1 April 2004 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert said that the recent indictment of two New York tour operators should serve as a warning against those who intend to exploit and victimize our women.
“We commend the authorities of New York for their actions. These indictments should serve as a warning to those who travel to the Philippines with a view to exploiting our women, and in some instances, our children. We welcome legitimate tourists but those who engage in these criminal activities should be prosecuted,” Secretary Albert said.
Two tour operators of a New York travel agency, Big Apple Oriental Tours were indicted last week on charges of organizing “sex tours” to Southeast Asia. The defendants, Douglas Allen, 59, and Norman Barabash, 58, are each charged with felony and misdemeanor counts of promoting prostitution and could face up to seven years in state prison, if convicted. The defendants pleaded not guilty before Judge Gerald Hayes of the Dutchess County Court.
It was alleged that the arranged trips
led to the “systematic exploitation and suppression of young women”.
It was likewise alleged that the tours were used to solicit customers
for prostitution rings in the Philippines and
Thailand.
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was originally alerted to the activities of the travel agency by an international human rights organization, Equality Now, that works to promote and protect the rights of women and girls.
According to the undercover investigation conducted by the Statewide Organized Crime Task Force, tour clients are led to customers by tour guides specially contracted upon arrival at destination. They are led to nightclubs and negotiated fees and sexual acts with prostitutes and bar managers, who are locally known as “mama-sans”. The trip costs approximately $2,500 and ranges in length for 7 to 10 days.
“We also hope to use any information that
may come out of this case to help our own authorities in preventing
such sex tours and in arresting and prosecuting those responsible.
We will obtain this information through
appropriate channels,” the Secretary said.
END.