ILOILO City – To survive the economic ramifications of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, commercial sex workers here may have shifted to other ventures – like trafficking illegal drugs instead of their flesh.
The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) has been receiving reports about prostituted women and men pushing illegal drugs now and finding this more lucrative, if not safer.
For a sector that has been historically ostracized, the coronavirus has meant sex workers find themselves in an even more difficult situation. They now face an awful choice between livelihood and health, according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson.
The intimate nature of their job has made them vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. She said.
The virus can spread from person to person in close contact through small droplets from the nose or mouth, and it can be fatal to the immunocompromised.
The closure of non-essential establishments such as bars and nightclubs further worsened the sex workers’ predicament, Malong told Panay News.
“May ara nga on-call or by appointment na lang. Wala sila masyado kita so they resort to drug pushing,” Malong said.
The PRO-6’s Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU) has started validating the reports.
On June 25, a 22-year-old city-based sex worker was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Poblacion Delgado, Calinog, Iloilo.
Essa (not her real name), a resident of Calinog, Iloilo, was arrested around 1:30 p.m. for selling a sachet of suspected shabu to an undercover police officer for P1,000.
Two more sachets were recovered from her.
From what the Calinog police station gathered so far, Essa started trafficking drugs just two weeks ago.
She had no other means of livelihood, she told the police.
“We conducted a buy-bust operation after we confirmed that she was into drug trading,” said Police Captain Dadjie Delima, Calinog police chief.
Essa, detained at the Calinog police station, would be charged with violation of Republic Act 916, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
In Iloilo City, Police Station 1 chief Police Captain Shella Mae Sangrines said the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) is monitoring the activities of sex workers.
“Nalooy kita sa ila kay wala man iban nga pangitan–an pero hugot aton pangampanya nga tani mangita sila iban nga obra nga legal. Ka-delikado sa subong nga time,” Sangrines said.
The city government issues “green cards” to commercial sex workers in nightclubs, beerhouses and massage parlors and “pink cards” for freelance sex workers after they are checked at the city’s Social Hygiene Clinic.
But these are not permits for them to engage in the illegal sex trade. Rather, this scheme compels them to regularly undergo examination.
At the height of the pandemic last year, the city government’s Task Force on Morals and Values Formation observed that the closure of beerhouses, nightclubs and even massage parlors drove some commercial sex workers to ply their trade on the streets at night.
But the curfew drove away potential customers. People went home early because of the curfew that started at 10 a.m. and ended at 4 a.m. of the next day./PN