Rise of Chinese-only prostitution catches Philippines by surprise

Hundreds of Chinese sex workers and brothel managers rounded up in raids described by the authorities as a ‘new development’

Rising vice cases are being linked to the online gambling companies that employ hundreds of thousands of often-undocumented Chinese workers

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Published: 9:00am, 12 Jan 2020Updated: 8:06pm, 17 Feb 2020

Prostitution: supposedly, it is the oldest profession in the world, yet a sudden new development in the sex trade has left Philippine law enforcers scratching their heads: the rise of Chinese prostitutes catering exclusively to Chinese customers.

Nearly 300 Chinese sex workers and their clients were rounded up in raids by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police on 12 brothels in six cities in the second half of last year, the Philippine media company ABS-CBN reported this week. Agents believe all the raided premises were being run by mainland Chinese, for Chinese clients.

An NBI source who took part in one of the raids described the brothels – whose customers, prostitutes, managers and owners are all thought to come from mainland China – to This Week in Asia as a “new development”.

He said the managers were jailed and would be charged with human trafficking, “a non-bailable offence”, and that cases would be filed against the owners, who were not caught “because they are outside the country”.

The authorities in the Philippines have been caught off guard by the rise in exclusively Chinese prostitution. Photo: AFP

The Chinese women, whom he described as “young, maybe 18 to 30 years”, were sent to shelters, their passports confiscated and referred to the immigration bureau. The customers were not arrested, but their passport details were also sent to the immigration bureau.

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