trial Court for the CIDG’s raid.

“We are not saying about cyber sex but what we are saying is human trafficking. So if we see (more evidence) from what we had recovered (from the seized items), then we would add that,” he added.

The group’s other employees, with support from the provincial government, trooped to Camp Crame Wednesday to show support for the arrested members of the company’s management.

Ferrer said it’s easy to prove that the arrestd employes are neither cyber sex workers nor victims of human trafficking. “They are not ashamed to come out and show their faces because they are not prostitutes.”

When informed that the police were saying that the supposed evidence they gathered supporting cybersex operations was the fact that most of the teachers were beautiful young women, Baniqued reacted, “Is being beautiful a crime now?” —Tita Roces and Johanne R. Macob with report from PIO

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