Legarda wants senate to probe ‘sex tourism’

SEN. LOREN LEGARDA HAS FILED A RESOLUTION IN THE SENATE ASKING IT TO INVESTIGATE THE REPORTED GROWING BUSINESS OF “SEX TOURISM” IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE COUNTRY.
Legarda, chairman of the Senate committee on youth, women and family relations, wants to know whether government is doing enough to address the issue of exploitation and prostitution of minors.
She said she observed that “sex tourism” in the country has been thriving because of the lax implementation of laws against child trafficking and prostitution.
Sex tourism, she said, is an “illegal and immoral business that should be banned by the government before it further corrupts the youth and erodes the nation’s moral fabric.”
The sought probe comes on the heels of a documentary of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News entitled “Confronting Evil” that reported the growing number of teenage prostitutes aged 15-18 years old in the Philippines and the spread of sex tourism in the country.
The documentary revealed that more tourists nowadays choose to visit the Philippines not because of the tourist spots but because of the flesh trade, with more and more Filipinos offering minors and teenagers for prostitution, especially to foreigners.
Sex tourism, while a lucrative trade for its purveyors, is believed to have adverse emotional and psychological effects on the lives of the teenagers who have become victims of prostitution.
The documentary pointed out that most of the cases of prostitution and rape in the country go through a long process which may take a year or more for justice to be served.
Source: The Daily Tribune