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Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) raided on Saturday the house of a young official in Lapu-Lapu City and rescued three female teenagers and a 22-year-old woman who were allegedly asked to perform lewd activities in front of a Web camera.
The NBI-7 agents barged into the official’s house in barangay Kalawisan about 8 p.m. and arrested the official's mother, Nina, (not her real name).
The three teenagers and the woman were wearing mini-skirts and t-shirts when found.
NBI-7 agent Bernard dela Cruz, the team leader of Saturday's operation, said they have enough evidence to prove that Nina exploited children and women.
Dela Cruz said they found nude photos of one of the teenagers they rescued being uploaded in the Internet.
The four, he said, had executed affidavits against Nina.
Charges for violating Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 in relation to Republic Act 7610 or the Anti-child Abuse Law were prepared against the Nina, who was placed under the custody of the NBI-7.
The special law's confidentiality provisions prohibit the identification of both the victims and the accused in the media. And so the suspect will just be called Nina (not her real name) to hide her identity.
The charges Nina will be filed today with the City Prosecutors' Office in Lapu-Lapu City.
The NBI-7, however, found no evidence to link the local official to the case.
Nina told Cebu Daily News in an interview, that she never asked the women to pose naked in front of her computer's web camera to cater to foreigners.
“Dili gyud na tinuod. Nag-Friendster man lang na sila (four women). (The allegations against me are not true. The four women were just using a Friendster account on my computer),” Nina said.
She refused to comment further about the incident.
The four rescued victims refused to comment and locked themselves inside one of the rooms of the NBI-7 office when asked for their comment.
In a separate interview, Nina's mother blamed the political nemesis of her grandchild, whom she said has been serving the youth well.
“Na-silag lang ng iyang mga kontra sa politika kay daghan man siya og nahimo. Nag-research ra man intawn na mga babayhana kay wala baya'y internetan duol dinhi. (My granchild's rival in politics are only jealous of her grandson's achievements. The four women were only doing research work inside our house because there are no Internet services other than our house),” said the Nina's mother told CDN.
She said the computer sets inside their house were for the personal use of her daughter and her grandchildren.
Aside from arresting Nina, the NBI-7 agents confiscated from the suspect's house two desktop computers, two laptops, cable wires, telephone jacks, headsets, web cameras, digital cameras, memory drives, compact discs, DVD's, photographs, a ledger and notes.
The NBI-7 agents were armed with a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Sylvia Aguiree-Paderanga of branch 16 when they raided the young official's house.
There were three other people inside the house aside from Nina and the four rescued women when the agents conducted the search.
Only Nina was arrested because she was the subject of the warrant.
“We are doing our part to fight criminality and exploitation of children,” Dela Cruz told CDN.
He said the three minors would be handed over to the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The 22-year-old woman, he said, may also be transferred to the DSWD.
The four are temporarily staying at the NBI-7 compound in Cebu City.
The NBI-7 has been receiving reports about women and minors coming in and out of the residence of the suspect, Nina.
At 8 p.m. last Saturday, NBI-7 agents went inside the suspect's house where the four women were found.
While the agents were inside the house, they spotted one of the female teenagers using a computer and to chat to a foreigner using a web camera.
Dela Cruz said the girl immediately turned off the computer and locked the door upon learning that operatives barged in.
The NBI-7 successfully brought the girls to their office.
Barangay officials were then requested to witness the implementation of the search warrant.
After the search, NBI-7 computer technician Mark Nadela inspected, analyzed, and examined the two sets of computers and discovered nude pictures of young ladies. He was able to save also able to save chat archives.
Meanwhile, the father of two of the teenagers rescued was also injured when he ran into a barbed wire meters away from Nina's residence.
Dela Cruz said the man allegedly panicked and barged into a barbed wire fence.
Dela Cruz said the man, who was allegedly drunk, panicked when interrogated about reports involving his two daughters.
One of the agents fired a warning shot aimed at the ground when the man tried to run away.
Due to several wounds on his body and feet, the man was brought to a hospital in Cebu City.
An inventory of the seized items were later done by the agents.
