MANILA, Philippines – A tip from the US Department of Homeland security led the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday, March 6, to a house in Pateros, Metro Manila, that was being used as a cybersex den. (READ: PH a global ‘source’ for cybersex industry – police)

The NBI rescued an 11-year-old girl who had been forced to work there, according to the NBI’s Anti-Human Trafficking Division (NBI-AHTRAD) chief Eric Nuqui. The property is located across the street from the home of a barangay councilor and a block from the municipal police station.

Emily Valencia, desk officer of Barangay Santa Ana, Pateros, said: “Open secret na yang cyber porn operation kaso wala naman nagsasampa ng reklamo. Madalas mag-away yung mga operators lalo na pagdating sa pera kaya nalaman din namin dito yan.” (The cyber porn operation is an open secret, but no one was filing a case. The operators frequently argue about money especially, that’s why we knew about it here.)

Nuqui identified one of the 4 suspects as Victor Amarillo, who is believed to be the operator of the cybersex den.

“The teenager was rescued as she was about to start disrobing for an agent who posed as a foreigner client before a webcam in a laptop,” Nuqui said.

The NBI also tried to rescue another girl being used by Amarillo in the sex video following the raid, but was unsucessful.

“But the girl disappeared before the agents arrived in her house accompanied by Amarillo who cooperated with NBI on the location of his victims. The girl’s parents, according to the grandmother, left the house while the raid was being conducted,” the NBI official said.

Nuqui said Amarillo has been in the cybersex business for at least two years.

The NBI said Amarillo gets $50 as payment per customer while the girls get paid P300 each.

Nuqui said that they had been been monitoring Amarillo’s website since last year, but had trouble tracking him from house to house.

While Amarillo admitted he had been maintaining a cybersex den, he denied recruiting any girls. He said, “There was no need for me to recruit the girls because they approach me and volunteer their services.” – Rappler.com