Tourists and workers have poured in from China in recent years, which has been met with unease and criticism from some in the Philippines.
In the newest case, agents swooped on an address in the financial district and found 91 Chinese women being “trafficked or smuggled to work as prostitutes … exclusively for Chinese nationals”, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said.
Agents arrested seven Chinese and seven Filipino suspects, as well as uncovering four Filipino sex workers.
The sex workers were found in a karaoke bar with a wealthy Chinese clientele that was allegedly used as front for prostitution, local media reported.
An official from the NBI’s Anti-Fraud Division said the agency was tipped off by a Chinese national, ABS-CBN reported.
“They will give you a VIP room, where you can choose the women,” Jun Astreto from the NBI said.
Manila has seen the arrival of tens of thousands of mainlanders working in the country’s online casino boom, which targets Chinese gamblers.
However, critics of the influx have noted the Philippines has allowed in a rush of people via an immigration process that is vulnerable to official corruption and inconsistency.
A week prior, Philippine police arrested 277 Chinese nationals in a raid on a gang wanted over a vast investment fraud that cost victims in China millions of dollars.The spike in Chinese arrivals has come since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in mid-2016 and set aside a territorial dispute over the South China Sea that had long soured relations.Duterte has pursued Chinese investment and trade, but critics say he has weakened national sovereignty while getting little in return.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51ku6bD0miYrKGRZMCwwdOhnJqrpGKutLXAaJirrJmYuaZ7kmlqamxla3yxtMiloKmomaOybrzOpaCcnV2nrqqwjJuYq2WlqLavs4ytqZqelp6wrLHDZpqhoZ6awKZ50p6v